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Procedia CIRP 54 (2016) 227 – 232

6th CLF - 6th CIRP Conference on Learning Factories

A seamless convergence of the digital and physical factory aiming

in personalized Product Emergence Process (PPEP) for smart
products within ESB Logistics Learning Factory at Reutlingen
University.
Beate Brennera*, Vera Hummela
a
ESB Business School, Reutlingen University,Alteburgstrasse 150, 72764 Reutlingen, Germany
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 7121 271-3116. E-mail address [email protected]

Abstract

A seamless convergence of the digital and physical factory aiming in personalized Product Emergence Process (PPEP) for
smart products within ESB Logistics Learning Factory at Reutlingen University.
A completely new business model with reference to Industrie4.0 and facilitated by 3D Experience Software in today's
networked society in which customers expect immediate responses, delightful experience and simple solutions is one of the
mission scenarios in the ESB Logistics Learning Factory at ESB Business School (Reutlingen University).
The business experience platform provides software solutions for every organization in the company respectively in the factory.
An interface with dashboards, project management apps, 3D - design and construction apps with high end visualization,
manufacturing and simulation apps as well as intelligence and social network apps in a collaborative interactive environment
help the user to learn the creation of a value end to end process for a personalized virtual and later real produced product.
Instead of traditional ways of working and a conventional operating factory real workers and robots work semi-intuitive
together. Centerpiece in the self-planned interim factory is the smart personalized product, uniquely identifiable and locatable
at all times during the production process – a scooter with an individual colored mobile phone – holder for any smart phone
produced with a 3D printer in lot size one. Smart products have in the future solutions incorporated internet based services –
designed and manufactured - at the costs of mass products. Additionally the scooter is equipped with a retrievable declarative
product memory. Monitoring and control is handled by sensor tags and a raspberry positioned on the product. The engineering
design and implementation of a changeable production system is guided by a self-execution system that independently find
amongst others esplanade workplaces.
The imparted competences to students and professionals are project management method SCRUM, customization of workflows
by Industrie4.0 principles, the enhancements of products with new personalized intelligent parts, electrical and electronic self-
programmed components and the control of access of the product memory information, to plan in a digital engineering
environment and set up of the physical factory to produce customer orders. The gained action-orientated experience refers to
the chances and requirements for holistic digital and physical systems.

©©2016
2016Published by ElsevierPublished
The Authors. B.V. This is an
byopen access article
Elsevier B.V. under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 6th CIRP Conference
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 6th CIRP Conference on Learning Factories
on Learning Factories.

Keywords: Seamless, digital cloud-based and physical learning factory, personalized product development, 3D experience software,
collaborative interactive environment, Industrie4.0 principles, SCRUM

2212-8271 © 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 6th CIRP Conference on Learning Factories
doi:10.1016/j.procir.2016.06.108
228 Beate Brenner and Vera Hummel / Procedia CIRP 54 (2016) 227 – 232

