Management of reconfigurable production networks in order-based production

Abstract

High market volatility as well as increasing global competition in manufacturing lead to a growing demand for flexible and agile production networks. Advanced production systems in turn conduct high capital expenditure along with high investment risks. However, the latest developments of information and communication technology in production environments carry promising optimization opportunities. The approach of this paper is to apply reconfigurable production networks for scalable capacity and low capital expenditure by adapting “Production planning as a service”. Therefore, a genetic algorithm was applied to solve a complex optimization problem. At the end of this work, a prototypical application of the discussed subject is shown on a world-leading household appliance manufacturer.