Conclusions and outlook

Abstract

The preceding chapters have shown the different steps of introducing an APS in industry, starting with an analysis of a given supply chain, its redesign and subsequently modeling the supply chain from long-term to short-term decision levels. The integration of all planning tasks relating to the order fulfillment process will result in a new era of enterprise wide and supply chain wide planning. Thereby, an APS will not only yield improvements on the three crucial factors of competitiveness, namely costs, quality and time, but it will also allow for making processes more transparent, improving flexibility, and revealing system constraints. Widely available information from all over the supply chain results in a transparent order fulfillment process. It enables companies and supply chains to provide customers with accurate information about the order status and provides alerts in the case that an unexpected event causes the delayed delivery of an order. However, before this happens a decision-maker can find and check alternative ways to fulfill the customer's order, either by a shipment from another warehouse or another production site or by offering parts of the next higher grade. Additionally, transparent processes will reduce waste along the supply chain, because waste, e. g. resulting from excessive inventories or resources with low utilization rates, will be recognized quickly and measures for its improvement may be introduced. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.