Integrating manufacturing and logistic systems along global supply chains

In present manufacturing systems information concerning logistic capabilities and employment level are not appropriately utilised to determine most effective production plans. Therefore, cost and lead-time savings obtained with new global strategies might be impaired due to unbalanced and unstable integration of manufacturing and logistics. This paper proposes a framework for investigating interfaces between manufacturing and logistic systems along global supply chains. As first steps, a mathematical program of the integrated scheduling problem is developed and tested. Obtained results and the limited size of computationally manageable scenarios are both motivation and starting point for the development of forthcoming heuristics.