From Collaborative Development to Manufacturing in Production Networks: The SmartNets Approach

Innovative, knowledge-intensive products are essential for companies to stay competitive in a globalised market. For the development of such products, small and medium-sized enterprises combine their core competences and resources in dynamic, loosely coupled networks. The basis for efficient and robust production of the newly developed subject can already be provided in the early phases of such collaboration. However, a continuous manufacturing process can only be achieved by a conscious and guided transformation from development network to production chain. This paper presents an approach from the European research project SmartNets to control and support this transformation methodologically and technologically, considering not only the organizational perspective, but also information and communication technologies, and knowledge aspects. A case study will illustrate how the transformation could be implemented in one of the project’s industrial networks.