COMPLEXITY MANAGEMENT
Complexity has many faces
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IN-NOVA positions itself as the “masters of
complexity management” - we like to
understand it, and use it for the benefit of the
business. We love to unfold the beauty of
complexity - what is the positive side of
complexity, what are negative impacts, and
how can we use best ways to reduce,
simplify, handle, and manage, the required
levels of complexity
•
Complexity can be in individual procedures,
processes, or small transactions that the
impact of complexity arises
•
The feeling of being overwhelmed by
“complexity” is that the human brain can
only handle a certain set of topics
simultaneously, and cope with a small
number of challenges at the same point of
time. Therefore we need to understand the
nature of complexity, and develop
systematic ways to handle it
•
Usually the root cause for complexity is in the
variety of topics which need to be addressed
simultaneously, and the intensity in which
these topics are interdependent, and
interact with each other
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IN-NOVA uses a self-developed, systematic
approach to identify the nature of
complexity in an organization, and in its
operations.
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First, as a starting point, we need to separate
the effects. What is variety, what is
complicated, what is really behind the
perceived complextiy.
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For doing this we identify the key drivers
which make complexity appear. This is very
specific to each company, and each supply
chain, and also changes over time.
•
Often the identification of the true drivers
requires some significant analysis; in other
cases, the result is obtained already in a first,
rough analysis. But it is always the prerequisite
for improving control, and performance, of
the supply chain.
Complexity on a strategic level, used to design major solutions
as well as details in operations
•
In the showcase used as an example here,the business was
overwhelmed wíth the high number of logistics requirements
in its overall business. This prevented for a long time the
design of a common, global logistics structure.
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During the analysis, the requirements of customer orders
were systematically captured for the various business areas,
and also the annual volumes of each order type evaluated.
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The analysis of the overall product, customer, services, and
delivery portfolio resulted into a very simple structure,
separating three main types of complexity drivers.
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On this basis, a clear dedication could be made which
business segments require what kind of logistics, and order
management setup. Furthermore, all necessary requirements
for the IT systems for order management and logistics
execution could be defined, and linked with other IT systems
required for the different types of order execution.