New developments in supply chain and factorywide management control

The emergence of computer networking technologies, the fall in the cost of computing power and the establishment of EDI technologies, has produced a world wide interest in computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), and in the management of multisupplier multi-user supply chains. The increased cost of finance and of inventory has resulted in a need for reductions in the considerable capital tied up in inventory in many supply chains. Furthermore the increasing need for improved customer service and the need to supply the right products at the right time and in the right place, essentially means that supply chains are being operated under EDI, on much faster dynamic time scales and hence the need for new control procedures. The dynamic behaviour of most warehouses and retail operations are relatively simple, compared with that of manufacturing activities, and hence in seeking to tightly control the network, there is a need for improved operation within the manufacturing activity. Hence there is a special interest in factory wide control from a supply chain viewpoint. The main interest of this discussion will be centred around the theme of decision support system design. These systems deal with cost-sensitive decisions which radically effect the efficiency of the business and the customer service level