This book considers the concepts of organisational learning and the learning organisation, and critically examines their take up within the context of four contemporary work organisations in the European automotive sector. Within this dynamic environment, the pursuit and implementation of approaches that encourage individuals to learn and challenge existing orthodoxy are now dominant on the management agenda. Changes to processes, structures, cultures and the employment relationship per se.
The book provides a detailed theoretical framework and a case study on how FDI in the form of knowledge transfer from overseas MNEs contributes to the upgrading of regional manufacturing clusters. Although regional clusters have been the subject of many books, this book is one of the few that explicitly links regional clusters to global networks. It explains how being part of global networks can both facilitate and hinder the development of a regional cluster.
In January 2000, Mercedes-Benz started to implement the Mercedes-Benz Prod- tion System (MPS) throughout its world-wide passenger car plants. This event is exemplary of a trend within the automotive industry: the creation and introduction of company-specific standardised production systems. It gradually emerged with the introduction of the Chrysler Operating System (COS) in the mid-1990s and represents a distinct step in the process towards implementing the universal pr- ciples of lean thinking as propagated by the MIT-study. For the academic field of industrial sociology and labour policy, the emergence of this trend seems to mark a new stage in the evolution of the debate about production systems in the auto- tive industry (Jürgens 2002:2), particularly as it seems to undermine the stand of the critics of the one-best way model (Boyer and Freyssenet 1995). The introduction of company-level standardised production systems marks the starting point of the present study. At the core of it is a case study about the M- cedes Benz Production System (MPS).
This book reviews the extraordinary promise of technological advances over the next twenty years or so, and assesses some of the key issues -- economic, social, environmental, ethical -- that decision-makers in government, business and society will face in the decades ahead.
This edited volume contains original chapters by some of the leading researchers and writers in HRD. It provides a definitive work on the design and conduct of research in HRD and identifies and examines the possibilities and limitations of particular methods and techniques. Emerging debates on the purpose, nature and practice and theoretical base of HRD are examined. Each chapter is structured with: * Statement of aims * Description of theoretical and empirical context^ * Identification and examination of methodological issues * Description and evaluation of research design * Critical analysis and evaluation * Key learning points
For the last century, the automotive industry has been dominated by internal combustion engines. Their flexibility of application, driving range, performance and sporty characteristics has resulted in several generations of this technology and has formed generations of engineers. But that is not the end of the story. Stricter legislation and increased environmental awareness have resulted in the development of new powertrain technologies in addition and parallel to the highly optimized internal combustion engine. Hybrid powertrains systems, pure battery electric systems and fuel cell systems, in conjunction with a diverse range of applications, have increased the spectrum of powertrain technologies. Furthermore, automated driving together with intelligent and highly connected systems are changing the way to get from A to B. Not only is the interaction of all these new technologies challenging, but also several different disciplines have to collaborate intensively in order for new powertrain systems to be successfully developed. These new technologies and the resulting challenges lead to an increase in system complexity. Approaches such as systems engineering are necessary to manage this complexity. To show how systems engineering manages the increasing complexity of modern powertrain systems, by providing processes, methods, organizational aspects and tools, this book has been structured into five parts. Starting with Challenges for Powertrain Development, which describes automotive-related challenges at different levels of the system hierarchy and from different point of views. The book then continues with the core part, Systems Engineering, in which all the basics of systems engineering, model-based systems engineering, and their related processes, methods, tools, and organizational matters are described. A special focus is placed on important standards and the human factor. The third part, Automotive Powertrain Systems Engineering Approach, puts the fundamentals of systems engineering into practice by adding the automotive context. This part focuses on system development and also considers the interactions to hardware and software development. Several approaches and methods are presented based on systems engineering philosophy. Part four, Powertrain Development Case Studies, adds the practical point of view by providing a range of case studies on powertrain system level and on powertrain element level and discusses the development of hybrid powertrain, internal combustion engines, e-drives, transmissions, batteries and fuel cell systems. Two case studies on a vehicle level are also presented. The final part, Outlook, considers the development of systems engineering itself with particular focus on information communication technologies. Even though this book covers systems engineering from an automotive perspective, many of the challenges, fundamental principles, conclusions and outlooks can be applied to other domains too. Therefore, this book is not only relevant for automotive engineers and students, but also for specialists in scientific and industrial positions in other domains and anyone who has to cope with the challenge of successfully developing complex systems with a large number of collaborating disciplines.
Globally, manufacturing facilities have taken a new turn with a mix of advanced robotics to fully unify production systems. Today's era of manufacturing has embraced smart manufacturing techniques by delving into intelligent manufacturing system of advances in robotics, controllers, sensors, and machine learning giving room for every aspect of the plant to be constantly accessible, monitored, controlled, redesigned, and adapted for required adjustments. Skill development within the manufacturing sector presents the advantage of high-quality products and can as well address long-term employment concerns through job creation. The development of skills for sustainable manufacturing is crucial to ensuring an efficient transition to a competitive economy by matching supply and demand for key skills. A number of factors ranging from green innovation, climate change, advances in technology, and global economic downturn are driving the need for a competitive and sustainable manufacturing value chain. The complexity of today's factories calls for new and existing workers to up-skill in order to influence design changes and production efficiency toward sustainable manufacturing.
This book tackles the recent research trends on the role of AI in advancing automotive manufacturing, augmented reality, sustainable development in smart cities, telemedicine, and robotics. It sheds light on the recent AI innovations in classical machine learning, deep learning, Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, knowledge representation, knowledge management, big data, and natural language processing (NLP). The edited book covers empirical and reviews studies that primarily concentrate on the aforementioned issues, which would assist scholars in pursuing future research in the domain and identifying the possible future developments of AI applications.