systems, designing and implementing in the digital world

1.
Introduction before transferring it into the physical environment, using agile
The rapid pace at which the world turns today and more project management methods and creating smart individual
importantly will turn in the future – think about the year 2050 products and flexible intelligent factories all in order to speed
[1], certainly poses risks, but offers at least as many great up the customer delivery process.
opportunities, because a customer wish or a brainchild born 2.1.
3D Experience Platform
today can be turned into reality in a very short time span.
The next generations [2] (latest Gen Y and Gen Z**) want to The 3D Experience platform of Dassault Systèmes [4] is a
create, customize and change – and they have the ideas and possible software solution supporting new business models
digital native [3] knowhow to do so. They hardly differentiate with reference to Industrie 4.0 implemented in the ESB
between the virtual and real world; it is simply a seamless Logistics Learning Factory- engineering and operating cockpit.
transition. 219 roles such as that of a “contract deliverable manager” or
Eminently, the rising multiple technical options will induce “visual experience designer” are integrated with special
people to control things faster and in a better direction, and functionalities.
these are the driving factors behind the new business model of
a seamless convergence of the digital and physical factory
aimed at a personalized Product Emergence Process (PPEP).
One of these new technical options is the 3DEXPERIENCE
business platform of Dassault Systèmes [4]. It provides
software solutions for every business segment in the company,
from marketing and sales to engineering, and helps companies
create differentiating consumer experiences in their value
creation process, by means of collaboration, dash boarding and
3D visualization as speech. The App-based end to end cloud
software V62015X is the platform used in the ESB Logistics
Learning Factory.
The “customer wish” is the smart personalized product - a
scooter with an individual colored mobile phone – holder with
its own energy supply for any smart phone, produced by
additive manufacturing with a 3D printer. Additionally, the Fig. 1 Surface of cloud based 3D experience software
scooter is equipped with a retrievable declarative product
memory. Monitoring and control is handled by sensor tags and 2.2.
Research question
a Raspberry Pi 2 positioned on the product. The engineering The research question, which was supposed to be answered,
design and implementation of the changeable, real and flexible can be divided into three sub-questions, out of which the first
production system is guided by a self-execution system with one is rather an applied research project:
intelligent conveyor belts, that independently finds, amongst Firstly: Design and production of a smart, personalized, multi-
others, esplanade workplaces [5] [6]. Due to the ever increasing variant product, to implement the first version of a seamless
complexity of projects, the agile project management method digital and real factory through available ICT technologies and
SCRUM [9] has been applied. flexible production technology concerning Industrie 4.0
aspects.
2.
New business model with reference to Industrie 4.0 Secondly: Can the implementation of a seamless transition
between the digital and physical factory accelerate the delivery
Intelligent products, high customization of products, flexible lead time for personalized products?
production, highly qualified professionals with a much broader Thirdly: Can students and/or seminar participants gain
knowledge base, demographically-sensitive job design and knowledge and skills about the chances and requirements of
individualization of customer requirements are all tags of planning, implementing and maintaining a seamless convergent
Industrie 4.0. Society is on its way, with large steps, to the digital and physical factory in time-limited seminars?
fourth industrial revolution - "Industrie 4.0". This announces a 3.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
technologically advanced industry by means of complex cyber- with agile project management method (SCRUM)
physical systems, distinguishing between intelligent products
and beyond smart factories [10]. Cyber-physical systems are To ensure that projects do not collapse due to their increasing
networked systems that act autonomously and remodel the complexity or the reluctance of employees and students to
entire value chain of products. Together with cloud computing, share their knowledge, the agile project management method
cyber-physical systems are the cornerstone of the fourth SCRUM [12] was introduced in the ESB Logistics Learning
industrial revolution [11]. In this area, employees are part of a Factory.
new business model, working in office 21 room zones with
digital tools, networked worldwide, handling the data on cloud
 Beate Brenner and Vera Hummel / Procedia CIRP 54 (2016) 227 – 232 229

For the mobile phone holder, 4 different colours and 32 possible

phone designs by Apple, Nokia and SAMSUNG were given as
guideline alternatives by the product owner. The product
memory should be placed on the scooter and the information
gathered should be clearly visibly available. To achieve these
goals the phone holder was constructed in CATIA V6 with
parameterization in the form of a design table and
manufactured with 3D printer Ultimaker 2 Extended.
The active product memory [13] was programmed on a
Raspberry Pi 2. Fundamentals of this active product memory
Fig.2 Agile project management method SCRUM are the intended use for manufacturers, merchants and end
customers, recording of relevant product and operating data,
A movement from rigid structures to an agile culture was
analyzing and interpreting sensor data and last but not least an
completed using the visualization of the product backlog with
active exchange of information between the environment and
product owner acceptance criteria and cost estimate with story
users e.g. direct feedback via LED or display. The realization
points; the sprint backlog with tasks, status and remaining
was done for the detection of environmental effect data e.g.
work hours; the impediment backlog with obstacles as an
icing by a python script for retrieval; remote analysis; and
instrument to escalate; the task board published in the printout
dissemination of sensor data. The “warning or go”- information
format A1 to show the rate of progress of the sprint backlog;
of the translated data was given out on a LCD display.
and the burndown chart with the graph on the zero line at the
end of the planned project duration. The roles are played by one
or two product owners who could be a customer or a factory
owner, or in the master project in question, the professor and
the project coordinator; a scrum master of the student group
who must ultimately make project-related decisions but
without managerial authority; and the project team – a group
of students, ideally not more than seven persons who are able
to subdivide the complete work content of the project in the
sprint backlog. Daily SCRUM meetings and almost weekly
review meetings are factors of a successful result, supported by
mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones with
WhatsApp groups located in the ESB Logistics Learning
Factory (LLF) in rooms for project working, brainstorming,
relevant ideas and problem solving, SCRUM meetings and
internal conferences.
4.
Personalized Product Emergence Process (PPEP) for Fig.4 Real product scooter with cellphone case holder and active product
the smart personalized product, development and memory Raspberry Pi 2
manufacturing
5.
Digital and physical ESB Logistics Learning Factory
The customer requirements alone were crucial for the
development of the product – the scooter with two individual The LLF is equipped with a continuously integrated product
and process planning environment (so called “Engineering &
components namely a cell phone holder with its own power Operations Cockpit (EOC)”) as well as various kinds of
supply, and a retrievable declarative product memory. physical infrastructure, allowing for the design of realistic work
and logistics systems. Based on the defined products and
customer orders this learning environment allows the
participants to plan, validate, realize and optimize a production
system holistically. The “EOC” relies mainly on tools for
product and process engineering as well as for operations
management.
The engineering consists of different tools [14] of the software
company Dassault Systèmes, such as the centerpiece CATIA
for computer-aided design, ENOVIA for product data
management and DELMIA for process and resource planning
and simulation, so that most of the required data and
functionalities are integrated into a single platform, and
programming of software interfaces can be avoided. In
addition, different production scenarios can be planned and
validated with comparatively low effort and within a short
Fig.3 Development and additive manufacturing of the personalized product
period of time. Before the changes are executed in the physical
230 Beate Brenner and Vera Hummel / Procedia CIRP 54 (2016) 227 – 232

