Digital Planning Support for Modular Logistics Plants in the Process Industry

Modular production and logistics plants provide flexible, reconfigurable, and digital solutions to address the dynamics of specialty product markets in the process industry. They tackle high volatility and uncertainties in demand and product variety by enhancing the adaptability of planning and operations. Although most tasks and planning activities are currently time-consuming and partly carried out manually, modularization will significantly decrease the planning times for production and logistics. This contribution outlines an innovative planning process and a new planning support system for modular logistics plants that shortens the planning processes and enables short-term, virtual, and simulation-based planning activities and evaluations before implementation into the real production and logistics system.