Innovative logistics concepts for a versatile and flexible manufacturing of lot size one

Due to the high amount of car models and the increasing number of variations in the premium car segment, production logistics in the automobile industry will face new challenges. Conventional logistics concepts such as Henry Ford and Frederick Taylor’s conveyor technique will become rare. While conveyors are best-practice for high output and economical production, they are inflexible with high variations. Moreover, an assortment of different parts have to be provided at the line, which results in space constraints and inefficiency in increasing product variety. Hence, it is necessary to focus on contemporary logistics concepts and equipment in order to cope with customer demand when producing in lot size one. Therefore, various logistics concepts and components have been developed by the Institute of Mechanical Handling and Logistics (IFT) of the University of Stuttgart over recent years. The new logistics concepts are more versatile and enable a more flexible and changeable production logistics for a wide range of different products. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the current situation of the innovative production logistics concepts and describe possibilities for further developments

Cyber-Physical-Systems for Fluid Manufacturing Systems

Increased volatility continues to challenge the automotive manufacturer's production performance. More than a century after the start of mass production, changeable production systems that allow the flexibility for the economic mass production of customized products have arisen. Limitations on established production systems are driving the development of changeable production systems like the Fluid Manufacturing System (FLMS). In an FLMS, the individual production modules are mobile and consist of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) which can be combined ad-hoc to adapt to changing requirements. By connecting different CPS - e.g., Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) or smart load carriers - adaptable and flexible production will be achieved. This paper presents the first real-world initiation of an FLMS with the design and development of CPS and digital twins for production and logistics at the ARENA2036 research campus

Common variants in Alzheimer's disease and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores.

Funder: Funder: Fundación bancaria ‘La Caixa’ Number: LCF/PR/PR16/51110003 Funder: Grifols SA Number: LCF/PR/PR16/51110003 Funder: European Union/EFPIA Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Number: 115975 Funder: JPco-fuND FP-829-029 Number: 733051061Genetic discoveries of Alzheimer's disease are the drivers of our understanding, and together with polygenetic risk stratification can contribute towards planning of feasible and efficient preventive and curative clinical trials. We first perform a large genetic association study by merging all available case-control datasets and by-proxy study results (discovery n = 409,435 and validation size n = 58,190). Here, we add six variants associated with Alzheimer's disease risk (near APP, CHRNE, PRKD3/NDUFAF7, PLCG2 and two exonic variants in the SHARPIN gene). Assessment of the polygenic risk score and stratifying by APOE reveal a 4 to 5.5 years difference in median age at onset of Alzheimer's disease patients in APOE ɛ4 carriers. Because of this study, the underlying mechanisms of APP can be studied to refine the amyloid cascade and the polygenic risk score provides a tool to select individuals at high risk of Alzheimer's disease

Still planning or already controlling? – An analysis to differentiate between planning and control

Bedingt durch steigende Individualisierung sowie schwankende Nachfragen werden Produktionskonzepte entwickelt, die eine dynamische Anpassung an sich verändernde Gegebenheiten ermöglichen. Diese neuen Ansätze sehen vor, dass neben den Produkten auch Maschinen bzw. Arbeitsplätze kurzfristig ortsveränderlich sind. Hierbei steht insbesondere die Intralogistik vor der Herausforderung, eine effiziente Materialbereitstellung zu gewährleisten. Bisher konnte diese durch gut abgestimmte Planungs- und Steuerungsprozesse realisiert werden. Gegenwärtig verlagert sich der Planungsprozess weiter in den Betrieb, denn während des gesamten Betriebs eines intralogistischen Systems werden Anpassungsmaßnahmen durchgeführt. Der Übergang zwischen Planung und Steuerung ist heutzutage nicht nur fließend, vielmehr überschneiden sich die Planungs- und Steuerungsphasen zunehmend. Aus diesem Grund ist das Ziel dieses Beitrags, eine Abgrenzung von Planung und Steuerung unter der Berücksichtigung aktueller Entwicklungen durchzuführen. Der Beitrag wird den Stand der Wissenschaft im Bereich der Planung und Steuerung von Intralogistiksystemen beschreiben sowie sich mit der Frage beschäftigen, inwiefern Planung und Steuerung unter den sich ändernden Gegebenheiten voneinander abgrenzbar sind.As a result of increasing individualization and fluctuating demand, new production concepts are developed that enable dynamic adaptation to changing conditions. These new concepts require that not only products, but also machines and workplaces can be moved short term. In this context, intralogistics is facing the challenge of ensuring efficient material supply. Up to now, this could be realized by well-coordinated planning and control processes. In future, planning processes will be shifted further into operation, due to adjustments that are made during the complete intralogistic operations. Today, the transition between planning and control is not only continuous, rather the planning and control phases increasingly overlap. For this reason, the aim of this article is to delimit planning and control while considering current developments. The article describes the state of the art in the field of planning and control of intralogistics systems. It will also deal with the question to which extent planning and control can be delimited from each other under changing conditions

Telomere length in circulating leukocytes is associated with lung function and disease

Several clinical studies suggest the involvement of premature ageing processes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Using an epidemiological approach, we studied whether accelerated ageing indicated by telomere length, a marker of biological age, is associated with COPD and asthma, and whether intrinsic age-related processes contribute to the interindividual variability of lung function. Our meta-analysis of 14 studies included 934 COPD cases with 15 846 controls defined according to the Global Lungs Initiative (GLI) criteria (or 1189 COPD cases according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria), 2834 asthma cases with 28 195 controls, and spirometric parameters (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1/FVC) of 12 595 individuals. Associations with telomere length were tested by linear regression, adjusting for age, sex and smoking status. We observed negative associations between telomere length and asthma ([beta]= -0.0452, p=0.024) as well as COPD (β= -0.0982, p=0.001), with associations being stronger and more significant when using GLI criteria than those of GOLD. In both diseases, effects were stronger in females than males. The investigation of spirometric indices showed positive associations between telomere length and FEV1 (p=1.07×10(-7)), FVC (p=2.07×10(-5)), and FEV1/FVC (p=5.27×10(-3)). The effect was somewhat weaker in apparently healthy subjects than in COPD or asthma patients. Our results provide indirect evidence for the hypothesis that cellular senescence may contribute to the pathogenesis of COPD and asthma, and that lung function may reflect biological ageing primarily due to intrinsic processes, which are likely to be aggravated in lung diseases