Logistics Interview with Experts
Technology Can't Replace Good Planning
Interview with Wilhelm Dangelmaier
Professor Wilhelm Dangelmaier, 53, is Professor of Business Computing at the Heinz Nixdorf Institute at the University of Paderborn, Germany. He also heads the Fraunhofer Application Center for Logistics-Oriented Business Administration in Paderborn
Automakers are increasingly offering customers a chance to modify their new vehicles' equipment even shortly before the delivery date. With tens of thousands of individual parts involved, the logistics chain must be optimally organized. Are other industries facing the same challenge?
Dangelmaier: Absolutely. And more will follow. For example, I'm sitting on an office chair that's theoretically available in millions of variations. The chair was custom-produced to my specifications and could still be delivered in just a few days. Especially industries that are switching from catalogue retailing to selling custom-configured products will have to rethink their operations and reorganize.
What impact is this having on companies?
Dangelmaier: Since short delivery times allow hardly any leeway, a company must operate under conditions that require working around the clock this week and taking next week off. Global competition demands flexible working hours. But what's perhaps more important is that each company must adapt its organization, strategies and processes to the new demands. That is, it must clearly define its goals, decide how extensive it wants its product range to be, and determine what delivery times it can manage with what degree of vertical integration. After that, the company can choose its hardware and software from the bottom up.
In practice, though, the picture is often different ...
Dangelmaier: Yes, unfortunately. Many companies rely on complex technology that is often incorrectly configured. Then, when things go wrong, the system is blamed, although it was management that failed to first define its goals and processes. With an integrated organizational concept and a uniform problem-solving approach, the latest technology isn't always absolutely necessary to deliver the information flow needed for a good logistics chain.
Interview by Sebastian Moser