Mastering demand and supply uncertainty with combined product and process configuration

Abstract

The key challenge for mastering high uncertainty of both demand and supply is to attune products and business processes in the entire supply chain continuously to customer requirements. Product configurators have proven to be powerful tools for managing demand uncertainty. This paper assesses how configurators can be used for combined product and process configuration in order to support mastering high uncertainty of both supply and demand. It defines the dependence between product and process configuration in a typology of interdependencies. The addressed dependences go beyond the definition phase and also include the effects of unforeseen backend events during configuration and execution. Based on a case study in the Dutch flower industry, a conceptual architecture is proposed for coordination of these interdependencies and development strategies are identified.

Keywords:

• concurrent engineering
• configuration
• ERP
• flower industry
• mass customisation
• supply chain management