Globale FuE-Aktivitäten deutscher Unternehmen: Die Globalisierung hat bislang zu keinem Ausverkauf deutscher Entwicklungskompetenz geführt

Mitte der 2000er Jahre gab es deutliche Anzeichen, dass nicht nur die Produktion, sondern auch die industrielle Forschung und Entwicklung (FuE) dem Standort Deutschland zunehmend den Rücken kehrt. "Zuerst die Produktion und dann die Entwicklung", so wurde damals plakativ vor einem Ausverkauf des Industriestandorts Deutschland gewarnt. Seit 10 Jahren ist allerdings die Quote der Unternehmen, die Produktionskapazitäten ins Ausland verlagern, kontinuierlich rückläufig. Die Produktion bildet weiterhin den Kern der deutschen Industrie. Heute agieren viele Unternehmen des Verarbeitenden Gewerbes mit ihren Produktionskapazitäten global, aber von einer starken Heimatbasis aus. Die Globalisierung der deutschen Industrie hat in den letzten 10 Jahren nicht Halt vor den Innovationsaktivitäten gemacht. Jedoch zeigt die vorliegende Mitteilung, dass sich das vormals diagnostizierte Gefahrenpotenzial des Ausverkaufs der deutschen Entwicklungskompetenz nicht eingestellt hat. Nur 1,4 Prozent aller Betriebe haben zwischen 2010 und 2012 entsprechende FuE-Kapazitäten ins Ausland verlagert. Die Motive, warum die Unternehmen ins Ausland verlagert haben, könnten allerdings zukünftig wieder an Bedeutung gewinnen, so dass sich die Gefahr auch wieder steigen könnte

Auswirkungen der Corona-Krise auf betriebliche Transformationsprozesse in produzierenden Unternehmen: Begleitforschung zur Arbeitsweltberichterstattung im Auftrag des BMAS, Bd. 2

Vor dem Hintergrund der weitreichenden staatlichen Eingriffe zur Eindämmung des Coronavirus seit dem Frühjahr 2020 fragt die vorliegende Studie, wie sich diese Maßnahmen auf betriebliche Transformationsprozesse bei produzierenden Unternehmen auswirkten. Fünf Fallstudien produzierender Unternehmen unterschiedlicher Größen und Branchen liefern dabei qualitative Einblicke in die betrieblichen Umgangsweisen mit der Krise und diskutieren die Auswirkungen der Krise auf laufende Transformationsprozesse. Im Fall des kleinsten Unternehmens für Oberflächenveredelungen stoppte die Krise die Transformation betrieblicher Innovationsprozesse abrupt (Fall A). Im Fall eines weltweit führenden Spezialisten für Sensortechniken hatte die Krise kaum Auswirkungen auf dessen laufende Vorbereitungen für industrielle Transformationen (Fall B). Im Fall eines traditionellen Lieferanten hochwertiger Komponenten bremste die Corona-Krise die avisierte digitale Transformation (Fall C). Im Fall eines innovativen Unternehmens der Medizintechnikbranche verlangsamte sich dessen starkes Wachstum aufgrund der Corona-Pandemie (Fall D). Im letzten Fall eines großen Lieferanten und Produzenten für Bahntechniken beschleunigte die Krise eher den seit Jahrzehnten laufenden Transformationsprozess des Unternehmens (Fall E). Die Untersuchung liefert außerdem Einschätzungen, wie produzierende Unternehmen bei der Krisenbewältigung zukünftig besser unterstützt werden können.Against the backdrop of far-reaching state interventions to contain the Corona virus since the early 2020s, this study asks how these measures have affected transformation processes in manufacturing companies. Five case studies of producing firms of different sizes and from different industries provide qualitative insights into how businesses have dealt with the crisis, discussing the impact of the crisis on ongoing transformation processes. In the case of the smallest company in the sample (case A), the crisis abruptly halted the transformation of its innovation processes. In the case of a world-leading sensor technology specialist (case B), the crisis had little impact on its ongoing preparations for industrial transformation. In the case of a traditional supplier of high-quality components (case C), the Corona crisis slowed down the process of digital transformation. In the case of an innovative company in the medical technology sector (case D), its rapid growth was decelerated due to the Corona crisis. In the last case of a large developer and producer of railway technologies (case E), the crisis accelerated the company's ongoing transformation in terms of new digital products, work processes and management styles. The study also provides an assessment of how manufacturing companies can be better supported in overcoming the crisis

