Scientific Management 2.0 – A Design Model for Experimental Research in Production Management

Reliable and accurate predictions on future states of production systems are the objective of production theories. In this paper, the authors determined shortcomings of current deterministic models and traced them back to the poor theoretical basis of scientific research in the area. The observations resulted in the development of the concept Scientific Management 2.0 as an appropriate research methodology for production management. This new empirical approach takes into account three requirements to scientifically precise investigations: It expands existing theory by socio-technical aspects, uses embedded experiments as a profound basis for investigation and provides a design that warrants the methodical exactness required. RWTH Aachen’s Demonstration Factory represents an adequate infrastructure to prove feasibility and performance of the new approach.