Keynote Speakers

Abstract

Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes and systems are instrumental for defining medium to long term planning scenarios for global supply chains in the automotive industry. S&OP facilitates the definition of realistic plans across internal and external supply chains. Long term plans for sales, production and supply chain capacities form the framework for achieving customer service level requirements as well as internal turnover and efficiency targets. By considering the effects of unplanned events in the long-term stages of supply chain planning, necessary actions can be defined and taken early. As a result, the resilience of supply chain operations grows.

ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a German tier-1 automotive supplier is engaged in a programme for establishing standardised S&OP processes that utilise standard IT systems. The keynote speech will highlight the importance of defining end-to-end processes across business functions, taking a human-centric approach when implementing these processes and the related IT systems as well as modelling and managing the complex dataspaces at the core of the S&OP systems.

Profile

Mr Gregor von Cieminski joined ZF Friedrichshafen AG in 2009 and has served in expert and leadership roles in the area of Supply Chain Management. He has implemented and optimized supply chain planning systems at production plants world-wide and managed teams responsible for end-to-end supply chain planning processes. He is past-chairperson of IFIP Working Group 5.7 on Advances in Production Management Systems.

Abstract

Advanced manufacturing is increasingly recognized as a complex socio-technical system in which technology, organization, and human capabilities continuously co-evolve. In an era of rapid digital acceleration, the central question is no longer how to replace human work, but how to design systems that effectively support, augment, and empower it.

Over the next 5–10 years, European manufacturing will face a dual challenge: strengthening competitiveness and resilience in an uncertain global landscape, while ensuring that digital transformation remains sustainable, inclusive, and genuinely human-centric. Meeting this challenge requires a shift toward adaptive production systems capable of accommodating workforce diversity and ageing, while enabling more personalized and flexible working conditions.

Digital technologies play a pivotal role in this transition. Artificial intelligence, collaborative robotics, advanced human–machine interfaces, and Human Digital Twins enable the design of workplaces that dynamically adapt to workers’ physical and cognitive characteristics. In this perspective, inclusion extends beyond disability, encompassing broader dimensions such as ageing, skills variability, and individual differences.

Rather than converging toward a single optimal configuration, future manufacturing systems will need to continuously reconfigure around people — learning from them, evolving with them, and reshaping the very notion of efficiency in a truly human-centered industrial paradigm.

Profile

Daria Battini is Full Professor of Industrial Systems and Logistics at the University of Padua (Italy). She holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering. She is Principal Investigator of the EU project MAIA (H2020-MSCA-RISE), Spoke Coordinator of MICS (Made in Italy Circular and Sustainable), and Scientific Coordinator of the regional project SHIELD. She has published over 170 scientific papers and is listed among the “World’s Top 2% Scientists” (Stanford–Elsevier). She is Editor of the International Journal of Production Economics and Associate Editor of Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain. She is a member of IFAC, EUROMA, IEEE, an ISO expert and vice-chair for education of IFAC TC 5.2.

Affiliation:

Daria Battini, Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padua (Italy), Stradella San Nicola 3, Vicenza. Email: Daria.battini@unipd.it.

Abstract

Sustainable production and consumption systems have become an urgent priority. Yet empirical evidence shows that up to half of the potential benefits from sustainability innovations are offset by rebound effects, where behavioural and systemic responses undermine intended gains. Why do these rebound effects occur, and why do current design and decision-making practices struggle to anticipate them? This keynote addresses these questions by unpacking the mechanisms that trigger rebound effects across production and consumption systems. Building on this foundation, it introduces the concept of reboundless design as a shift from improving relative efficiency to ensuring absolute impact. By reframing sustainability as an absolute rather than relative objective, the presentation challenges prevailing assumptions in industrial practice and proposes a pathway towards production and consumption systems capable of meeting human needs within planetary boundaries.

Profile

Daniela C. A. Pigosso is Professor of Design for Absolute Sustainability at the Technical University of Denmark and Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded REBOUNDLESS and REBOUNDLESS POLICIES projects. Her research focuses on advancing Design for Sustainability through the integration of engineering design, rebound effects, circular economy, and absolute sustainability perspectives. She has led and contributed to more than 20 national and international research and innovation projects, working in close collaboration with industry and public-sector stakeholders. Her work aims to bridge the gap between sustainability theory and implementation, with a particular emphasis on enabling systemic, impact-oriented design approaches. Daniela serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Design Society and has published extensively in high-impact journals. Her research has achieved international recognition and has contributed to shaping both industrial practices and policy frameworks in the transition towards sustainable production and consumption systems.

Abstract

For numerous industrial enterprises, the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) is unequivocal. However, the pathway to harnessing its full value remains less defined. In sectors such as machinery and advanced manufacturing, AI demonstrates capabilities in enhancing diagnostics, automating knowledge retrieval, forecasting maintenance requirements, and increasing customer autonomy. Nevertheless, these advantages do not materialize solely through the deployment of algorithms or machine connectivity. Success depends on a comprehensive transformation wherein data, organizational routines, customer interfaces, technical competencies, and ecosystem relationships are systematically aligned around a new paradigm of value creation.

This presentation explores SCM Group’s evolution from a machinery manufacturer to a trusted business partner, employing servitization as a strategic framework through which digital transformation gains significance. Drawing on SCM Group’s roadmap, the study demonstrates how industrial data, in conjunction with human expertise, can be recombined to form collective intelligence. This recombination fosters innovative service experiences while simultaneously presenting managerial challenges such as data governance, cross-functional adoption, capability development, leadership alignment, and the necessity of balancing exploitation of existing business models with exploration of new value paradigms.

Consequently, this presentation redefines AI-enabled servitization as a strategic design challenge rather than merely a technological implementation: it requires going beyond AI’s capabilities to encompass the organizational and ecosystem conditions necessary for AI to generate meaningful, experiential value for customers. The concluding perspective emphasizes that the acceleration of servitization via AI is contingent upon firms managing the interdependencies among technology, personnel, data, and partners with the same disciplined approach applied to products, projects, and markets.

Profile

Alessandra Benedetti is an Italian and U.S. executive at SCM Group, where she leads enterprise transformation and technology initiatives within the machinery and advanced manufacturing sector. Since joining SCM Group in 2005, she has held senior leadership roles across Service, Spare Parts, Digital Transformation, and Business Remodeling, contributing to the evolution of after-sales from a transactional function into a strategic lever for customer relationship development, operational excellence, profitability, and business model innovation. With extensive international experience, including several years living and working in the United States, she brings a strong cross-functional background in general management, customer care, operations, project management, and P&L responsibility. Her work focuses on digitalization, servitization, AI-enabled transformation, data-driven decision-making, and the transition of manufacturing firms from product-centric organizations toward customer- and ecosystem-oriented solution providers. Alessandra holds a degree in Management Engineering from the University of Bologna, an MBA from SDA Bocconi School of Management, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration at SDA Bocconi, where her research examines how objective AI literacy shapes employees’ receptivity to enterprise generative AI tools.