Communication design in inter-organizational production networks

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Jörg Rainer Noennig; Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Nyhuis
• Subject Area: Production Systems, Operations Management, Quality Management and Factory Planning
• Term: from 2017 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 366194156

Trends such as mass customization and industry 4.0 are essential drivers for the focus on core competencies and the associated growing emergence of interorganizational production networks. An efficient cooperation within these networks is based on a functioning communication between the sites and on standardized communication interfaces. So far there is no universal approach to the description of communication barriers and success factors at the interfaces. Barriers are to be understood for example as different skills or the lack of access to databases. Success factors are given, for instance through the integration of the ERP system of a supplier in the ERP system of the manufacturing company, for the automatic triggering of orders. In the first step of the research project a characterizing description model of communication interfaces in interorganizational production networks is developed. This description model serves as a basis for identifying classification of potential barriers and success factors, which may occur at the individual interfaces. Afterwards it is important to identify and develop generic measures in order to eliminate the barriers and expand the success factors. The theoretical results of this first phase of the project will be continually reflected with experts in the field and subsequently operationalized in an analysis method and an analysis tool. In the subsequent phase of the research project, the communication interface, according to the descriptive model, as well as the barriers and success factors are analyzed by case studies with industrial partners. The results serve as a quantitative basis for the derivation of specific measures to eliminate the barriers and improve the success factors. Finally, the effectiveness of the measures are verified in case studies at the industrial partners.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants