Germany Archives - Page 55 of 59

German inventions

Did you know that these ten important everyday items were actually invented by Germans? From transportation to information technology, Germany made some of the most crucial inventions of our time!

YouTube comments:

“Fritz Haber invented the Haber-Bosch process which converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia needed for fertilizers which aided in feeding millions. Unfortunately, the same process was used in the war effort in WW1.”

“Helmut Gröttrup was not only co-inventor of the smart card, but also an outstanding rocket engineer. During World War II, he worked in the German A4 (aka V-2) rocket program under Wernher von Braun. From 1946 to 1950 he headed a group of 170 German scientists who were forced to work for the Soviet rocketry program under Sergei Korolev.”

“Thanks for the Aspirin!”

German Unification (19th Century)

The unification of Germany under Otto von Bismarck was achieved through a series of carefully timed wars, diplomatic negotiations, and internal reforms. Bismarck was known for his patience and strategic waiting, choosing the right moment for each diplomatic or military move. Unification was not forced by immediate pressures but was the result of long-term planning and waiting for favorable conditions.

Books about process

For “business processes and procedures” amazon(dot)com returned 1,800 titles. “business process management” yielded 26,000 books.

And “business processes” led to over 490,000 book titles.

Four hundred and ninety thousand. That’s a lot of books. Does this mean that Americans consider internal processes critical to the success of companies?

Deductive reasoning

In mathematics, if A = B and B = C, then A = C. Since all humans are mortal, and I am a human, then I am mortal. All dolphins are mammals, all mammals have kidneys, therefore all dolphins have kidneys.

Since all squares are rectangles, and all rectangles have four sides, so all squares have four sides. If Dennis misses work and at work there is a party, then Dennis will miss the party.

Audi assembly 2023

You can see how Audi R8, RS5, S5, A5 and Q2 is produced. There is even video of making E-engine of Audi.

https://youtu.be/fplEc51KLQ8

YouTube comments:

“Great video displaying the quality in manufacturing Audi takes in building their cars. Also, I did not know that Audi had supermodels working for them. ;)”

“The level.of automation in the factory is just amazing. The quality checks are spot on. The ergonomic set up of workstations are splendid.”

“Great content! I love this I absolutely love Audi and what they are going. They are a great company. I don’t think you would get this kind of quality from a Tesla. Keep up the great work!”

MAN truck manufacturing

How MAN trucks are made. Production by robots and employees in Scania, Renault, DAF, MACK, Freightliner etc. Manufacturing video from start to finish.

https://youtu.be/MWa2U9Rqgy8

YouTube comments:

“Convincing efficient precision machinery and correspondingly qualified personnel. My admiration.”

“Just as Tesla is revolutionary car assembly and dominate in BEVs with its Gigafactories and Gigacastings it will soon be revolutionizing in SemiTruck production and dominate in BE Trucks.”

Astronaut checklists

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is well-known for its excessive use of checklists. Over the history of this organization, checklists could be found placed all over its spacecraft, and covered everything from launch operations to spacewalk procedures and even to unlikely sudden multiple system failures. In fact, astronauts used so many checklists that Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins called his crew’s mission checklists the “fourth crew member.”

For the first few missions of a particular program (Apollo, Gemini, etc.) the astronauts have always been far less familiar with the checklists and standard procedures than the astronauts for later missions. This is because it was more likely that something unexpected would happen during the earlier missions, and the astronauts might need to “think on their feet” in order to stay alive.

In fact, it was somewhat common for the astronauts to modify their checklists “on the fly,” although they only did so reluctantly. Collins spoke about this reluctance during his post-flight briefing, saying “I don’t enjoy making changes to procedures. It seems like the crew only does that when they feel there’s some good need for it.”

Examples of NASA Checklist deviations:

Gemini 3 – the first manned Gemini mission, which had the primary goal of testing the new Gemini spacecraft. The astronauts deviated from the post landing checklist to accommodate for extra smoke from the thrusters.

Gemini 4 – the second manned Gemini mission, which included the first spacewalk by astronaut Edward H. White. Following White’s spacewalk the hatch initially failed to open, and the astronaut inside the capsule had to deviate from standard procedure in order help White to return to the spacecraft.

Mercury 9 – the last manned Mercury mission, in which the astronaut Gordon Cooper would remain in space for one full day. Electrical problems led to the failure of several systems, and as a result, Cooper prepared a revised checklist to finish his mission.

For Americans, checklists are guidelines more than fixed rules, and often are not taken very seriously. For example, NASA checklists are also places of amusement – for the Apollo 12 mission, the backup crew managed to sneak playboy pictures into the checklists which were attached to the wrists of the moonwalkers’ space suits.

Amazon’s Assembly Line

Automation, surveillance, and scientific management, or Taylorism, in the digital age compares in uncanny ways to that of the factory era spoofed by Charlie Chaplin in his film Modern Times (1936), as Sheheryar Kaoosji, Executive Director of Warehouse Worker Resource Center, Ontario, California, suggests in his 2019 commentary.

Caucus discipline

Members of the German Parliament are expected to vote with their party caucus. The term is Fraktionsdisziplin or caucus discipline.

Casting their individual votes in a unified way is the result of an internal process: party conventions define the political plattform; policy positions are worked out in detail; the parliamentary members are issued their guidelines for voting.

For in the end a party’s power and influence in the Bundestag is based on its ability think and act as a unified body.

Fraktionsdisziplin, however, does not mean Fraktionszwang – caucus coercion. On certain legislation Members of the Parliament can deviate from the party line.

They have what the Germans call the Prinzip des freien Mandats – principle of independent mandate, which on matters of conscience is greater than maintaining caucus discipline.

See the Christian Democrats in the Bundestag.

The Fractal Factory

In 1995 Hans-Jürgen Warnecke, Head of the Fraunhofer Insititute in Munich from 1993 until 2002, published the anthology Aufbruch zum Fraktalen Unternehmen: Praxisbeispiele für neues Denken und Handeln – loosely translated as Breaking out into the Fractal Company: Concrete Examples of New Thinking and Acting.

Warnecke instantly became known in the production world both in Europe and internationally. The book takes a deeper look at manufacturing processes addressing questions such as: On what principle are production processes based? How does change best occur in material flow processes? How can the quality of processes be improved?

Prof. Thomas Bauernhansl from the Institute of Industrial Manufacturing at the University of Stuttgart underscores the ongoing importance of Warnecke’s work:

“The concept of the fractal factory, which Hans-Jürgen Warnecke proposed in the 1990s, remains highly relevant and meaningful today for manufacturing companies. The visionary power of his organizational model can be seen at work in agile and flexible production structures.”

Klaus-Hardy Mühleck, considered one of the top experts among CIOs, stresses time and again the influences of Warnecke on his work.