Dynamic analysis of changes in decisional structures of production systems

In the realm of enterprise reorganization, terms such as process orientation, group work, segmentation, and de-layering of hierarchical structures are frequently discussed. Growing needs of support, before and during enterprise reorganization, call for methods to assist the change process to the highest possible degree. During recent years, several methodologies and tools for modelling and designing enterprises were developed. This paper describes an approach using the GRAI-methodology for modelling the functional, physical, and decisional structure of production systems, respectively. Upon completion, the created enterprise models are transferred into the simulation system FEMOS for dynamical analysis. After describing the theoretical background, the paper demonstrates the effects of decisional adaptations using two case studies completed during the ESPRIT project REALMS (re-engineering application integrating modeling and simulation). The first case looks into the impact of decreasing the number of hierarchical layers with respect to a one-of-a-kind production system. The second case shows the effects of re-engineering a function-oriented production system with several department interfaces to a process-oriented organization.