This paper gives recommendations for selecting, implementing and sustainably operating ERP systems. We indicate special aspects which are important from our point of view. The paper addresses practitioners who are responsible for ERP systems, especially IT and project managers. The structure of the paper matches the three main phases of an ERP system’s lifecycle within an enterprise: selection, implementation and operations. General process models are given for selection and implementation of ERP systems. Our suggestions stretch from project management, business process reengineering, system selection criteria, reporting and customizing to choosing key users, data migration, and user training. Operations of ERP systems are commented according to the views defined by the ARIS concept. We are focusing on organizational issues, but give also remarks on business process maintenance, exploitation of ERP functions, and data management. While other publications give rather general advice, recommendations in this paper are selected to be use-oriented and easy to apply. The recommendations do not depend on any particular ERP system.

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Industry 4.0, a part of the German high tech strategy, prefers self-organization in production over central production planning for the sake of greater flexibility, faster response to disruptions and to deviations, and less effort. Current planning systems usually plan centrally. We developed a universal self-organizing production and empirically compared its performance to a centrally planned production. Compared to most other approaches, the self-organizing production does not just schedule already existing operations, but starts with material requirements, explodes the bills of materials, creates production orders, and schedules backwards. The self-organizing production is based upon agents. For better comprehensibility, we additionally implemented central planning. The results of self-organization in production are promising in relation to central planning; especially when disruptions and deviations occur. Furthermore, the results suggest as best solution a combination of rough central planning and self-organization.

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Our universities required an eye-catcher at exhibitions, conferences, open houses etc. We decided in favor of a model factory in augmented reality demonstrating a queueing system, material flow, and aspects of production planning and control. When visitors look at an empty table 'through' their personal mobile devices, they can watch a factory producing on the table. The visitors can alter control variables and watch the factory change its behavior accordingly. We explain the underlying simulation model and its configuration, the composition and functionality of the mobile app for augmented reality, and the communication via database. Furthermore, we present a solution for the automatic generation of the model factory's layout, and we explicate how to eliminate the blurring of the model factory in augmented reality. Finally, we share experiences and user feedback from first exhibitions of the model factory and outline our plans for its future development .