Impact of the Digital Factory on the Production Planning Process

Changing conditions in the automotive industry mean that assembly lines have to be built faster and at an increasingly early stage of the product development process. Since the required efficiency improvements could not be achieved with conventional planning processes, organisational structures and software systems, DaimlerChrysler AG introduced the Digital Factory strategic project in mid-2000. At the centre of this project is the complete and integrated digitisation of all areas of production planning. The following article describes the digitisation process — from the selection and introduction of suitable software and IT infrastructure, through the development of methods for efficient planning, to the changing and restructuring of the production planning process and the organisation.