Autor: Tobias Hegmanns

Currently the implementation of digital technologies in response to important competition requirements is promoted in many places. Consequently, the working environment of employees in operative logistics is going to change significantly. This article provides an overview of the possible uses of future-oriented technologies in different logistics processes as well as the thereby changing subtasks and competence requirements of operative employees in the working world 4.0.

Integrating suppliers into global corporate value chains is of strategic importance for global manufacturing companies. For successful and efficient operations in these global networks, customers pose specific requirements towards the logistics operations of supplier to realize high delivery quality. Potential suppliers must fulfil these requirements in order to enter into a strategic partnership and long-term cooperation. The aim of this study is the compilation of these requirements suppliers from developing countries, as is India, in supply chains of German manufacturers.

The article deals with the topic of demand and capacity management in inter-organizational production networks. It addresses the question how firms can coordinate build-up as well as reduction of the capacities of their production resources. For this purpose a decentralized negotiation-based coordination mechanism is presented. By this production networks are enabled to synchronize their capacities without the help of a central coordinator. The coordinating effect of the proposed decentralized planning approach was proven also in comparison to existing centralized network planning methods.