Applying the Logistic Operating Curves Theory to Supply Chains

Abstract

Up to now we have concentrated our discussion on individually examining production or storage areas through the use of Logistic Operating Curves. Next, we will turn our attention to the interactions between the production and storage areas. By doing so, we can then consider entire supply chains and their logistic performance. A supply chain generally consists of various manufacturing or assembly stages partially linked with one another through storage stages, which in turn serve to decouple processes. One of the challenges in designing supply chains is that the available resources as well as both the WIP and stock have to be coordinated with each other. In the following sections, we will show which system of logistic targets exists in a supply chain (Sect. 9.1) and how the logistic objectives impact one another (Sect. 9.2). This knowledge about the interdependencies can then be used to quantify how logistic processing states impact the supply chain’s overall performance (Sect. 9.3). The example of a supply chain for a tool manufacturer will serve to illustrate this.