As the intelligent control of material flows has become an enormously demanding task, thyssenkrupp Materials Processing says it has come up with a package coordinating the entire supply chain.
At its core is a data dashboard that provides an overview of planning and call-off order data for the customer and its various suppliers at all times, Kallanish learns from the company.
The issue has become increasingly dire over recent months, especially with carmakers stopping and restarting their assembly lines amid a rapid post-Covid-19-lockdown demand rebound followed by semiconductor shortage-induced stoppages.
The “Control Tower”, as the new service is called, enables the company to work dynamically and intelligently with partners in a network, to mitigate supply chain risks. As with a control tower at an airport, all the information flows together into one place, on the dashboard, the firm explains. The company can now react at an early stage and find alternatives if, for example, a supplier of input materials experiences bottlenecks, says Thomas Wölk, head of Business Development at tk Materials Processing Europe.
Another advantage is that small quantities can be grouped together, enabling customers to plan more in line with demand and thus avoid tying up a lot of capital, the company points out.
Christian Koehl Germany
