COMPLEXITY MANAGEMENT
Complexity has many faces 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 IN-NOVA uses a self-developed, systematic approach to identify the nature of complexity in an organization, and in its operations. First, as a starting point, we need to separate the effects. What is variety, what is complicated, what is really behind the perceived complextiy. 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.
Handling complexity  Delivery bundling  Delivery plans and JIT deliveries  Type and route of transport  Returns Volume of transactions  Inventory turnover   Number of items to be delivered  Short - term availability of products Individuality of the order  Customer specific processes to  determine a solution  Highly individual configuration  High  technical  clarification effort Functional range of  the Logistics IT  system Strategic  integration of the  Logistics IT system Volume of  transactions Individuality  of the order (customer specific  solution or  configuration) low high h igh l ow High suitability for a  comprehensive logistics and  IT concept, mainly stock  based products (MTS) High engineering proportion in  processing, possibly focus on IT - system for logistics processing High suitability for a comprehensive  logistics and IT concept;  requires specific functionality and  workflows for variants and MTO 1 2 3 Every dot  represents a  business unit
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. 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. The analysis of the overall product, customer, services, and delivery portfolio resulted into a very simple structure, separating three main types of complexity drivers. 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.