Offering
In general, Bachelor theses are only offered in the summer term.
Registration process
- Student have to register via SPUR to participate in the assignment system of the Institute of Business Administration.
- After assignment to the Chair of Production Management, you have to regsiter at the examination office for the bachelor thesis with the following new form.
- You will be invited by e-mail to a chair-specific introductory meeting in the first weeks of lectures of the summer term. During this meeting there will be an overview of the available topics, the further procedure, and an opportunity to ask your questions.
- Taking your priorities into account, you will be assigned a topic.
- You will have 90 days to complete your thesis. These begin the day after the topic assignment.
MCS, Benedikt Helmhagen Selection of topics from previous semesters
Below you will find an overview of Bachelor thesis topics from previous years.
Important:
These topics are not offered again, but should only help you to get a first impression of possible subject areas and tasks.
Modeling of product generation changes
When introducing the successor generation of an existing product, also known as a product rollover, undesirable effects can occur between the two product generations. One example is the cannibalization of the new generation by the old product. This means that the new generation is pushed out of the market by the competing old generation. Such effects make it difficult to make decisions regarding production volumes, prices and other aspects such as the market launch date of the new generation. There are mathematical models in the literature that can be used to determine optimal decisions under various assumptions.
The aim of this bachelor thesis is to classify existing mathematical models for decision-making in product rollovers with regard to their objectives, the decisions to be made and assumptions about the market and production process. Furthermore, the respective areas of application of the models are to be worked out.
Basic literature:
Billington, C., Lee, H. L., & Tang, C. S. (1998). Successful strategies for product rollovers. MIT Sloan Management Review, 39(3), 23-32.
Simulation models in Industry 4.0
The introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies involves the digitalization of production. Production facilities are intelligently networked and increasingly automated. In Industry 4.0, there is a digital twin that represents a virtual image of a real existing production plant. This consists of data and algorithms and can be compared with the real object in real time using sensors. A digital twin can be generated using simulation software, for example. For companies, this offers the opportunity to improve planning decisions because the further behavior of the real production plant can be predicted by the digital twin.
The aim of this bachelor's thesis is to show what the prerequisites are for the successful use of simulation models as a digital twin. In addition, an overview of applications of simulation in the context of digital twins documented in the literature is to be compiled.
Basic literature:
Schluse, M., Priggemeyer, M., Atorf, L., & Rossmann, J. (2018). Experimentable digital twins-Streamlining simulation-based systems engineering for industry 4.0. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 14(4), 1722-1731.
Influence of Industry 4.0 on assembly line production
Assembly line production is a widespread concept of production organization that is used particularly in mass production. One disadvantage of assembly line production is its susceptibility to faults. For example, if one station breaks down, the other stations can also be affected. Previous stations can no longer pass on their workpieces, while subsequent stations no longer receive any workpieces to be processed.
Technological innovations, such as cyber-physical systems that allow communication between stations, promise new possibilities for solving such problems.
In this bachelor thesis, an analysis of the literature will be carried out to determine the extent to which technological innovations, especially in the context of Industry 4.0, can be used to minimize the negative consequences of station failures in assembly line production. Furthermore, it will be investigated which changes to existing optimization problems or even new optimization problems result from this.
Basic literature:
Müller, C., Grunewald, M., & Spengler, T. S. (2017). Redundant configuration of automated flow lines based on “Industry 4.0” technologies. Journal of Business Economics, 87(7), 877-898.
Analysis of non-stationary production networks
In view of shorter product development and life cycles, increasing customer-specific customization and constantly changing customer preferences, many demand processes are not stationary.
demand processes are not stationary. The ability to analyze dynamic production systems with multiple products and limited buffer capacity is important for estimating throughput rates, lead times, and evaluating the impact of proposed capacity and resource allocations. Various approximate approaches to analytically determine these performance metrics can be found in the scientific literature.
The aim of the thesis is to classify the approach described in the basic literature into the literature, to implement it and to carry out an additional numerical experiment. The numerical results are to be critically evaluated with regard to computing time and approximation quality.
Basic literature:
Hanumantha, G. J., & Askin, R. G. (2021). Approximations for dynamic multi-class manufacturing systems with priorities and finite buffers. IISE Transactions, 53(9), 974-989.
Use of lean management in digitalization
Lean management is established and widespread in industry. It aims to make the entire value chain waste-free and efficient. Industrial processes are intelligently networked through digitalization and the resulting data is evaluated in order to further increase the efficiency of the industrial company. In practice, lean management methods are used together with digital technologies.
The aim of this Bachelor's thesis is to provide a literature review of existing use cases from the industrial sector involving the joint use of lean management methods and digital technologies. The necessary prerequisites for a successful implementation of lean management and digitalization are also to be worked out.
Basic literature:
Deuse, J., Dombrowski, U., N?hring, F., Mazarov, J., & Dix, Y. (2020). Systematic combination of Lean Management with digitalization to improve production systems on the example of Jidoka 4.0. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 12,1-9.
Hospital queueing networks
In hospitals, the patient's treatment process begins with the diagnosis. This includes, for example, X-rays or computer tomography. Once this step has been completed, the patient's therapy follows. The patient often passes through various wards and departments of the hospital during the treatment process. Both the number of patients and the duration of treatment are subject to uncertainty. Nevertheless, the hospital aims to ensure that patients receive perfect care during their treatment process. The basis for this is the coverage of personnel requirements. The processes in the hospital can be modeled as queueing networks. These models can then be used to determine the achievable service level in terms of waiting times and length of stay in the hospital for a given staffing level. This in turn can be used to determine the staffing requirements for a given service level.
The aim of this bachelor thesis is to provide a literature review of existing models of queueing networks for staffing planning in hospitals.
Basic literature:
Izady, N., & Worthington, D. (2012). Setting staffing requirements for time dependent queueing networks: The case of accident and emergency departments. European Journal of Operational Research, 219(3), 531-540.
