This research area focuses on the management systems and principles of a production system. It aims at controlling the complex interplay of heterogeneous processes in a highly dynamic environment, with special focus on individualized products in high-wage countries. The project addresses the comprehensive application of self-optimizing principles on all levels of the value chain. This implies the integration of self-optimizing control loops on cell level, with those addressing the production planning and control as well as supply chain and quality management aspects. A specific focus is on the consideration of human decisions during the production process. To establish socio-technical control loops, it is necessary to understand how human decisions are made in diffuse working processes as well as how cognitive and affective abilities form the human factor within production processes.
Produktionssysteme sind einer zunehmenden planungsbezogenen Unischerheit und Störanfälligkeit ausgesetzt. In diesem Kontext beschreibt der vorliegende Artikel vorliegende Artikel aktuelle Forschungsarbeiten, die den überbetrieblichen Koordinationsbedarf durch Integration unsicherheitsbezogener Echtzeitinformationen in die Produktionsplanung adressieren. Innerhalb der Forschungsaktivitäten werden durch Simulationsstudien der Anforderungen bezüglich der adäquaten Echtzeitfähigkeit der Planungsparameter abgeleitet.
Die Erfüllung der klassischen Aufgaben der Produktionsplanung und -steuerung (PPS) wird aufgrund der dynamischen Anforderungsprofile, die es Unternehmen abfordern, sich strukturell und operativ kontinuierlich zu verändern, zunehmend schwieriger. Der Umgang mit Dynamik und Komplexität wird vom Störfall zum Normalfall.
Vor diesem Hintergrund wird ein innovativer Ansatz für eine Produktionsplanung und -regelung vorgestellt, der das Ziel verfolgt, die den Produktionssystemen inhärente Planungskomplexität beherrschbar zu machen.
Der Lösungsansatz basiert auf kybernetischen Strukturen, die den Beschränkungen der Wandlungs- und Lebensfähigkeit. Als grundlegender Teil des Ansatzes wird die Produktionsregelung unter Berücksichtigung des Echtzeitaspektes entworfen.
Manufacturing companies of the machinery and equipment industry find themselves more than ever exposed to a rapidly changing competitive environment. In particular, the resulting diversity of planning and control processes confronts organisations and information systems with a significant coordination effort. To this day, planning and execution of order processing – from offer processing to the final shipment of the product – is still a part of the production planning and control (PPC), which is almost entirely integrated into information systems. Though, in order to manage dynamic influences on processes within order processing, there can be found a deficiency in the processing of decision-relevant and real-time information. Partly, the reason for this is a missing or incorrect feedback of process relevant data, so that the planning results, gained by the use of information systems, differ to the current process situation.
The concept of Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) still represents the central logic of production planning and control. However, the centralised and push-oriented MRP II planning logic is not able to plan and measure dynamic processes adequately, which, due to diverse disturbances, often occur in production environments. Furthermore, specific weaknesses of MRP II-based systems are the lack of support for order releases, the planning principle based on average values and the successive planning method as well as the use of limited partial models. As a result a successive planning method leads to a dissection of PPC-tasks into smaller work packages and so strides away from a holistic approach and the achievement of an optimal solution. Similarly, a planning, focusing on a general business objective system, using a partial planning approach due to isolated considerations is not possible. Insufficient consideration of the current load horizon and the current capacity utilization, non-existing or delayed feedback on order progress as well as faults and poor availability and transparency of information can be named as further weaknesses of MRP II-based systems.
Producing companies are confronted with a growing number of product ramp-ups, since product life cycles are decreasing and product diversity is increasing. Production Planning and Control (PPC) of ramp-up products is particularly challenging, as there is a significant lack of reliable experienced data.
The information deficit is exceptionally high for the first step of PPC process, namely Production Program Planning (PPP). The paper in hand proposes an innovative approach of cybernetic PPP that enables companies with numerous ramp-ups to design reliable and fast PPP processes that can react highly adaptable on unpredictable environmental disturbances. The Viable System Model (VSM) is used as frame of reference for the design of PPP processes in line with principles from management cybernetics.