How Do German Manufacturers React to the Increasing Societal Pressure for Decarbonisation?

From the perspective of manufacturing companies, the political, media and economic discourse on decarbonisation in the recent years manifests itself as an increasing social expectation of action. In Germany, in particular, this discourse is also being driven forward by powerful companies, respectively sectors, most notably the automotive industry. Against this background, the present paper examines how German manufacturing companies react to rising societal pressure and emerging policies. It examines which measures the companies have taken or plan to take to reduce their carbon footprint, which aspirations are associated with this and the structural characteristics (company size, energy intensity, and sector) by which these are influenced. A mix methods approach is applied, utilising data gathered from approx. 900 companies in context of the Energy Efficiency Index of German Industry (EEI), along with media research focusing on the announced decarbonisation plans and initiatives. We demonstrate that one-size-serves-all approaches are not suitable to decarbonise industry, as the situation and ambitions differ considerably depending on size, energy intensity and sector. Even though the levels of ambition and urgency are high, micro and energy intensive companies, in particular, are challenged. The present research uncovers a series of questions that call for attention to materialise the ambitions and address the challenges outlined.

How do German Manufacturers React to the Increasing Societal Pressure for Decarbonisation?

From the perspective of manufacturing companies, the political, media and economic discourse on decarbonisation of the recent years manifests itself as an increasing social expectation of action. In Germany in particular, this discourse is also being driven forward by powerful companies, respectively sectors, most notably the automotive industry. Against this background, it was examined how German manufacturing companies react to rising societal pressure and emerging policies. It is examined which measures the companies have taken or plan to take to reduce their footprint, which aspirations are associated with this and by which structural characteristics (company size, energy intensity, sector) these are influenced. A mix methods approach was applied, utilising data gathered from approx. 900 companies in context of the Energy Efficiency Index of German Industry (EEI), along with media research focusing on decarbonisation plans and initiatives announced. We demonstrate that one-size-serves-all approaches are not suitable to decarbonise industry as the situation and ambitions differ considerably depending on size, energy intensity and sector. Even though the level of ambition and urgency is high, particularly micro and energy intensive companies are challenged. The research uncovers a series of questions that call for attention to materialise the ambitions and address the challenges outlined.

NEED FOR ACTION FOR A COMPANY-WIDE INTRODUCTION OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING IN MACHINERY AND PLANT ENGINEERING

Machinery and plant engineering in Germany is characterized by small and medium-sized enterprises. The so-called backbone of German industry is in transition towards Industry 4.0, with systems becoming more complex and the development task becoming an interdisciplinary task. Systems Engineering is a proven approach to realize these systems. Projects with SE approaches were accompanied and potentials of SE were structured. In this paper, we discuss the need for action for the company-wide introduction and present a solution concept.

INDUSTRY 4.0:SOCIAL CHALLENGES AND RISKS

Industry 4.0 is a term first introduced by the German government during the Hannover Messe fair in 2011 when it launched an initiative to support German industry in tackling future challenges. It refers to the 4th industrial revolution in which disruptive digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Everything (IoE), robotics, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI), are impacting industrial production.The new industrial paradigms of Industry 4.0 demand a socio-technical evolution of the human role in production systems, in which all working activities of the value chain will be performed with smart approaches.However, the automation of processes can have unpredictable effects.Nowadays, in a smart factory, the role of human operators is often only to control and supervise the automated processes. This new condition of workers brought forth a paradox: malfunctions or irregularities in the automated production process are rare but challenging.This article discusses the challenges and risks that the 4th industrial revolution is bringing to society.It introduces the concept of the Irony of Automation. This propounds that the more reliable an automated system, the less human operators have to do and, consequently, the less attention they pay to the system while it is operating.The authors go on to discuss the human-centered approach to automation, whose purpose is not necessarily to automate previously manual functions but, rather, to enhance user effectiveness and reduce errors.

O Território Econômico Alemão na Europa Central: análise dos investimentos estrangeiros recebidos pelo Grupo de Visegrado a partir de Hilferding | The German Economic Territory in Central Europe: analysis of foreign investments received by the Visegrado Group based on Hilferding

