An approach for the quantitative consideration of soft-facts for planning and controlling networked production structures

This contribution introduces an approach which makes it possible to take into consideration soft-facts in a quantified form for the establishment and operation of production networks. This approach, called polyhedral analysis, with its two main parameters connectivity and eccentricity, delivers valuable information which makes it possible to generate the promise of successful network cooperation, from a social perspective, and thus to guarantee the long-term satisfaction of the customer. Because of these features, polyhedral analysis might be interpreted as a methodology for making decisions within the scope of the selection of partners in networked production structures. In this connection, the concept of the non-hierarchical regional production network is introduced as a special field for the application of polyhedral analysis and for the integration of soft-facts during the generation of a network. Concerning these marginal conditions, the introduced methodology has an important function for distributed operations and decision-making.