TY - JOUR A1 - Albanna, Walid A1 - Conzen, Catharina A1 - Weiss, Miriam A1 - Seyfried, Katharina A1 - Kotliar, Konstantin A1 - Schmidt, Tobias Philip A1 - Kuerten, David A1 - Hescheler, Jürgen A1 - Bruecken, Anne A1 - Schmidt-Trucksäss, Arno A1 - Neumaier, Felix A1 - Wiesmann, Martin A1 - Clusmann, Hans A1 - Schubert, Gerrit Alexander T1 - Non-invasive assessment of neurovascular coupling after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a prospective observational trial using retinal vessel analysis JF - Frontiers in Neurology N2 - Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a common complication after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and can lead to infarction and poor clinical outcome. The underlying mechanisms are still incompletely understood, but animal models indicate that vasoactive metabolites and inflammatory cytokines produced within the subarachnoid space may progressively impair and partially invert neurovascular coupling (NVC) in the brain. Because cerebral and retinal microvasculature are governed by comparable regulatory mechanisms and may be connected by perivascular pathways, retinal vascular changes are increasingly recognized as a potential surrogate for altered NVC in the brain. Here, we used non-invasive retinal vessel analysis (RVA) to assess microvascular function in aSAH patients at different times after the ictus. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.690183 SN - 1664-2295 VL - 12 IS - 12 SP - 1 EP - 15 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grundlach, Michael A1 - Baumann, Martin A1 - Engelmann, Ulrich M. ED - Dössel, Olaf T1 - How Multimodal Examinations Can Increase Sustainable Student Gain by Aligning Teaching and Assessment JF - Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering N2 - Modern industry and multi-discipline projects require highly trained individuals with resilient science and engineering back-grounds. Graduates must be able to agilely apply excellent theoretical knowledge in their subject matter as well as essential practical “hands-on” knowledge of diverse working processes to solve complex problems. To meet these demands, university education follows the concept of Constructive Alignment and thus increasingly adopts the teaching of necessary practical skills to the actual industry requirements and assessment routines. However, a systematic approach to coherently align these three central teaching demands is strangely absent from current university curricula. We demonstrate the feasibility of implementing practical assessments in a regular theory-based examination, thus defining the term “blended assessment”. We assessed a course for natural science and engineering students pursuing a career in biomedical engineering, and evaluated the benefit of blended assessment exams for students and lecturers. Our controlled study assessed the physiological background of electrocardiograms (ECGs), the practical measurement of ECG curves, and their interpretation of basic pathologic alterations. To study on long time effects, students have been assessed on the topic twice with a time lag of 6 months. Our findings suggest a significant improvement in student gain with respect to practical skills and theoretical knowledge. The results of the reassessments support these outcomes. From the lecturers ́ point of view, blended assessment complements practical training courses while keeping organizational effort manageable. We consider blended assessment a viable tool for providing an improved student gain, industry-ready education format that should be evaluated and established further to prepare university graduates optimally for their future careers. KW - constructive alignment KW - examination KW - long-term retention KW - multimodal KW - practical learning Y1 - 2021 SN - 2364-5504 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1515/cdbme-2021-2019 VL - 7 IS - 7/2 SP - 73 EP - 76 PB - De Gruyter CY - Berlin ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kern, Alexander A1 - Imani Vashiani, Anahita A1 - Timmermanns, Tobias T1 - Threat for human beings due to touch voltages and body currents caused by direct lightning strikes in case of non-isolated lightning protection systems using natural components T2 - 35th International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP) and XVI International Symposium on Lightning Protection (SIPDA) N2 - For typical cases of non-isolated lightning protection systems (LPS) the impulse currents are investigated which may flow through a human body directly touching a structural part of the LPS. Based on a basic LPS model with conventional down-conductors especially the cases of external and internal steel columns and metal façades are considered and compared. Numerical simulations of the line quantities voltages and currents in the time domain are performed with an equivalent circuit of the entire LPS. As a result it can be stated that by increasing the number of conventional down-conductors and external steel columns the threat for a human being can