Formado por Polônia, Hungria, República Tcheca e Eslováquia, o Grupo de Visegrado é uma área privilegiada de destino dos investimentos alemães, integrando com a indústria alemã a maior cadeia produtiva da Europa. Visando responder como se organizam as relações econômicas entre o grupo e a Alemanha, apresentamos a hipótese de que Berlim converteu os países da Europa Central em parte do seu território econômico através de exportações massivas de capital. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar as relações de produção entre Alemanha e Visegrado, de modo a lançar luz sobre a posição de dependência do último. Como referencial teórico, recorremos à obra de Hilferding (1910) e, como metodologia, empregamos uma análise quantitativa dos fluxos de capitais alemães para a região, além de uma análise qualitativa dos efeitos desse processo. Esperamos demonstrar que o grupo desempenha o papel de fábrica dos produtos alemães para o mercado europeu.Palavras-chave: Visegrad Group; Germany; economic territory.ABSTRACTFormed by Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Visegrad Group is a privileged area of destination for German investments, integrating with the German industry the lar-gest supply chain in Europe. Aiming to answer how the economic relations between the group and Germany are organized, we present the hypothesis that Berlin converted the countries of Central Europe into part of its economic territory through massive capital exports. This article’s purpose is to analyze the production relations between Germany and Visegrad, in order to shed light on the latter's dependent position. As our theoretical framework, we resort to the work of Hilferding (1910) and, as our methodology, we employ a quantitative analysis of German capital flows to the region, as well as a qualitative analysis of the effects of this process. We expect to demonstrate that the group plays the role of a factory for German products in the European market.Keywords: Visegrad Group; Germany; economic territory. Recebido em: 02 abr. 2021 | Aceito em: 08 jun. 2021.

Statistical Tolerance Analysis—A Survey on Awareness, Use and Need in German Industry

The importance of geometric deviations of components for the aesthetic and functional quality of products has been undisputed for decades. So, it is not surprising that not only have numerous researchers devoted themselves to this field, but also commercial software tools for the analysis and optimization of tolerance specifications (currently already fully integrated in 3D-CAD systems) have been available for around 30 years. However, it is even more surprising that the well-founded specification of tolerances and their analysis using a so-called statistical tolerance analysis are only established in a few companies. There is thus a contradiction between the proclaimed relevance of tolerances and their actual consideration in everyday business life. Thus, the question of the significance of geometric deviations and tolerances as well as the use of statistical tolerance analysis arises. Therefore, a survey among 102 German companies was carried out. The results are presented and discussed in this paper.

How to evaluate supply chain risks, including sustainable aspects? A case study from the German industry

Purpose: Outsourcing transactions have been arisen and evolved in the last years and purchase managers want to know if a Failure Mode Effects and Analysis (FMEA) is an effective qualitative technique to analyze supply chain risks (SCR) in a proper way. The aim of this study is to address this question developing a practicable risk management process based on the guidelines of the ISO 31000 for upstream Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) linking risk assessment, risk identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation, risk treatment and validate the process empirically through a case study.Design/methodology/approach: After a review of the literature on Sustainable Supply Chain Risk Management (SSCRM), a case study based on a leading manufacturer of electrical products, collects evidences of SSCRM implementation.Findings: Supply chain disruptions are one of the most critical issues which can negatively influence on firm’s performance. Avoiding and mitigating disruptions in the supply chain is one of the main challenges for supply chain managers.Originality/value: This paper identifies the ISO 31000, the ISO 9001 and the use of an FMEA to analyze supply chain risks in a structured manner and to outline future research opportunities in the field of SCRM.

Intelligent cyber-social ecosystem of Industry 5.0: definition, essence, model

Ten years after the first introduction of Industry 4.0 at Hannover trade fair as a concept of German industry efficiency improvement, the European Commission announced a new industrial evolution – Industry 5.0 and revealed an updated representation of Industry 5.0 as a result of attaining of triad forming stability, human-centricity and industry viability. At the nexus of the fourth and fifth phases of industry evolutions, new objects arise – intelligent cyber-social ecosystems that use the strengths of cyber-physical ecosystems, changing under the influence of digital end-to-end technologies, combined with human and artificial intelligence. The purpose of this research is to present a conceptual model of an intelligent (“smart”) cyber-social ecosystem based on multimodal hyperspace within the conditions of Industry 5.0. The research methodology includes systems science, metasystemic, ecosystemic, value-based, cyber-socio-techno-cognitive approaches; concepts of platforms, creator economy, Open innovations 2.0 based on an innovative model of a quadruple helix. As a result of this research, the evolution of the establishment and development of an ecosystemic paradigm in economic science is shown. The study describes a cognitive transition from cyber-physical systems of Industry 4.0 to intelligent cyber-social ecosystems as objects of Industry 5.0. A conceptual model has been originated, in which a cyber-social ecosystem is introduced as an ecosystem of new metalevel (“metasystem”), evolving under the conditions of the transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 based on cyber-social values of human-centricity, stability and viability. The model is notable for its high level of cybernetic hyperconvergence, socioecosystemic, technological and cognitive modality to achieve ethical social goals, sustainable welfare for all humanity and each individual person, taking into account the scope of planetary capacity.