“The topic of networking in production and logistics has caught on and is now a trend for most companies. However, on account of the diverse system landscape and some extremely old legacy systems, the realization of this networking is a major challenge.” This was the view taken by Frank Tinschert, Director of DELMIA Quintiq’s Logistics Business Unit, during an interview with DVZ magazine’s editor-in-chief Günther Hörbst on the famous Red Sofa of this logistics trade journal, at the German Logistics Convention in Berlin.
According to Tinschert, a flood of data is produced from a network of software systems in production and logistics. He stressed that this data must be converted to valuable information for companies. In addition to the quality of the data, rapid processing is also important. He added that this is necessary in order to support logistics planning and optimization in the best way possible. “Big data requires big calculations. This is exactly what we do at DELMIA Quintiq,” said Tinschert.
From Tinschert’s point of view, there are huge potential benefits for companies – given the highly complex nature of data management and planning, it is possible to achieve a cost reduction rate of 8 to 10 percent. “The more extensive the value-added chain, the higher the overall potential,” Tinschert explained. According to him, the development of control loops between strategic and operational system components is important.
However, let’s not underestimate the complexity of such solutions. Ultimately, Tinschert believes that it is necessary to work with data, which comes from different sources and is globally generated. “At DELMIA Quintiq, this is why we work on networking and bring every part of the process together as a whole,” said Tinschert. As an IT expert, he explained that the optimization result should still be evaluated after that. This will ensure that relevant ‘soft’ knowledge is involved in the decision-making process. But as we all can imagine, comparing complex decision-making factors in a matter of seconds or minutes is near impossible for logistics planners. It’s no wonder then that Tinschert sees considerable benefits for companies to use advanced planning and optimization solutions.
Conmtributed by Björn Helmke
