performance measurement

The importance of key performance indicators (KPIs) to efficiently control logistics processes is considerably rising. An essential requirement to successfully use KPIs is their comparability and consistency. In this article a review of the situation of KPIs’ standardization is used to derive nine fields of action for improving the standardization of KPIs. The first six fields are addressing the data collection, the data processing as well as the data preparation. Investments in IT and staff are vital to support these goals. On top of that the management’s support and a change in business culture that advocates the benefit of sharing information create the required setting for a standardized reporting.

External stakeholders’ requirements towards the environmental performance of manufacturing companies have increased the importance of eco-efficient process design. A key prerequisite to select and implement appropriate improvement measures is an integrated environmental and economic performance (eco-efficiency) assessment. This paper presents three approaches to estimate the associated costs of the environmental impact caused by internal processes and therefore provides decision support for eco-efficiency improvements in the domain of manufacturing.

Due to increased global competition as well as decreasing product margins industrial services are becoming increasingly important also in manufacturing companies. In parallel, the complexity of the service networks necessary to perform the different services continuously rises, leading to major challenges for these companies. In order to meet these challenges, companies rely on improved transparency. An important tool to achieve this is the introduction of KPIs to measure the performance of industrial services. In this paper we present results of an ongoing research project and describe the essential performance dimensions that must be considered for the planning and control of industrial service networks.

Current political developments regarding the withdrawal from nuclear energy will probably result in an additional increase in energy costs over the next few years. This increases the relevance of reducing energy consumption in production for industrial enterprises. Thus, in addition to quality, cost, delivery reliability and flexibility, energy efficiency is integrated as an additional performance criterion in the decisions of production managers. An important instrument to increase energy efficiency in production processes is the implementation of energy management. This paper presents the advantages of an integrated energy management and outlines the main tasks and methods. IT solutions are presented that assist companies in configuring and controlling production processes to become more energy efficient.

In recent years machine and plant manufacturers transformed to providers of complex after-sales services. After that transformation, many companies have problems in managing their activities effectively and efficiently. There is a lack of transparency on the not longer material driven processes. Bosch Packaging Services AG, as a provider of extensive after-sales services for the packaging machines sold by Bosch, realized the needed transparency through the development of two software tools on the basis of the InCoCo-S Reference Model, a process reference model for industrial services. Now Bosch Packaging Services is in the position to offer sustainable service contracts with adequate prices and realistic performance levels.

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.

Most supply chain controlling approaches found in literature still focus on a single company instead of an entire net and thus do not live up to their promises. This article points out several problems that require the transition to the bird’s eye view and briefly introduces concepts that are truly inter-organizational in their nature. We close with a critical evaluation of what has been achieved in this field.