factory environment, the gathered information from the shop analyses for the operations were defined with the UAS process
floor level is aggregated, analyzed, interpreted and integrated with the time analysis APP. The line balancing is auto-
into planning to optimize and restructure the production system matically calculated in the workload balancing App. The
digitally. shoring simulation of the product is launched on the Play
button in the compass of the software and determines the
assembly or the traverse tracks. The simulation of the working
system was initiated in the process planning App after the
definition of the precedence relations and passing direction.
The work instructions for the blues were generated with film
sequences and their respective screenshots with marking in the
work instructions App . In addition, utility films were used at
the workstations.

Fig. 5 Digital planning environment and physical learning factory

The digital learning factory environment can also be used to

initiate rescheduling actions or to introduce turbulences (e.g.
high priority customer orders from the online shop,
malfunctions of infrastructure or resources etc.) which have to
be solved manually by the participants or semi-automated by
the respective planning and control systems of the EOC.
To ensure an improved support of changeable production
scenarios and decentralized control structures [15] a cloud-
based so-called “Self-Execution System (SES)” framework has
been developed in cooperation with the IT company BECOS.

5.1 Digital Engineering processes

Nowadays, the customization of workflows regarding Industrie

4.0 principles has already started. For a working scenario in the
LLF, the idea was posted in the social network App 3DSwYm Fig.6 Digital Factory represented in the 3D Experience software
and proven as an idea portal online. Change of information
across organizations, with a focal point on knowledge and 5.2 Physical Learning Factory
value creation, communities for interdisciplinary communi-
cation and the transfer of data for each member takes place in Following the focus of the LLF, a large variety of assembly and
this App. The scooter project was generated in the project logistics infrastructure is available for the participants to
management APP of ENOVIA. Project decisions and implement and optimize production systems.
controls, targets, schedules, milestones, contract contents as Assembly system
well as chat and collaboration functionality was performed A modular pipe construction system can be used by the learners
therein. The design data of the scooter was migrated and to build various kinds of customized physical infrastructure
opened in the design App of CATIA from a legacy V6 system such as assembly, quality check and packaging workstations.
with a 3DXML file. The parameterized cell phone holder was All installations can be reconfigured or optimized easily, e.g.
to resolve ergonomic issues identified by the learners during
designed with a design table in a construction APP of CATIA.
the workshop. Since all workstations are mobile and equipped
The assembly processes were loaded in the process planning
with wireless communication technology and accumulator
App of DELMIA. The labor system was automatically created
batteries, there are no limitations regarding changes to the
with stations and jobs in the line with the EBOM. The MBOM
factory layout. The workers at the assembly stations can use
is generated when assemblies are combined and the product is mobile tablet-pc`s, e.g. to receive orders, to send information
linked to the process. back to the planning system, to access multimedia-based work
The design phase of the 3D layout was executed in the plant instructions or to analyse specific production processes. The
layout application by implementing resources, workers, access or feedback of information can take place manually or
conveyor belts etc. partial from catalog libraries. The time automatically, e.g. by using RFID-technology embedded on the
 Beate Brenner and Vera Hummel / Procedia CIRP 54 (2016) 227 – 232 231

