The Institute for Business Organisation and Logistics (IBL) has been actively involved in the ‘Industry 4.0’ research area at Ulm University of Technology (THU) for many years. The focus is on practical, application-oriented projects relating to the digital transformation of industrial processes.
Past and current activities include, among others, the projects “Industry 4.0 from a Suitcase” and “ZAFH Intralogistics”, the collaborative doctoral programme “Cognitive Computing in Socio-Technical Systems”, and the current project “LCA4All”
In addition, the institute participates in internal research initiatives and student projects that are closely linked to the fields of Industry 4.0, digitalisation and intelligent systems.
Development of a learning factory:
The institute is currently developing its logistics laboratory into a learning factory. The existing systems are being networked at the material flow and information technology levels as part of this process. The central IT technology here is OPC UA, while the control concept is based on skill- and service-based automation. The central aim of the learning factory is to offer students a learning environment that makes it possible to experience, control and shape the dynamics, flexibility and changeability of today's production systems in practice.
The development of the learning factory is part of the THU-wide THUProf4.0 project, which is funded by the BMBF's FH-Personal program and includes a professorship and scientific staff.
Project management: Prof. Dr. Sven Völker
Construction of an Industry 4.0 demonstrator:
In this joint project with the Institute of Production Engineering and Materials Testing, Department of Automation Technology, an Industry 4.0 demonstration system is being created.The physical production and logistics processes are realized with fischertechnik components, which are mounted on two of three tables of the modular overall system on the top level.
Important elements here are processing stations, conveyor belts, gantry cranes and a high-bay warehouse. The components are controlled by real PLCs and communication components whose software is being developed in the project and implements findings from research into skill- and service-oriented production control. An operator workstation on the third module rounds off the package.
The project has so far been supported by more than 10 student projects and theses. The demonstrator is one of the use cases of a doctoral thesis on service- and skill-based production control at the institute (doctoral student: Mr. A. Lober).
Project management: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hartwig Baumgärtel
Cooperation partner: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lisa Ollinger (THU, Institute IFW)
Life Cycle Assessment of value chains for small and medium-sized enterprises (LCA4All):
The research project will run from October 2024 to March 2026. It is a transfer project in cooperation between Ulm University of Applied Sciences and the company Valantic Supply Chain Excellence GmbH.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and is part of the DATI initiative. The DATIpilot funding guideline promotes the transfer of knowledge from research to application, generates new solutions for social challenges and gains important insights for the promotion of innovation and transfer and the development of DATI.In this research project, which is publicly funded by the BMBF in the DATIpilot program, a process model and a system platform for lifecycle assessment for SMEs are being developed.
We want to provide SMEs with assistance, because ...
The law on corporate due diligence in supply chains is accompanied by a reporting obligation (ESG reporting). This was previously only mandatory for large companies, but from the 2025 balance sheet, companies with more than 250 employees will also have to provide evidence of where they stand and how they intend to develop: They must add disclosures on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to their annual reports. But it's not just their size that requires them to provide information; many SMEs are suppliers and are already confronted with the requirements from the supply chain - and they find it difficult. Life cycle assessments are complex to prepare, and DIN 14040 describes the procedure. And this is where we want to help with this website.
Our mission...
The aim of the "LCA4All" project is to enable small and medium-sized manufacturing companies (SMEs) to determine the environmental footprint of their products within extensive supply chains and to identify reduction potential. The core idea of the LCA4All project is to transfer the state of research on lifecycle assessment (LCA) into practice and to develop innovative LCA software for the needs-based implementation of LCA in SME supply chains and to test it in companies. In addition, a guideline for the pragmatic implementation of the LCA will be developed and validated in companies as transfer partners.
Further information on the LCA4All project
Project management: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Geier
To the project website www.lca4all.de
Development of a learning environment for independent, guided learning of data science methods (machine learning) using the KNIME software with a consistent corporate context:
This project is based on a fictitious company, "Lichtgestalten GmbH", which trades in lighting systems and also manufactures components for them itself. In the context of this company, numerous different tasks were identified for which machine learning methods offer good solutions. The data required for this is based in part on anonymized data from a real company whose industry and identity have been made unrecognizable.
A series of 11 guided exercises on methods such as ABC-XYZ analysis, classification with decision trees, linear and polynomial regression and clustering from application areas such as sales (customer analysis), production (predictive maintenance, quality control) and distribution (design of a distribution network) were created by "Lichtgestalten GmbH", which were then used with the no-code analytics platform KNIME can be solved. There are instructions and descriptions in varying degrees of detail for each task. A learning path was defined for the overall process. A large number of the tasks were validated through use in a course by evaluating learning diaries. KNIME has been supporting the project continuously since 2022.
Project management: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hartwig Baumgärtel
Development of digital twins of laboratory systems and concepts for virtual commissioning:
Based on methods and tools for simulation, emulation, service-oriented communication, etc., digital twins of laboratory systems such as the AKL, the electric monorail system and the Industry 4.0 demonstrator are created and networked with their physical twins.
Project management: Prof. Dr. Sven Völker