Software-based Identification of Adaptation Needs in Global Production Networks

Abstract

Internal and external influencing factors force companies to adapt their production networks to changing conditions, which entails a high level of complexity. To be competitive in the future, manufacturing companies have to minimize the required adaptation time between the occurrence of a change and the implementation of an adaptation. While some approaches deal with modelling and evaluating network configuration, there is a lack in identifying the need for adaptation. In practice, the creation of scenarios is often based on the experience and knowledge of the network designer. This paper presents an approach to systematically link perceived key figure changes to possible adaptation alternatives in network configuration. For this purpose, the relevant objects for network adaptations are first defined and adaptation alternatives are systematically described. Subsequently, these are combined with a set of key figures to derive suitable adaptation alternatives depending on their development. The approach is further implemented in a software-based prototype that enables the automated generation of adaptation alternatives in response to perceived changes and provides the user with a listing of possible alternatives prioritized by their utility. The validation with company data demonstrates that by earlier and automated identification of possible configuration adaptations, the adaptation time to changes can be reduced and the generated scenarios are less dependent on the individual experience of the user.