ProdChain
Development of a Decision Support Methodology to Improve Logistics Performance of Production Networks (large, EU-IST-2000-61205, IMS 99006)
Researchers:
J. Nienhaus, A. Nobs, M. Schnetzler, A. Sennheiser, Prof. M. Baertschi, Prof. Dr. P. Schönsleben
Partners:
Academic:
FIR Research Institute for Rationalisation and Operations Management of RWTH Aachen
ITIA Istituto di Tecnologie Industriali e Automazione (CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, I)
Industrial:
ADITEC Aachener Demonstrationslabor für integrierte Produktionstechnik (D)
Arch Chemicals (NL)
Electrolux Zanussi Elettromeccanica (I)
ICON Gesellschaft für Supply-Chain-Management (D)
MASMEC (I)
Micronas (D)
Possehl Electronic Nederland (NL)
SIG Pack International (CH)
Sony España (E)
Financed by:
Information Society Technologies (IST) Program of the European Commission / Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Initiative (IMS)
Motivation:
One of the greatest challenges related to production network performance measurement is ensuring that the participants optimize the whole network rather than a single operation. An appropriate tool for production network management must link the performance measurements and the activities, which can in the end improve network performance.
Objectives:
The main objective of ProdChain is to develop a decision support technique and method to analyze and improve the performance of production and logistics networks operating globally. ProdChain aims at providing managers with a toolbox for easy identification of areas for improvements and to derive appropriate improvement strategies and best practices.
The following activities have already been completed:
During project period, ProdChain has achieved several results: a survey on trends in supply chain management, the enhanced ProdChain model (based on the SCOR framework), a benchmarking ini-tiative, the definition of performance indicators and key characteristics (“logistics fingerprint“), a tar-get system to find appropriate means for defined logistics goals, the identification, description, and classification of best practices in the area of supply chain management, as well as critical customer supplier relationship processes. These results are the building blocks of the ProdChain Toolbox, which represents the integrated outcome of the project. The Toolbox provides a decision support methodo-logy for the improvement of logistics performance in supply chains and for the selection of suitable best practices. The validation of the results has been conducted together with the industrial partners of ProdChain as well as with several other companies in the industrial working group.
The ProdChain Toolbox is a software-implemented decision support methodology that helps to de-termine benchmarking partners by means of key company characteristics (i.e., the “logistics finger-print”), to identify suitable performance metrics for the measurement of logistics performance, to analyze critical customer-supplier relationships, to formulate and implement comprehensive supply chain strategies, and to identify appropriate best practices and supply chain management concepts in order to improve supply chain performance in a sustainable way.
The user can start by either specifying key characteristics or analyzing critical customer-supplier rela-tionships. Then, suitable performance metrics are proposed for measuring the logistics performance. , Users can participate in the benchmarking initiative in order to compare their own values with em-pirical data. Based on this input, the ProdChain Toolbox identifies appropriate best practices
(approxima¬tely 50 different SCM tools, best practices, and concepts), which improve the selected metrics in the specific logistics context. The core element - not visible for the user - is the Axiomatic Design Framework (ADF), which relates specific means to defined objectives. Apart from this, ADF can be applied for the formulation and implementation of comprehensive supply chain strategies.
The Toolbox has been applied successfully in industrial cases in and outside of the project consor-tium as well as in different workshops. The methodology provides a holistic view on the interconnec-tions between business performance and operative action in customer-supplier relationships and facilitates the formulation of sustainable supply chain strategies.
ProdChain was completed successfully in September 2004.
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The following activities were in 2005 and will be continued in 2006:
Further exploitation and dissemination activities; offering of a portfolio of services based on Prod-Chain Toolbox: Analysis, identification of improvement measures and best practices, benchmarking of performance indicators, development of supply chain strategies, SCM best practice training.