product itself or on the jigs. For storage purposes, racks for 6.
Results and lesson learned
boxes and pallets can be created using the modular pipe system
already mentioned. Besides manual pallet trucks and transport The overall concept regarding the knowledge and competence
trolleys, different kinds of autonomous guided vehicles development within the LLF is composed by defined learning
goals, the corresponding learning contents, strategies to
(AGVs) as well as an intelligent continuous conveyor system
achieve action competence and the learning environment which
are available for material transport. By means of the plug-and-
covers digital tools for an integrated product and process
play functionality and local control units in each conveyor
planning and the physical infrastructure to realize the
module, the modules can be combined to user-defined
developed solutions.
conveying lines without the need of a central control entity.
To achieve the given objective, here the research questions, of
Human-Machine-Interfaces (HMI)
providing the learner with the relevant skills and competences,
To automate specific process or to facilitate the work of the
a multi-staged qualification concept is used. This concept
workers, two collaborative robots (“Rethink Robotics Baxter”
contains phases of self-study, instruction, practice and the self-
and “Universal Robots UR10”) can be implemented into the
work system. Through sonar and tactile sensors, these robots dependent action and experience oriented application of
are able to collaborate with workers without protective fences. methods within a comprehensive and complex project in the
learning factory. The objective evaluation of the execution of
These robots can also be taught directly by moving the robot
the given task can be conducted based on specific indicators
joints, which allows these robots to be integrated quickly for
such as capacity utilization, throughput times, quality
specific tasks directly by the worker. Learners are therefore
performance indicators, on-time delivery or other relevant
able to experience the potentials and limitations of
measures such as personalized product design depending on the
collaborative robots, which should not replace the worker but
learning goals. But more important than these objective criteria
assist him/her in a practice-oriented manner and examine the
is the reflection of the learners group regarding the learned
effects of this technical assistance system on the capacities,
methods, the decisions made and the exchange of individual
throughput times or physical strain of selected work tasks. For
experiences according to the adopted role within the team.
more complex tasks, these robots can be also programmed via
It was an extensive project. The first component of the research
the open-source framework ROS.
question was to design and produce a smart personalized
product with variants, to realize the first version of a seamless
digital and real factory with innovative ICT technologies and a
hybrid intelligent production systems concerning Industrie 4.0
aspects was peripherally achieved. The personalized product
part has more than 100 variants. An extensive amount of
training was required, especially in the field of the digital tools.
The students learnt to understand the principle of intelligent
product, customization as well as the necessity of consistent
product, process and resource data.

The reflection process with all participants showed that:

They had the impression to understand for the first time
what could be meant by Industrie 4.0 and the aspects of
Fig.7 ESB Logistics Learning Factory
intelligent products, self-steering systems, and seamless
Additive manufacturing technology processes between the digital and physical world.
The realization of the product idea was achieved via the

They could gain competences and experiences in using an
additive manufacturing process. The characteristics quality, engineering system integrated in one platform without any
process quality, temperature stability and building space were interfaces.
decisive for the purchase of two 3D printers. The model

They experienced that even having a comprehensive 3D
Ultimaker Extended 2 meets the requirements excellently and Experience System with apps and predefined roles, a lot of
is also suitable for the living room, because the fused preparation and knowledge in using the tools is required.
deposition modelling is very quiet. To implement the 3D

They learnt how important it is to have correct data
printing process into the production scenario, the material – throughout the entire process chain.
filament PLA (Polylactid), must first be determined. The

Having done all the design and conceptual work with the
optimal printing parameters were specified in the slicing digital tools and proven the concept in the virtual
software Cura. The printing time for the holder is approx. 6 environment, a fast ramp-up of knowledge was possible.
hours and for the cellphone case approx. 15-18 hours. Thus, the No trial and error actions were required.
bottleneck in the production is identified, keeping in

Validation of the digital solution is mandatory and the
consideration the period assembly of the scooter of about 7 structure of the real factory may still pose challenges
minutes. The processes employed in the LLF are Rapid which are not noticed in the digital world.
Prototyping in the product development phase and Rapid

By having designed a parameterized product, customer
Tooling for the construction of mounting devices. specific orders can be produced rapidly.


Having realized a seamless digital and real factory with
232 Beate Brenner and Vera Hummel / Procedia CIRP 54 (2016) 227 – 232

ICT technologies, a flexible intelligent production change such powerful comprehensive engineering tools such as 3D
and adaption to new requirements can be made faster. experience and innovative production technologies in context


A cloud solution is not always the best solution: If the of Industrie 4.0. In addition, a review method specifically for
cloud becomes unreachable for reasons such as server “a seamless digital and physical factory” will be developed to
problems and no back-up means of data storage has been evaluate with qualitative and quantitative indicators the
employed, there is no data for your production of the learning success of the dedicated modules and seminars.
personalized product. A cloud system alone is thus
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