Simulating alternative organizational structures of production systems

Changes in international competition lead to changes of the requirements on production enterprises. The introduction of new production technologies does not seem to be exclusively an adequate reaction to the increasing problems. Therefore tools of computer-integrated production (CIM) and new organizational concepts have to be conceived. Because these organizational and technical means are linked on the one hand with severe changes in the production system and, on the other hand, with rather higher economic risks in their realization, the effects have to be estimated in advance in the planning stage. Consideration of dynamical system behaviour plays an important part because the main goal is the improvement of order processing. This paper presents a simulation program, which can be used during the design phase of the organizational structure of production systems as a powerful tool for predicting the effects of new computer-aided tools and structures.