Supply Chain Services SCS

How to transfer knowledge about data analytics and AI to industry

Supply Chain Services / September 26, 2023

© Fraunhofer IIS/Paul Pulkert

Over the past five years, the ADA Lovelace Center has built up an international network that connects science and industry. These connections make it possible for research into AI, machine learning, and optimization to find its way into practice. Visitors to the Conference on Optimization and Machine Learning in Industry, held in Nuremberg in March 2023, noted that the competence center for AI is and will remain an important hub for companies that want to ready themselves for future international competition by means of digitalization.

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A vision for hydrogen: Interview with Dr. Tassilo Schuster and Karlheinz Ronge

Series: Hydrogen / March 28, 2023

Hydrogen is one of the beacons of hope in the fight against climate change, and it is also a promising business model for companies. Fraunhofer IIS has thorough methodological expertise in various application areas of the hydrogen economy. Now the city of Nuremberg, in collaboration with Fraunhofer IIS, is publishing a study on the prospects for the hydrogen economy in the region. To mark the occasion, we interviewed Dr. Tassilo Schuster, Senior Scientist Innovation and Transformation, and Karlheinz Ronge, who heads the Distributed Systems and Security department, about what the future holds for this energy source.

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The "Ada Lovelace Center" series in the Fraunhofer IIS Magazine

Ada Lovelace podcast series | 21.10.2022

The ADA Lovlace Center for Data, Analytics and Applications combines AI research with AI applications for business in Bavaria. In a conversation with Ada Lovelace, the ADA Lovelace Center's namesake, the experts talk about their work, their research projects and news from the partner network.

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eResourcing – Using data to create more sustainability

Series: eResourcing / 06.05.2022

© Fraunhofer IIS

How data recycling and clever use of the data life cycle lead to greater sustainability in business and industry.

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The human factor in Industry 4.0

Series: Industry 4.0 for SMEs / 30.11.2021

© Gorodenkoff Productions OU - stock.adobe.com / Florian Müller

The human element plays a major role in the success and the productivity of Industry 4.0 technologies and applications. This is why we also look at each phase of digitalization from a behavioral and sociological perspective. In this interview with Stephanie Schmitt-Rüth, head of the Human Centered Innovation group, you can find out how we support companies as they plan and design the rollout and communication of their digital transformation to ensure it enhances motivation and productivity.

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Forecasts and performance indicators make forklift fleets more efficient

Series: Industry 4.0 for SMEs / 16.11.2021

© Fraunhofer IIS / Florian Müller / Marco Wenzel / Paul Pulkert

In most companies, the efficiency of in-house transports with industrial trucks is recorded only manually and in a very incomplete manner. We tap the potential for optimization by developing “intelligence” for industrial trucks that enables analysis of individual intralogistics transport processes. In this interview, Christoph Hohmann, former deputy head of the Process Analytics group, uses the example of forklifts equipped with a specially developed system of mobile positioning technologies to demonstrate the recording of data and its subsequent analysis and use.

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Intelligent assembly with Industry 4.0: screwdrivers that think along with you

Series: Industry 4.0 for SMEs / 2.11.2021

© Fraunhofer IIS / Florian Müller / Paul Pulkert

In many cases, tightening procedures have an impact on quality during assembly – but monitoring them has been difficult up to now. Our key to quality monitoring and support in assembly is a wireless tool sensor module that detects and analyzes the screwdriver’s movement and position in real time. In this interview, Christian Nickel, Senior Engineer in the Machine Learning and Validation group, presents a retrofit solution that turns tools from any manufacturer into a cyber-physical, intelligent system.

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Error-free processes with the picking armband and near-field positioning

Series: Industry 4.0 for SMEs / 19.10.2021

© Fraunhofer IIS/Paul Pulkert

Every mistake in the picking process causes extra work. But installing assistance systems that alert the order picker to picking errors can be extremely complex. That is why we are developing a reliable picking monitoring system based on inductive near-field positioning. In this interview, Tobias Dräger, manager of the RFID and Inductive Sensor Systems group, explains how this system marks a fundamental departure from previous picking monitoring systems that work with optical sensors, light barriers or laser scanners.

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Complex manual picking made flexible and error-free – with wireless pick-by-light technology

Series: Industry 4.0 for SMEs / 5.10.2021

© Fraunhofer IIS / Florian Müller / Paul Pulkert

Wired pick-by-light systems are inflexible and costly when the picking area is redesigned. Our wireless information system makes it easy to install compartment displays, thus allowing for temporary storage setups and quick reconfiguration of pickup compartments. Stephan Oswald, a research fellow in the IoT Applications group, answers questions in this interview about how the system works, the value it adds for companies, and its customized implementation.

