Production Networks (PN) planning and control - a theory approach

On the Control of Production Networks (PN) numerous research projects and activities have been initiated. There is a general regret about lacking theoretical backgrounds for the development of resulting methods and instruments. The interpretation of Production Networks as generalised topological structures allows generating a theory design, putting relevant models on a common base. In order to demonstrate the power of the approach, the planning and control problem is tackled. Employing the Self Similarity principle, the solution conjecture is valid for the organisation issues as well as the process control. It can be shown that human decision making and software agent negotiations, self similarly based on the same models, may provide simple solution procedures. The approach is motivated by fractal organisation experiences, complexity theory and topology. Diverse planning and control problem aspects and/or sub-problems are covered by sets of models constituting model systems, progressively generating solutions by network units´ adaptations. The paper intends to contribute to the production systems theory´s extension to the field of production networks.