indeed be reduced, but not down to an acceptable limit. In case of internal steel columns used as natural down-conductors the threat can be reduced sufficiently, depending on the low-resistive connection of the steel columns to the lightning equipotential bonding or the earth termination system, resp. If a metal façade is used the threat for human beings touching is usually very low, if the façade is sufficiently interconnected and multiply connected to the lightning equipotential bonding or the earth termination system, resp. KW - Lightning protection system KW - down-conductor KW - steel columns KW - metal façade KW - touch voltage Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-1-6654-2346-5 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/ICLPandSIPDA54065.2021.9627465 N1 - 35th International Conference on Lightning Protection (ICLP) and XVI International Symposium on Lightning Protection (SIPDA), 20-26 Sept. 2021, Colombo, Sri Lanka PB - IEEE CY - New York, NY ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Pieper, Martin T1 - Quantum mechanics: Introduction to mathematical formulation N2 - Anyone who has always wanted to understand the hieroglyphs on Sheldon's blackboard in the TV series The Big Bang Theory or who wanted to know exactly what the fate of Schrödinger's cat is all about will find a short, descriptive introduction to the world of quantum mechanics in this essential. The text particularly focuses on the mathematical description in the Hilbert space. The content goes beyond popular scientific presentations, but is nevertheless suitable for readers without special prior knowledge thanks to the clear examples. KW - Quantenmechanik KW - Hilbert Room KW - Postulates KW - Schrödingers cat KW - Operators Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-658-32644-9 SN - 978-3-658-32645-6 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32645-6 PB - Springer CY - Wiesbaden ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Englhard, Markus A1 - Weber, Tobias A1 - Arent, Jan-Christoph T1 - Efficiency enhancement for CFRP-Prepregautoclave manufacturing by means of simulation-assisted loading optimization T2 - Proceedings of SAMPE Europe Conference 2021 N2 - A new method for improved autoclave loading within the restrictive framework of helicopter manufacturing is proposed. It is derived from experimental and numerical studies of the curing process and aims at optimizing tooling positions in the autoclave for fast and homogeneous heat-up. The mold positioning is based on two sets of information. The thermal properties of the molds, which can be determined via semi-empirical thermal simulation. The second information is a previously determined distribution of heat transfer coefficients inside the autoclave. Finally, an experimental proof of concept is performed to show a cycle time reduction of up to 31% using the proposed methodology. Y1 - 2021 N1 - SAMPE Europe Conference 2021, Baden/Zürich, Schweiz, 29. bis 30. September 2021 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hagenkamp, Markus A1 - Blanke, Tobias A1 - Döring, Bernd T1 - Thermoelectric building temperature control: a potential assessment JF - International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering N2 - This study focuses on thermoelectric elements (TEE) as an alternative for room temperature control. TEE are semi-conductor devices that can provide heating and cooling via a heat pump effect without direct noise emissions and no refrigerant use. An efficiency evaluation of the optimal operating mode is carried out for different numbers of TEE, ambient temperatures, and heating loads. The influence of an additional heat recovery unit on system efficiency and an unevenly distributed heating demand are examined. The results show that TEE can provide heat at a coefficient of performance (COP) greater than one especially for small heating demands and high ambient temperatures. The efficiency increases with the number of elements in the system and is subject to economies of scale. The best COP exceeds six at optimal operating conditions. An additional heat recovery unit proves beneficial for low ambient temperatures and systems with few TEE. It makes COPs above one possible at ambient temperatures below 0 ∘C. The effect increases efficiency by maximal 0.81 (from 1.90 to 2.71) at ambient temperature 5 K below room temperature and heating demand Q˙h=100W but is subject to diseconomies of scale. Thermoelectric technology is a valuable option for electricity-based heat supply and can provide cooling and ventilation functions. A careful system design as well as an additional heat recovery unit significantly benefits the performance. This makes TEE superior to direct current heating systems and competitive to heat pumps for small scale applications with focus on avoiding noise and harmful refrigerants. