Autor: Gregor von Cieminski

Due to the complexity of the interdependencies in enterprise logistics, manufacturing companies often have difficulties in meeting their logistic objectives. They struggle to take measures that effectively influence their logistic performance. The Institute of Production Systems and Logistics (IFA) is developing illustrative models that describe and quantify the logistic interdependencies. The models form a basis for strategies and procedures, with which manufacturing controls can control the interdependencies.

In its search for success factors that could ensure competitiveness, German industry has long recognized the potentials of the operational company organisation and of production logistics. Modern and intelligent production management combines these aspects and thus makes an important contribution to the economic success of an enterprise. The Bottleneck-oriented Logistics Analysis (BOLA) developed at the Institute of Production Systems and Logistics (IFA) of the University of Hanover is a method of logistic performance measurement, which supports production management by means of a logistic-oriented evaluation of production processes. In co-operation with a construction component manufacturer, IFA carried out a BOLA in a three-month project in order to uncover organisational and logistic potentials for improvement in the production department and to derive measures for exploiting these potentials.

Management literature reports on the trend for large companies to adopt the principles of the “learning organisation” or “lifelong learning”. They found “corporate universities” for educating their own staff, which are commonly based on computer-based or web-based educational services. The virtual institute VIMIMS offers an approach that is de-signed to offer small and medium enterprises access to up-to-date knowledge on production management without their having to invest substantial sums in internal further education programmes.