Analysis of the relationship between available information and performance in facility logistics
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Analysis of the relationship between available information and performance in facility logistics Jan Robert Nopper • Michael ten Hompel
Received: 15 July 2009 / Accepted: 15 October 2009 / Published online: 1 November 2009 Springer-Verlag 2009
Abstract Regarding the amount of processed information, there are two basic approaches to handle today’s increasing requirements for facility logistics systems. First, the collection of all achievable information about the system and its load in order to predict future system states accurately; theoretically, this could lead to optimal results. Second, the use of rather simple heuristics with less need for information but higher flexibility and robustness instead. This approach is for instance being realized with the Internet of Things in facility logistics. This paper analyses the dependency of throughput time and capacity utilization on available information for two limiting cases. While a ‘best possible’ case assumes that the material flow control has all relevant information about the system and loads, a ‘worst reasonable’ case considers the same for very limited information. The influence of layout, throughput, and element availabilities on this relationship is analyzed for both cases on the basis of a scalable generic test system and steady flow situations. In total, nine simulation studies are conducted and analyzed regarding throughput time and element utilization as performance indicators. Implications for the importance of information on performance depending on system complexity are discussed, and directions for further research are provided.
This paper is a revised version of a presentation at the Production and Operations Management Society’s 20th Annual Conference on May 1 to May 4, 2009. J. R. Nopper (&) M. ten Hompel Fraunhofer-Institute for Material Flows and Logistics, Joseph-von-Fraunhofer-Str. 2-4, 44227 Dortmund, Germany e-mail: [email protected] URL: www.iml.fraunhofer.de
Keywords Facility logistics Control strategy Throughput time Utilization rate Internet of things
1 Introduction It is beyond doubt that for most companies, the need to operate effectively and efficiently increased significantly over the last years. At the same time, companies and their environment became more complex, be it due to global markets, shorter product life cycles, or a trend toward more individualized products [1, 2]. Obviously, this does not only affect supply chain management and manufacturing but also facility logistics. Thus, the dilemma between short throughput time, high schedule reliability, low WIP level, and high utilization rates [3] became even harder to resolve. In order to evaluate the influence of the amount of information on system performance in general, it seems promising to evaluate (hypothetical) best possible and worst reasonable cases. This not only allows to determine a corridor between upper and lower system performance for given layouts and element characteristics but also provides an opportunity to review any
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