ECONOMIC-ASPECTS IN PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

Competitive pressures force production management to take a wider view on production systems. The emphasis is shifting from scheduling to designing the production and production management system, and from internal production planning and control to interorganizational aspects. A larger scope requires a structured approach that takes the multiplicity of relevant factors into account. In addition to a structured and modular approach, computerized support tools are often a necessity due to time pressures. Factory modelling is an area where simulation models are most widely known. On the level of choosing manufacturing strategies, however, the use of simulation models has not been very extensive. A wide variety of approaches is available, but by far no reasoning mechanisms are available that could clearly replace common sense and experience.