A framework for ICT-enabled real-time production planning and control

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for real-time production planning and control (PPC). Firstly, we discuss the most prominently applied contemporary information and communication technologies for PPC. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that integrate the value chain in an enterprise, manufacturing execution systems that manage and control the production on shopfloor, and advanced planning and scheduling (APS) systems that develop solutions for complex planning problems are the planning and control systems that have been analyzed. We emphasize the application of radio frequency identification as the most advanced and promising emerging real-time data capture technology that is currently available to manufacturers. Having analyzed the features and shortcomings of the individual systems perse, and by considering the advantages that may be realized through effective integration of these otherwise discrete systems, we propose a framework for real-time PPC.