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Industry 4.0 in technical application

Series: Industry 4.0 for SMEs / 28.9.2021

© Fraunhofer IIS

Which conditions are important for the technological implementation of Industry 4.0 in SMEs?
Jasper Jahn, Advisor to the Head of the Positioning and Networks unit at Fraunhofer IIS, highlights different points where promising applications can be launched or used in existing intralogistics and industrial processes. In a video interview, he addresses the following questions:
• What do small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to consider from a technological perspective when it comes to digitalization?
• Do SMEs need to switch to completely new technical systems to keep up with the digital transformation?
• Which existing processes can be digitalized without major effort?

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Data platforms and information exchange

Series: Industry 4.0 for SMEs / 21.9.2021

© Fraunhofer IIS

Professor Andreas Harth, Head of Data Spaces and IoT Solutions in our Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services SCS, talks about the topic of data as well as data platforms and information exchange. He comments on the following questions:
• Why do I need better access to process data?
• How can data be made available as quickly and flexibly as possible?
• How can data be shared in a meaningful way?

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Technologies and solutions for digital value creation: A project for SMEs

Series: Industry 4.0 for SMEs / 14.9.2021

© Fraunhofer IIS


In the video interview, Professor Alexander Pflaum explains why a research project on digitalization and Industry 4.0 is particularly relevant for SMEs, and answers the following questions:

  • Why is there a need for a project that focuses explicitly on digital value creation at SMEs?
  • What approach did we take?
  • What do SMEs need to keep in mind to make their own digital transformation a success?
  • What can we do specifically to support SMEs?
  • What essential advice can we give SMEs?

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Fraunhofer vs. Coronavirus crisis: How to achieve fair and fast distribution of protective personal equipment, which is in short supply during the coronavirus crisis?

Supply Chain Services / 2.9.2021

Markus Weissenbäck
© Fraunhofer IIS/Valentin Schilling
Markus Weissenbäck

Dr. Roland Fischer, managing director of the Fraunhofer Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services at Fraunhofer IIS, and Markus Weissenbäck, project manager for the FACE project, describe how a fast and equitable distribution of medical protective goods works based on mathematical methods. #WeKnowHow

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Quantum computing for optimization

Cognitive Sensor Technologies / 26.5.2021

© DP - stock.adobe.com

The "Bayerische Kompetenzzentrum Quanten Security and Data Science", or BayQS, was launched with a kickoff event on April 29, 2021. The center’s main objective is to research and develop fundamental concepts and solutions, and also to evaluate prototypes in the field of quantum computing. Prof. Alexander Martin and Markus Weissenbäck attended the event. Here, they explain how Fraunhofer IIS plans to use quantum computing to optimize methods and applications.

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Crisis resilience through decentralized data space

Cognitive Sensor Technologies / Supply Chain Services / 29.3.2021

© Fraunhofer IIS/Giulia Iannicelli
The research of Prof. Andreas Harth is devoted to new solutions for data spaces.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Harth is head of the Data Spaces and IoT Solutions department at the Fraunhofer Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services at the Fraunhofer IIS. He seeks out hidden data that makes companies more resilient in a crisis and enables them to stay in control, and he researches technologies for decentralized information systems.

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How do we set up crisis-resistant supply chains in the time of coronavirus?

Cognitive Sensor Technologies / Supply Chain Services / 23.9.2020

Uwe Veres-Homm
© Fraunhofer IIS/Karoline Glasow
Supply in the event of a crisis is a complex task. Uwe Veres-Homm researches strategies for logistics.

Uwe Veres-Homm is Business Unit Coordinator for logistics, transport and mobility topics in the Fraunhofer Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services SCS. He explains how supply can work in times of crisis.

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From the gear wheel to the chip

Cognitive Sensor Technologies / Supply Chain Services SCS / 16. Juni 2020

Ada Lovelace
© Source: Wikipedia

Ada Lovelace is the name giver of the ADA Lovelace Center, which combines AI research with AI applications. But who was this Ada and what distinguishes her as a pioneer in the evolution of data processing? In this story, "she herself" tells us how computers and data processing have developed.

AI series: Mining data to extract knowledge

Cognitive sensor technologies / 5.6.2020

© Fraunhofer IIS/Paul Pulkert

Prof. Alexander Martin is head of the Fraunhofer IIS and also in charge of the co-located ADA Lovelace Center. He and his team are looking into ways to extract information from big data using artificial intelligence (AI).

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Data analytics – what is it and how does it benefit industry?

Cognitive Sensor Technologies / Supply Chain Services SCS / 7.6.2018

Prof. Alexander Martin, interviewed by Daniela Rembor, Fraunhofer IIS.
© Fraunhofer IIS/Isabel Pogner
“Using data analytics, we can uncover treasures companies never knew they had.” Prof. Alexander Martin, interviewed by Daniela Rembor, Fraunhofer IIS.

“Data analytics itself is nothing new,” says Prof. Alexander Martin. “What is new is that we’re working with enormous quantities of data and that the methods available are getting better all the time. This means we can gather and analyze the data in a meaningful way.” The industrial mathematician uses video and text to explain exactly what this looks like and how it can lead to successful business decisions.

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