Open Access

Tingni Xu, Anne Bernardy, Matthias Bertling, Peter Burggräf, Volker Stich, Matthias Dannapfel

• This paper addresses the challenge of a systematic requirement-oriented configuration and selection of cyber physical systems (CPS) for SMEs. As the key technologies of realizing the digitalization and interconnection of production processes, manufacturing companies have realized the potential benefits brought by CPS. However, due to the complexity and fast development of CPS technology, it is difficult for SMEs, which lack expertise and financial resources, to select the appropriate CPS technologies meeting both functional and financial requirements. To overcome the issue, an online matching platform is developed to let SMEs express their needs and assist them onceptualize the individual CPS. This paper presents the matching methodology of the matching platform, which can not only match technical characteristics but also evaluate economic potentials. Then, it was demonstrated by a tracking and tracing use case in the end-of-line assembly of a small-sized German electric automobile manufacturer.