Varying concepts of planning and control in enterprise logistics

Different views on the goodness of varying approaches to and concepts of planning and control in logistics have led, and continue to lead, to highly charged debates. Through argumentation that is often polemic, one concept is played off against the other. Moreover, the introduction and implementation of software supporting the concepts (so-called PPS packages or logistics software) is often judged to be costly, tediously time consuming and restrictive with regard to business processes. In an effort to contribute to more objective discussion, this paper shows that four classes of concepts on planning and control have become established over recent decades: the MRPII (ERP) concept, the just-in-time/kanban concepts, variant-oriented concepts and process-oriented concepts. These varying concepts are then examined dependent upon characteristic features of planning and control, and dependent upon the branch of industry. This paper shows that, as a consequence of practice, several concepts of planning and control may and have to be applied in an enterprise.