Supply Chain Management and distributed manufacturing in the automotive industry

Abstract

There is a novel approach for realising distributed manufacturing systems based on an object-oriented database which entirely runs in the random access memories (RAM) of the involved distributed computers. This is a very advantageous way to reduce costs for the design, implementation, operation and maintenance of a Supply Chain Management system. The example of an automotive parts' supplier shows the capability and benefits of the new concept especially if the manufacturing is performed by different companies in different countries. The object-oriented database fits seamlessly into the Internetllntranet approach and provides chances to realise virtual enterprises with minimum efforts and expenditures. Hence, this system is not only intere sting for big companies but also for small and medium. © 2001 by Springer Science+Business Media New York.