Towards A Modular IT-Landscape For Manufacturing Companies: Framework For Holistic Software Modularization

Companies in the manufacturing sector are confronted with an increasingly dynamic environment. Thus, corporate processes and, consequently, the supporting IT landscape must change. This need is not yet fully met in the development of information systems. While best-of-breed approaches are available, monolithic systems that no longer meet the manufacturing industry's requirements are still prevalent in practical use. A modular structure of IT landscapes could combine the advantages of individual and standard information systems and meet the need for adaptability. At present, however, there is no established standard for the modular design of IT landscapes in the field of manufacturing companies' information systems. This paper presents different ways of the modular design of IT landscapes and information systems and analyzes their objects of modularization. For this purpose, a systematic literature research is carried out in the subject area of software and modularization. Starting from the V-model as a reference model, a framework for different levels of modularization was developed by identifying that most scientific approaches carry out modularization at the data structure-based and source code-based levels. Only a few sources address the consideration of modularization at the level of the software environment-based and software function-based level. In particular, no domain-specific application of these levels of modularization, e.g., for manufacturing, was identified

The Process Mining Use Case Canvas: A Framework for Developing and Specifying Use Cases

Process mining has emerged as a crucial technology for digitalization, enabling companies to analyze, visualize, and optimize their processes using system data. Despite significant developments in the field over the years, companies - notably small and medium-sized enterprises - are not yet familiar with the discipline, leaving untapped potential for its practical application in the business domain. They often struggle with understanding the potential use cases, associated benefits, and prerequisites for implementing process mining applications. This lack of clarity and concerns about the effort and costs involved hinder the widespread adoption of process mining. To address this gap between process mining theory and real-world business application, we introduce the "Process Mining Use Case Canvas", a novel framework designed to facilitate the structured development and specification of suitable use cases for process mining applications within manufacturing companies. We also connect to established methodologies and models for developing and specifying use cases for business models from related domains targeting data analytics and artificial intelligence projects. The canvas has already been tested and validated through its application in the ProMiConE research project, collaborating with manufacturing companies

The Acceptance Of The Blockchain Technology In Food Supply Chains – A Literature Review

The blockchain technology has been increasingly applied in industrial use-cases in recent years. Although the food industry fits in particular with the requirements for blockchain applications, since the actors barely know each other and trust plays a crucial role, it is not widely established in the food industry. There are efforts to increase transparency and enable traceability in food supply chains by applying blockchain technology to share data in a trustworthy way across companies and to ensure food quality standards. This technology can be further used to enable the identification of inconsistencies in sensor data and more efficient handling of food recalls across the food supply chain. The success of a new technology depends to a large extent on its acceptance by companies and their employees. This paper deals with the acceptance of such a blockchain application and presents a systematic literature review to summarize the methods and results of acceptance analyses of the blockchain technology in food supply chain s. Particular attention has been devoted to traceability. For this objective, research is analysed based on scientific methods and the results are systematically analysed