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40095-021-00424-x N1 - Corresponding author: Markus Hagenkamp VL - 13 SP - 241 EP - 254 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Engemann, Heiko A1 - Cönen, Patrick A1 - Dawar, Harshal A1 - Du, Shengzhi A1 - Kallweit, Stephan T1 - A robot-assisted large-scale inspection of wind turbine blades in manufacturing using an autonomous mobile manipulator JF - Applied Sciences N2 - Wind energy represents the dominant share of renewable energies. The rotor blades of a wind turbine are typically made from composite material, which withstands high forces during rotation. The huge dimensions of the rotor blades complicate the inspection processes in manufacturing. The automation of inspection processes has a great potential to increase the overall productivity and to create a consistent reliable database for each individual rotor blade. The focus of this paper is set on the process of rotor blade inspection automation by utilizing an autonomous mobile manipulator. The main innovations include a novel path planning strategy for zone-based navigation, which enables an intuitive right-hand or left-hand driving behavior in a shared human–robot workspace. In addition, we introduce a new method for surface orthogonal motion planning in connection with large-scale structures. An overall execution strategy controls the navigation and manipulation processes of the long-running inspection task. The implemented concepts are evaluated in simulation and applied in a real-use case including the tip of a rotor blade form. KW - mobile manipulation KW - large-scale inspection KW - wind turbine production KW - autonomous navigation KW - surface-orthogonal path planning Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/app11199271 SN - 2076-3417 N1 - Belongs to the Special Issue "Advances in Industrial Robotics and Intelligent Systems" VL - 11 IS - 19 SP - 1 EP - 22 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Leise, Philipp T1 - Resilience as a concept for mastering uncertainty T2 - Mastering Uncertainty in Mechanical Engineering Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-78353-2 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78354-9 N1 - Unterkapitel 6.3.1 des Kapitels "Strategies for Mastering Uncertainty" SP - 412 EP - 417 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Altherr, Lena A1 - Leise, Philipp A1 - Pfetsch, Marc E. A1 - Schmitt, Andreas T1 - Optimal design of resilient technical systems on the example of water supply systems T2 - Mastering Uncertainty in Mechanical Engineering Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-78356-3 N1 - Unterkapitel des Kapitels "Strategies for Mastering Uncertainty" SP - 429 EP - 433 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Leise, Philipp A1 - Altherr, Lena T1 - Experimental evaluation of resilience metrics in a fluid system T2 - Mastering Uncertainty in Mechanical Engineering Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-78356-3 N1 - Unterkapitel des Kapitels "Strategies for Mastering Uncertainty" SP - 442 EP - 447 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Nikolovski, Gjorgji A1 - Reke, Michael A1 - Elsen, Ingo A1 - Schiffer, Stefan T1 - Machine learning based 3D object detection for navigation in unstructured environments T2 - 2021 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium Workshops (IV Workshops) N2 - In this paper we investigate the use of deep neural networks for 3D object detection in uncommon, unstructured environments such as in an open-pit mine. While neural nets are frequently used for object detection in regular autonomous driving applications, more unusual driving scenarios aside street traffic pose additional challenges. For one, the collection of appropriate data sets to train the networks is an issue. For another, testing the performance of trained networks often requires tailored integration with the particular domain as well. While there exist different solutions for these problems in regular autonomous driving, there are only very few approaches that work for special domains just as well. We address both the challenges above in this work. First, we discuss two possible ways of acquiring data for training and evaluation. That is, we evaluate a semi-automated annotation of recorded LIDAR data and we examine synthetic data generation. Using these datasets we train and test different deep neural network for the task of object detection. Second, we propose a possible integration of a ROS2 detector module for an autonomous driving platform. Finally, we present the performance of three state-of-the-art deep neural networks in the domain of 3D object detection on a synthetic dataset and a smaller one containing a characteristic object from an open-pit mine. KW - 3D object detection KW - LiDAR KW - autonomous driving KW - Deep learning KW - Three-dimensional displays Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-1-6654-7921-9 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/IVWorkshops54471.2021.9669218 N1 - 2021 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium Workshops (IV Workshops), 11-17 July 2021, Nagoya, Japan. SP - 236 EP - 242 PB - IEEE ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Ritschel, Konstantin