Module Logistics systems in practice

Increased competitive pressure affects companies

The sales markets of industry and trade are characterized today by significantly higher fluctuations than just 5 years ago. Customers operate more variably, product life cycles and the terms of many service provider contracts are shortened. In addition, there is the ongoing internationalization, which is not least driving the ongoing consolidation process in many industries.

Today more than ever before, companies are facing increased competitive pressure and are therefore required to orientate their value creation networks internationally and to continuously improve them.

Coordinating global value networks

The ability of companies to procure, produce and distribute their goods internationally and to coordinate activities with value-added partners at various levels is already the basic prerequisite for competitive business in many sectors today.

Bottlenecks in this area present themselves as obstacles to growth, while companies with special skills can generate competitive advantages here through special customer benefits.

Managing growth in emerging markets

The increasing shift in global economic balances due to the rapid developments in the emerging countries of Eastern Europe and Asia, especially China and India, is leading to a steady expansion of the global market.

Companies that want to be competitive tomorrow are therefore considering the optimal location of logistics and production sites, as well as the establishment and maintenance of a reliable supplier base. While production managers are planning new factories in China and logistics companies are integrating new locations into existing networks, purchasers are now working on establishing suppliers to support production in emerging markets.

Information technologies are an indispensable tool for increasing logistical productivity and business performance. Today, many basic processes can only be operated efficiently and effectively using powerful information technology. The core of information processing in manufacturing companies is provided by enterprise resource planning systems with a constantly increasing range of functions.

The module Logistics Systems in Practice considers different fields of action for the design of global logistics systems and consists of three events. Among other things, the Global Supply Chain Management event deepens issues of network planning and cross-company coordination. The International Procurement event deals intensively with concepts and methods for the management and development of suppliers from emerging markets. The event Logistics System Planning deals with the selection and use of logistics service providers in logistics systems.

The event will be held by Dr. Stefan Doch - International Transfer Center for Logistics (ITCL).