Efficiency and security of process transparency in production networks - a View of Expectations, Obstacles and Potentials

Much of the resilience and flexibility of production networks lies in the transparency of processes that allows timely perception of actual process states and adequate decisions or intervention at the proper point of the production system. Such degree of observability and permeability do, however, bear risks of malevolent tapping or interference with the information stream which, in the case of production systems, can put both business and physical processes at risk, requiring careful exploration of security threats in horizontal and vertical integration, and individual end-to-end connections likewise. Also, different levels of networked production present specific needs - high throughput and low time lag on the shop-floor level, or tolerances for confidence, gambling and bounded-rational views in cross-company relations - that may conflict with security policies. The paper presents a systematic summary of such apparently contradicting preferences, and possible approaches of reconciliation currently perceived to be relevant on various abstraction levels of production networks.