A1 - Stenzel, Adina A1 - Czarnecki, Christian A1 - Hong, Chin-Gi ED - Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), T1 - Realizing robotic process automation potentials: an architectural perspective on a real-life implementation case T2 - GI Edition Proceedings Band 314 "INFORMATIK 2021" Computer Science & Sustainability N2 - The initial idea of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the automation of business processes through a simple emulation of user input and output by software robots. Hence, it can be assumed that no changes of the used software systems and existing Enterprise Architecture (EA) is required. In this short, practical paper we discuss this assumption based on a real-life implementation project. We show that a successful RPA implementation might require architectural work during analysis, implementation, and migration. As practical paper we focus on exemplary lessons-learned and new questions related to RPA and EA. KW - Robotic Process Automation KW - Enterprise Architecture KW - Implementation Case Y1 - 2021 SN - 9783885797081 U6 - https://doi.org/10.18420/informatik2021-108 SN - 1617-5468 N1 - INFORMATIK 2021 – 51. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Informatik, 27. September – 01. Oktober 2021 / Virtuell SP - 1303 EP - 1311 PB - Köllen CY - Bonn ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Mertens, Alexander A1 - Pütz, Sebastian A1 - Brauner, Philipp A1 - Brillowski, Florian Sascha A1 - Buczak, Nadine A1 - Dammers, Hannah A1 - van Dyck, Marc A1 - Kong, Iris A1 - Königs, Peter A1 - Kortomeikel, Frauke Carole A1 - Rodemann, Niklas A1 - Schaar, Anne Kathrin A1 - Steuer-Dankert, Linda A1 - Wlecke, Shari A1 - Gries, Thomas A1 - Leicht-Scholten, Carmen A1 - Nagel, Saskia K. A1 - Piller, Frank Thomas A1 - Schuh, Günther A1 - Ziefle, Martina A1 - Nitsch, Verena T1 - Human digital shadow: Data-based modeling of users and usage in the internet of production T2 - 14th Conference Human System Interaction Conference Proceedings N2 - Digital Shadows as the aggregation, linkage and abstraction of data relating to physical objects are a central vision for the future of production. However, the majority of current research takes a technocentric approach, in which the human actors in production play a minor role. Here, the authors present an alternative anthropocentric perspective that highlights the potential and main challenges of extending the concept of Digital Shadows to humans. Following future research methodology, three prospections that illustrate use cases for Human Digital Shadows across organizational and hierarchical levels are developed: human-robot collaboration for manual work, decision support and work organization, as well as human resource management. Potentials and challenges are identified using separate SWOT analyses for the three prospections and common themes are emphasized in a concluding discussion. KW - digital shadow KW - cyber physical production system KW - user & usage KW - internet of production Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/HSI52170.2021.9538729 N1 - 14th International Conference on Human System Interaction : 8-10 July 2021. Gdańsk, Poland SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - IEEE ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Monakhova, Yulia A1 - Diehl, Bernd W.K. T1 - Novel approach of qNMR workflow by standardization using 2H integral: Application to any intrinsic calibration standard JF - Talanta N2 - Quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) is routinely performed by the internal or external standardization. The manuscript describes a simple alternative to these common workflows by using NMR signal of another active nuclei of calibration compound. For example, for any arbitrary compound quantification by NMR can be based on the use of an indirect concentration referencing that relies on a solvent having both 1H and 2H signals. To perform high-quality quantification, the deuteration level of the utilized deuterated solvent has to be estimated. In this contribution the new method was applied to the determination of deuteration levels in different deuterated solvents (MeOD, ACN, CDCl3, acetone, benzene, DMSO-d6). Isopropanol-d6, which contains a defined number of deuterons and protons, was used for standardization. Validation characteristics (precision, accuracy, robustness) were calculated and the results showed that the method can be used in routine practice. Uncertainty budget was also evaluated. In general, this novel approach, using standardization by 2H integral, benefits from reduced sample preparation steps and uncertainties, and can be applied in different application areas (purity determination, forensics, pharmaceutical analysis, etc.). KW - qNMR KW - Deuterium NMR KW - Deuterated solvents KW - Standardization Y1 - 2021 SN - 0039-9140 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121504 VL - 222 IS - Article number: 121504 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Burmistrova, Natalia A. A1 - Soboleva, Polina M. A1 - Monakhova, Yulia T1 - Is infrared spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis a promising tool for heparin authentication? JF - Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis N2 - The investigation of the possibility to determine various characteristics of powder heparin (n = 115) was carried out with infrared spectroscopy. The evaluation of heparin samples included several parameters such as purity grade, distributing company, animal source as well as heparin species (i.e. Na-heparin, Ca-heparin, and heparinoids). Multivariate analysis using principal component analysis (PCA), soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), and partial least squares – discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were applied for the modelling of spectral data. Different pre-processing methods were applied to IR spectral data; multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) was chosen as the most relevant. Obtained results were confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Good predictive ability of this approach demonstrates the potential of IR spectroscopy and chemometrics for screening of heparin quality. This approach, however, is designed as a screening tool and is not considered as a replacement for either of the methods required by USP and FDA. KW - IR spectroscopy KW - Heparin KW - Authenticity KW - Principal component analysis KW - Soft independent modeling of class analogy Y1 - 2021 SN - 0731-7085 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2020.113811 VL - 194 IS - Article number: 113811 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Monakhova, Yulia A1 - Diehl, Bernd W. K. T1 - Simplification of NMR Workflows by Standardization Using 2H Integral of Deuterated Solvent as Applied to Aloe vera Preparations JF - Applied Magnetic Resonance N2 - In this study, a recently proposed NMR standardization approach by 2H integral of deuterated solvent for quantitative multicomponent analysis of complex mixtures is presented. As a proof of principle, the existing NMR routine for the analysis of Aloe vera products was modified. Instead of using absolute integrals of targeted compounds and internal standard (nicotinamide) from 1H-NMR spectra, quantification was performed based on the ratio of a particular 1H-NMR compound integral and 2H-NMR signal of deuterated solvent D2O. Validation characteristics (linearity, repeatability, accuracy) were evaluated and the results showed that the method has the same precision as internal standardization in case of multicomponent screening. Moreover, a dehydration process by freeze drying is not necessary for the new routine. Now, our NMR profiling of A. vera products needs only limited sample preparation and data processing. The new standardization methodology provides an appealing alternative for multicomponent NMR screening. In general, this novel approach, using standardization by 2H integral, benefits from reduced sample preparation steps and uncertainties, and is recommended in different application areas (purity determination, forensics, pharmaceutical analysis, etc.). Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00723-021-01393-4 SN - 1613-7507 VL - 52 IS - 11 SP - 1591 EP - 1600 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Burger, René A1 - Rumpf, Jessica A1 - Do, Xuan Tung A1 - Monakhova, Yulia A1 - Diehl, Bernd W. K. A1 - Rehahn, Matthias A1 - Schulze, Margit T1 - Is NMR combined with multivariate regression applicable for the molecular weight determination of randomly cross-linked polymers such as lignin? JF - ACS Omega N2 - The molecular weight properties of lignins are one of the key elements that need to be analyzed for a successful industrial application of these promising biopolymers. In this study, the use of 1H NMR as well as diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY NMR), combined with multivariate regression methods, was investigated for the determination of the molecular weight (Mw and Mn) and the polydispersity of organosolv lignins (n = 53, Miscanthus x giganteus, Paulownia tomentosa, and Silphium perfoliatum). The suitability of the models was demonstrated by cross validation (CV) as well as by an independent validation set of samples from different biomass origins (beech wood and wheat straw). CV errors of ca. 7–9 and 14–16% were achieved for all parameters with the models from the 1H NMR spectra and the DOSY NMR data, respectively. The prediction errors for the validation samples were in a similar range for the partial least squares model from the 1H NMR data and for a multiple linear regression using the DOSY NMR data. The results indicate the usefulness of NMR measurements combined with multivariate regression methods as a potential alternative to more time-consuming methods such as gel permeation chromatography. Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c03574 SN - 2470-1343 VL - 6 IS - 44 SP - 29516 EP - 29524 PB - ACS Publications CY - Washington, DC ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Czarnecki, Christian A1 - Hong, Chin-Gi A1 - Schmitz, Manfred A1 - Dietze, Christian ED - Urbach, Nils ED - Röglinger, Maximilian ED - Kautz, Karlheinz ED - Alias, Rose Alinda ED - Saunders, Carol ED - Wiener, Martin T1 - Enabling digital transformation through cognitive robotic process automation at Deutsche Telekom Services Europe T2 - Digitalization Cases Vol. 2 : Mastering digital transformation for global business N2 - Subject of this case is Deutsche Telekom Services Europe (DTSE), a service center for administrative processes. Due to the high volume of repetitive tasks (e.g., 100k manual uploads of offer documents into SAP per year), automation was identified as an important strategic target with a high management attention and commitment. DTSE has to work with various backend application systems without any possibility to change those systems. Furthermore, the complexity of administrative processes differed. When it comes to the transfer of unstructured data (e.g., offer documents) to structured data (e.g., MS Excel files), further cognitive technologies were needed. Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-030-80002-4 (Print) SN - 978-3-030-80003-1 (Online) U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80003-1 SP - 123 EP - 138 PB - Springer CY - Cham ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Czarnecki, Christian A1 - Fettke, Peter ED - Czarnecki, Christian ED - Fettke, Peter T1 - Robotic process automation : Positioning, structuring, and framing the work T2 - Robotic process automation : Management, technology, applications N2 - Robotic process automation (RPA) has attracted increasing attention in research and practice. This chapter positions, structures, and frames the topic as an introduction to this book. RPA is understood as a broad concept that comprises a variety of concrete solutions. From a management perspective RPA offers an innovative approach for realizing automation potentials, whereas from a technical perspective the implementation based on software products and the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are relevant. RPA is industry-independent and can be used, for example, in finance, telecommunications, and the public sector. With respect to RPA this chapter discusses definitions, related approaches, a structuring framework, a research framework, and an inside as well as outside architectural view. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the book combined with short summaries of each chapter. KW - Robotic process automation KW - management KW - technology KW - applications KW - research framework Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-11-067668-6 (Print) SN - 978-3-11-067669-3 (PDF) SN - 978-3-11-067677-8 (ePub) U6 - https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110676693-202 SP - 3 EP - 24 PB - De Gruyter CY - Oldenbourg ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bensberg, Frank A1 - Auth, Gunnar A1 - Czarnecki, Christian ED - Czarnecki, Christian ED - Fettke, Peter T1 - Finding the perfect RPA match : a criteria-based selection method for RPA solutions T2 - Robotic process automation : Management, technology, applications N2 - The benefits of robotic process automation (RPA) are highly related to the usage of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software products that can be easily implemented and customized by business units. But, how to find the best fitting RPA product for a specific situation that creates the expected benefits? This question is related to the general area of software evaluation and selection. In the face of more than 75 RPA products currently on the market, guidance considering those specifics is required. Therefore, this chapter proposes a criteria-based selection method specifically for RPA. The method includes a quantitative evaluation of costs and benefits as well as a qualitative utility analysis based on functional criteria. By using the visualization of financial implications (VOFI) method, an application-oriented structure is provided that opposes the total cost of ownership to the time savings times salary (TSTS). For the utility analysis a detailed list of functional criteria for RPA is offered. The whole method is based on a multi-vocal review of scientific and non-scholarly literature including publications by business practitioners, consultants, and vendors. The application of the method is illustrated by a concrete RPA example. The illustrated structures, templates, and criteria can be directly utilized by practitioners in their real-life RPA implementations. In addition, a normative decision process for selecting RPA alternatives is proposed before the chapter closes with a discussion and outlook. KW - robotic process automation KW - business process automation KW - commercial offthe- shelf solutions KW - software evaluation KW - software selection Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-11-067677-8 SN - 978-3-11-067669-3 SN - 9783110676686 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110676693-201 SP - 47 EP - 75 PB - De Gruyter CY - Oldenbourg ER -