Toward the Development of a Maturity Model for Digitalization within the Manufacturing Industry’s Supply Chain

The aim of this paper is the scientific development of a maturity model concerning the digital transformation of companies within the manufacturing industry’s supply chain. The rather “broad” and dispersed “mega-trend” of digitalization is expected to play an increasingly important role for companies as well as for the (digital) supply chain of the future. Such a model comprises the objective of addressing fundamental components, complementary innovations and relevant terminologies, like smart products, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Big Data Analytics. Scientific rigor is achieved through conducting grounded theory research and in-depth interviews as methods of data collection and evaluation. Furthermore, relevant aspects concerning the development and construction of maturity models are discussed, before a suitable and scientifically elaborated maturity model concerning digitalization emerges from the course of investigation and its value for economic practice as well as for the scientific community is specified

Dynamic capabilities related implementation skills for Internet of Things solutions in the digital economy

The digital economy is shaped by the increasing implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. These solutions enable the vertical integration of smart objects into existing information systems, thereby realizing the vision that every physical object obtains a digital identity. However, dynamic characterizes the technologically driven IoT market and requires related capabilities from enterprises, aiming to provide IoT solutions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore which DC are sufficient for the implementation of effective IoT solutions by taking a DC perspective. Based upon an empirical survey of IoT solution integrators and an exploratory fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), our results show that the combination of differentiation strategy, technological and entrepreneurial orientation enables the implementation of effective IoT solutions. The results further provide a theoretical contribution for a DC discussion in the IoT research area and, offer implementation recommendations for enterprises about how to manage IoT solution implementation

Gas Chromatography for the Undergraduate Student

Gas chromatography has attained a position of prominence as a separation technique and as a tool for qualitative identification and quantitative determination. As such, it should rightly be discussed and applied in the undergraduate curriculum. A gas chromatograph suitable for teaching purposes has been designed and constructed in this laboratory. Experimentation applicable to the undergraduate laboratory is presented

Validation of Thermal Concepts for a Solar Powered High-Altitude Platform based on Models and Experiments

High-altitude platforms are a currently intensively discussed method for performing Earth observation tasks. These tasks range from disaster monitoring and the provision of telecommunications services to continuous global monitoring. With the aim of being able to make statements about these areas, the German Aerospace Center is currently developing a highaltitude platform. The area of operation of the DLR high-altitude platform is in the stratosphere at an altitude of more than 20 kilometers with an operating time of longer than one month. Due to the harsh environmental conditions in the stratosphere, which are characterized by low air density, low outside temperature and large differences in solar radiation between day and night, the avionics devices accommodated in the fuselage, that are required for the safe control of the high-altitude platform, can suffer from overheating. Thermal management plays an important role in estimating the temperatures in the fuselage of the high-altitude platform. A first step in the process of establishing thermal management is the creation of thermal mathematical models depicting the occurring heat transfer processes in a modeling and simulation environment. Subsequently, validation experiments are performed on a fuselage section to validate the accuracy of the thermal mathematical models, focusing on the internal heat transfer processes inside the fuselage of the high-altitude platform. In addition, measurements are performed that take into account the influence of external parameters, such as solar radiation and wind speed. The validation of the numerical models by means of experiments is carried out by comparing measured data with simulation results. In the course of the validation experiments, measurements are performed with various internal heat sources, ranging from an infrared heater to self-constructed avionics dummies. With their help, critical parameters such as the Nusselt number or the effective heat transfer area are determined, as a comparison of measurement and simulation indicates. Furthermore, the influence of varying external parameters, including solar radiation and wind speed, on the thermal mathematical models is validated

The Digital Supply Chain of the Future: Technologies, Applications and Business Models

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Comparative study of the growth of sputtered aluminum oxide films on organic and inorganic substrates

We present a comparative study of the growth of the technologically highly relevant gate dielectric and encapsulation material aluminum oxide in inorganic and also organic heterostructures. Atomic force microscopy studies indicate strong similarities in the surface morphology of aluminum oxide films grown on these chemically different substrates. In addition, from X-ray reflectivity measurements we extract the roughness exponent \beta of aluminum oxide growth on both substrates. By renormalising the aluminum oxide roughness by the roughness of the underlying organic film we find good agreement with \beta as obtained from the aluminum oxide on silicon oxide (\beta = 0.38 \pm 0.02), suggesting a remarkable similarity of the aluminum oxide growth on the two substrates under the conditions employed

Strongly Enhanced Thermal Stability of Crystalline Organic Thin Films Induced by Aluminum Oxide Capping Layers

We show that the thermal stability of thin films of the organic semiconductor diindenoperylene (DIP) can be strongly enhanced by aluminum oxide capping layers. By thermal desorption spectroscopy and in-situ X-ray diffraction we demonstrate that organic films do not only stay on the substrate, but even remain crystalline up to 460C, i.e. 270 deg. above their desorption point for uncapped films (190C). We argue that this strong enhancement of the thermal stability compared to uncapped and also metal-capped organic layers is related to the very weak diffusion of aluminum oxide and the structurally well-defined as-grown interfaces. We discuss possible mechanisms for the eventual breakdown at high temperatures.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Adv. Mat., for further information see http://www.physchem.ox.ac.uk/~f