BUSINESS PROCESS-ORIENTED ORDER CONTROL - AN INTEGRATED APPROACH FOR DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS

Changing environmental conditions of manufacturing are demanding flexibility in manufacturing equipment as well as organisational flexibility. Software for industrial application should be fit to represent the organizational structure of an individual enterprise. For control purposes the complete process chain from the receipt of a customer's order up to the delivery of products should be managed in a way reducing overall lead times of a factory's orders. By integrating production functions in the broadest sense within information networks and by providing facilities to minimize disruptions of the production process all production activities across the different departments and the distributed resource units get effective coordination and synchronization. A division-overlapping, company-wide form of a comprehensive order control system is the means for this. Additional to application-specific features, distributability and integrative qualities the comprehensive order control system should be able of being adapted simultanenously with future changes an organization may undergo. The requirements concerning adaptability, flexibility, responsiveness and integration potential can be met by a flexible software architecture, adequate database technology, a communication backbone and user friendly facilities for modelling organizational issues. According to this approach a flexible software system adequate for a variety of organizational patterns in manufacturing has been realized at IPK.