Absorptive Capacity in auswärtigen Niederlassungen multinationaler Unternehmen: Eine vergleichende Analyse der Wissens­absorptions­prozesse zweier Unternehmen aus der Antriebstechnik

Global markets increasingly require the knowledge-intensive activities of multinational companies to be distributed geographically. This means a shift is taking place in the role of their foreign subsidiaries from purely low-cost production sites to active research and development (R&D) units that contribute decisively to the company’s innovation processes. To meet the requirements associated with this, the foreign subsidiaries of such firms are expected to show an appropriate level of local innovativeness. This innovativeness is closely connected to their absorptive capacity

System dynamics modelling of the European demand for bio-based plastics: An analysis of scaling and learning effects and framework conditions on price competitiveness and market growth

Bio-based plastics are used as raw materials in a wide range of applications and provide potential for mitigating climate change by lowering CO2 emissions. However, because of the high production costs compared to fossil-based alternative products, they are currently not cost competitive on the market. Moreover, the decrease of oil price as main antecedent of fossil-based plastics has even been diminishing their competiveness. Thus, the future of bio-based plastics on the market depends on the changing framework conditions, in the form of policy supports and increase in oil price. The key question that arises, in this regard, is how the linkage between the reduction of production costs and the changed framework conditions influences the competitiveness of bio-based plastics on the European market in the next 15 years period. To examine these dynamics and interaction, we developed a simple System Dynamics as a part of a research project funded by the European Union. The results of our simulation runs show a positive impact of scaling and learning effects resulting from build up and running of new capacities as well as adopting new technologies on the price of bio-based plastics and thereby on their demand on the market. However, without changed framework conditions in terms of increasing oil price and new policy incentives in the form of tax exemptions and subsidies for new technologies, bio-based plastics cannot achieve cost competitiveness on the European market in the next 15 years period

Modelling and simulating the dynamics of the European demand for bio-based plastics

Bio-based plastics are currently hardly competitive on the European market mainly due to their high production costs compared to fossil-based alternatives. A major issue in this context is the interplay between decreasing production costs and changing framework conditions and its effect on the competitiveness of bio-based plastics. In order to examine this, we developed a System Dynamics model that we use for simulations based on various assumptions defined in a high-level expert workshop. Our results show a positive influence on the market price and hence on the demand for bio-based plastics of establishing new capacities and adopting new production technologies. Despite this, bio-based plastics will not achieve cost competitiveness in the next 15-year period if framework conditions with regard to the oil price remain unchanged and if no new policy incentives are introduced such as tax exemptions and subsidies for new technologies. This negative trend is further enhanced later on by rising feedstock prices on the biomass market

Effects of automatisation and digitalisation on manufacturing companies' production efficiency and innovation performance

[Introduction] In recent years, the debate on the digitalisation of industry has gained momentum not only in the political, but also in the academic sphere. As part of a broader debate on the digitisation of life, it has touched upon many relevant dynamics of industrial transformation that will, without doubt, substantially affect the way in which production as such takes place as well as the role it plays in and for diverse value chains and innovation networks. However, as much as the digitalisation debate addresses pertinent questions for future industrial innovation and production, much of it continues to suffer from a lack of clarity regarding both the very substance of the discussion and the factual consequences that it already develops in the industrial sphere. The first and arguably most pressing issue is that while the term "digitisation" succinctly captures a generic societal trend, it conveys comparatively little about the actual (catalogue of) technologies that we mean by it. A debate that moves from a general observation of "digitisation" to a more focused analysis of "industrial digitalisation" can only then yield relevant results if it is specific about the concrete technologies involved and the concrete effects in industrial innovation and production that can be expected. In the majority of cases, specific papers like this one, will only be able to address spread and effect of a certain number of digital technologies. So far, many parts of the discussion fail to deliver on these needs for differentiation not only with regard to the concrete technologies additionally deployed but also with regard to the changes in firm performance that they are supposed to trigger. While mutually related, industrial innovation and industrial production remain distinct areas on and in which the impact of "industrial digitalisation" needs to be studied separately as the set of concrete digital technologies which matter for them differs substantially. Consequently, this paper suggests that it appears reasonable to distinguish between the diverse cause-effect relationships that occur in the course of the spread of digitalisation. These need to be clearly formulated with respect to their technological foundation as well as the area of industrial activity in which change is triggered. Hence, it proposes that a structured understanding of the broad dynamic of digitalisation that we are witnessing needs to be gradually built by hypothesising, confirming and disconfirming specific relationships. Furthermore, it appears likely that "digitalisation" of industry will take effect gradually, in a step-by-step manner, as did all past breakthrough innovations from the introduction of the steam engine and, later, electricity into the production system to the various changes in the prevalent means of transportation that the past two centuries have witnessed. Typically, the invention of breakthrough technologies first spurred a development of more, related technologies before those technologies became fully implemented as prevalent means in the production system

