MODKMU

Existing production paradigms are increasingly being questioned. Mass customisation and shorter product life cycles require production to be made more flexible and companies to become more resilient to the effects of variability. As the basis for further production planning and control, the organisational principle is crucial to a company's success. However, deciding on the most suitable organisational principle under individual conditions is complex, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In practice, SMEs therefore often choose the organisational principle based on experience or intuitively. However, data-based decisions and analyses promote cost reduction, risk minimisation, problem avoidance, reproducibility, increased effectiveness and efficiency.

MODKMU is developing a universally applicable software tool for decision support that is based on real production data and data generated by simulation. The information should be easily available so that SMEs can easily enrich their empirical knowledge with data.

The tool guides users through a web-based interface that first collects semantic information about the data and then asks specific questions about predestined organisational forms. This enables an efficient assessment and addresses specific advantages and disadvantages of the principles. Based on the input, the selection system will determine the suitable organisational principles and evaluate them transparently. This includes a general assessment of feasibility and specific proposals for action.

At the beginning of the project, key qualitative and quantitative parameters are identified in order to precisely describe and analyse the production organisation. Both theoretical approaches and organisational principles that occur in practice are incorporated. Together with our partners, the requirements for the selection system are defined, including the required data, formats and interfaces.

However, the focus of the project is on the development of selection support. By modelling various scenarios and using targeted simulation experiments, a well-founded database is created, which is then transferred to the data-driven system. Suitable organisational principles are assigned to the identified parameters based on the degree of target fulfilment from the simulations. For practical applicability, the system will be validated in close collaboration with the project partners and integrated into a user-friendly, web-based software tool.

The project MODKMU (No. 01IF23469N) of the Gesellschaft für innovative Betriebsorganisation (GBO) e.V. - Joseph-von-Fraunhoferstraße 20, 44227 Dortmund - is funded via the DLR within the program of consortial industrial research and development (IGF) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).