Successfully completed Ph.D. thesis by Sebastian Groß
Doctoral student Sebastian Groß after his virtual disputation
On 04.02.2021, the dissertation's disputation with the title "Agile production control for (re-)manufacturing systems" of Sebastian Groß took place. The Ph.D. was carried out in cooperation between the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld (UCB) of the Trier University of Applied Sciences and the University of Luxembourg (UL) and financed by the Interreg V A Greater Region Project Robotix-Academy. Within the framework of the work supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Gerke (UCB) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Plapper (UL), a production control concept and system, was devel-oped that considers the unique requirements of remanufacturing and the integration of auto-mated guided vehicles into it. Remanufacturing is a process in which used products are trans-formed into a new valuable state. A control architecture that uses AI-based optimization meth-ods and the networking of all manufacturing resources and thus leads to a holistic cyber-physical system was developed.
In simulation studies, a lead time reduction of 35.6 % could be demonstrated compared to other current solutions. Furthermore, the approach can react adequately and quickly to unexpected events, such as machine failures or new orders. The approach could also be validated by successfully controlling a model factory located at UCB in a realistic environment.
Other members of the jury were Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Scholzen (UL), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Freitag (BIBA, University of Bremen) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rainer Müller (ZeMA gGmbH, Saarland University). Also, about 15 other people from industry and research participated in Mr. Groß's presentation.
Sebastian Groß successfully defended his thesis during his 30-minute lecture and the subsequent 90-minute question and answer session, thus earning the title "Docteur de l' Uni-versité du Luxembourg en Sciences de l' Ingenieur".
Trier University of Applied Sciences, Environmental Campus Birkenfeld Institut for Operations and Technology Management (IBT) Campusallee 9925 55768 Hoppstädten-Weiersbach Germany