Resilient in der Krise: Bedeutung von Industrie 4.0 und Lean Management während der COVID-19 Pandemie

Durch den pandemiebedingten Lockdown im Frühjahr 2020 waren zahlreiche Betriebe des Verarbeitenden Gewerbes von schweren Einschränkungen betroffen. Sie mussten ihre Produktion teilweise oder vollständig herunterfahren. Einige davon hatten sich bereits im Herbst 2020 wieder von diesen schockartigen Eingriffen erholt und produzierten wieder wie vor dem Lockdown. Allerdings waren dies bei weitem nicht alle Betriebe. Die Fähigkeit, unvorhersehbaren Störereignissen, die negative Folgen mit sich bringen, vergleichsweise unbeschadet zu überstehen, wird in der Forschung als Resilienz bezeichnet. Seit der Pandemie war dieser ursprünglich psychologische Fachbegriff auch in den Wirtschaftskolumnen häufiger zu lesen. Diese Fähigkeit, sich möglichst widerstandsfähig gegenüber solchen Störereignissen zu erweisen, wurde für Betriebe zu einem entscheidenden Faktor. Plötzlich konnte von der Resilienz das Überleben des ganzen Produktionsstandorts abhängen. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich die Frage, welche Betriebe des Verarbeitenden Gewerbes die COVID-19 Pandemie besonders gut überstehen konnten und weshalb diese eine höhere Resilienz gegenüber den Einschränkungen als andere Betriebe aufwiesen. Die Analysen dieser Studie zeigen, dass sich kleine und mittelgroße Betriebe häufiger als resilient erwiesen. Deutlich wird auch, dass bei den pandemiebedingten Verlusten eine klare Polarisierung zwischen Branchen besteht. Zudem beeinflussen die Bereitschaft zur Industrie 4.0 und der Einsatz von Lean Management-Konzepten die Resilienz der Produktionsbetriebe in Deutschland in der COVID-19 Pandemie maßgeblich

Researching the effects of automation and digitalization on manufacturing companies' productivity in the early stage of industry 4.0

In recent years, great expectations have developed concerning the digitalization of industry and its potential to increase manufacturing performance. The terminology currently used in this context indicates that exponential advances are expected. Concrete case studies, however, suggest that there are in fact many forms of digitalization that need to be considered separately. Moreover, it appears that simply integrating digital technologies into production does not automatically imply increased productivity and rarely occurs as a frictionless process. Finally, anecdotal evidence suggests that digitalization occurs as part of a systemic effort, so that its specific contribution may be overrated. In this paper, we present the findings of our research into the effects of advanced manufacturing technologies (relevant for Industry 4.0) on production performance. Focusing on the early stages of digitalization, when the political term “Industry 4.0” became fashionable, we conducted an analysis based on a dataset from the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research’s 2012 German Manufacturing Survey. In addition to confirming the generally positive effects of automation technologies at that time, our results show that, while certain effects are indeed directly attributable to digitalization, these did not emerge without preconditions on their own. Furthermore, the results suggest that the "digitalization" of industry has progressed gradually, in a sequence of steps, as was the pattern for the introduction of all past breakthrough technological innovations into the production system, from the steam engine to electricity. Typically, the invention of breakthrough technologies first spurs the development of other, related technologies before these technologies become prevalent in the production system