Development of an interface for managing and monitoring projects in an automotive company

In a competitive world, companies lose customers and opportunities due to lack of organisation, failure to meet deadlines, bad planning, among other reasons. Project management is presented as a form to guarantee compliance with deadlines, costs reduction, sales increase, revenues growth, clients’ satisfaction, among other benefits. This paper presents the development of interfaces for managing and monitoring projects at Bosch Car Multimedia in Braga, Portugal. With the increasing number of projects under the supervision of CM/MFT3, the section had greater difficulties in monitoring projects’ status. In order to tackle the situation, tools for project status control and project status overview (cockpit chart) were proposed, so that the project management practices could be improved.This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043and FCT –Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologiawithin the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013

Industry 4.0: The Future of Indo-German Industrial Collaboration

Industry 4.0 can be described as the fourth industrial revolution, a mega- trend that affects every company around the world. It envisions interconnections and collaboration between people, products and machines within and across enterprises. Why does Industry 4.0 make for an excellent platform for industrial collaboration between India and Germany? The answers lie in economic as well as social factors. Both countries have strengths and weakness and strategic collaboration using the principles of Industry 4.0 can help both increase their industrial output, GDP and make optimal use of human resources. As a global heavy weight in manufacturing and machine export, Germany has a leading position in the development and deployment of Industry 4.0 concepts and technology. However, its IT sector, formed by a labor force of 800,000 employees, is not enough. It needs more professionals to reach its full potential. India, on the other hand, is a global leader in IT and business process outsourcing. But its manufacturing industry needs to grow significantly and compete globally. These realities clearly show the need for Industry 4.0-based collaboration between Germany and India. So how does Industry 4.0 work? In a first step, we look at the technical pers- pective – the vertical and horizontal integration of Industry 4.0 principles in enterprises. Vertical integration refers to operations within Smart Factories and horizontal integration to Smart Supply Chains across businesses. In the second step, we look at manufacturing, chemical industry and the IT sector as potential targets for collaboration between the two countries. We use case studies to illustrate the benefits of the deployment of Industry 4.0. Potential collaboration patterns are discussed along different forms of value chains and along companies’ ability to achieve Industry 4.0 status. We analyse the social impact of Industry 4.0 on India and Germany and find that it works very well in the coming years. Germany with its dwindling labor force might be compensated through the automation. This will ensure continued high productivity levels and rise in GDP. India, on the other hand has a burgeoning labor market, with 10 million workers annually entering the job market. Given that the manufacturing sector will be at par with Europe in efficiency and costs by 2023, pressure on India’s labor force will increase even more. Even its robust IT sector will suffer fewer hires because of increased automation. Rapid development of technologies – for the Internet of Things (IoT) or for connectivity like Low-Power WAN – makes skilling and reskilling of the labor force critical for augmenting smart manufacturing. India and Germany have been collaborating at three levels relevant to Industry 4.0 – industry, government and academics. How can these be taken forward? The two countries have a long history of trade. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) is the largest such chamber in India and the largest German chamber worldwide. VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, Mechanical Engineering Industry Association), the largest industry association in Europe, maintains offices in India. Indian key players in IT, in turn, have subsidia- ries in Germany and cooperate with German companies in the area of Industry 4.0. Collaboration is also supported on governmental level. As government initiatives go, India has launched the “Make in India” initiative and the “Make in India Mittelstand! (MIIM)” programme as a part of it. The Indian Government is also supporting “smart manufacturing” initiatives in a major way. Centers of Excellence driven by the industry and academic bodies are being set up. Germany and India have a long tradition of research collaboration as well. Germany is the second scientific collaborator of India and Indian students form the third largest group of foreign students in Germany. German institutions like the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) or the German House for Research and Innovation (DWIH) are working to strengthen ties between the scientific communities of the two countries, and between their academia and industry. What prevents Industry 4.0 from becoming a more widely used technology? Recent surveys in Germany and India show that awareness about Industry 4.0 is still low, especially among small and medium manufacturing enterprises. IT companies, on the other hand, are better prepared. There is a broad demand for support, regarding customtailored solutions, information on case studies and the willingness to participate in Industry 4.0 pilot projects and to engage in its platform and networking activities. We also found similar responses at workshops conducted with Industry 4.0 stakehold- ers in June 2017 in Bangalore and Pune and in an online survey. What can be done to change this? Both countries should strengthen their efforts to create awareness for Industry 4.0, especially among small and medium enterprises. Germany should also put more emphasis on making their Industry 4.0 technology known to the Indian market. India’s IT giants, on the other hand, should make their Industry 4.0 offers more visible to the German market. The governments should support the establishing of joint Industry 4.0 collaboration platforms, centers of excellence and incubators to ease the dissemination of knowledge and technology. On academic level, joint research programs and exchange programs should be set up to foster the skilling of labor force in the deployment of Industry 4.0 methods and technologies

R&D Process Management in Academic Environment

The mission of the Knowledge Center is to collect and provide information for partners belonging to the corporate body as well as to create new knowledge in the area of vehicle electronics and mechatronics. Consortium partners cover the whole chain of innovation from basic research to product development and marketing. The Knowledge Center positions itself as an interim body between the academic world and the market economy, bringing market and product centric issues into the system of higher education, moreover, promoting the utilization of the most recent vehicle technology in industry. Its goal is to become one of the most appreciable development and service centers in Europe in the area of vehicle electronics and mechatronics.

The competitive repositioning of automotive firms in Turin: innovation, internationalisation and the role of ICT

Following the increasing competitive pressure and the emergence of new industrial poles within the auto industry, Italian firms have been the protagonists of an intense reorganisation, which is still ongoing. This case-study involves 13 supplier firms, operating in the automotive industry, localised in Turin, that have adopted a series of strategies aimed at improving their international competitiveness. The empirical findings show that there is a particularly strong innovative drive for the interviewed firms to position themselves in activities with greater added value and to undertake internationalisation strategies, from the 'lighter' to the more 'complex' forms, coupled with a use of information and communication technologies epresents a case of excellence.Innovation, Internationalisation, ICT, Automotive Industry

Risk Management in Product Design: Current State, Conceptual Model and Future Research

Risk management is an important element of product design. It helps to minimize the project- and product-related risks such as project budget and schedule overrun, or missing product cost and quality targets. Risk management is especially important for complex, international product design projects that involve a high degree of novel technology. This paper reviews the literature on risk management in product design. It examines the newly released international standard ISO 31000 “Risk management — Principles and guidelines” and explores its applicability to product design. The new standard consists of the seven process steps communication and consultation; establishing the context; risk identification; risk analysis; risk evaluation; risk treatment; and monitoring and review. A literature review reveals, among other findings, that the general ISO 31000 process model seems applicable to risk management in product design; the literature addresses different process elements to varying degrees, but none fully according to ISO recommendations; and that the integration of product design risk management with risk management of other disciplines, or between project and portfolio level in product design, is not well developed