Operations centres for logistics: general concepts and the Deutsche Post case

The concept of an operations centre (OC) is a familiar one, particularly in military environments. The NASA Space Center for monitoring space flights perhaps best embodies the notion of what an OC look like. Private companies have similar needs with respect to their day-to-day operations. For example, in the transportation, logistics and telecommunications area, large enterprises are starting to develop their OCs. Those centres typically perform the functions of: performance measurement and continuous improvement of the networks, real-time control of operations and complex processes, and customer care and marketing. We present a case study of the Deutsche Post OC, which is under development to support the management of complex transportation networks operated for mail delivery within Germany. The Deutsche Post case amply demonstrates the integration challenges that an undertaking of this magnitude encounters. Many complex optimization models were built, solved and integrated, and sophisticated information delivery mechanisms were subsequently required to make the model´s results useful for management decision analysis and support.