Software for the Material Flow Management Market Overview and Practical Insights

摘要

Material flow management means "systematic approach to analyse and to optimise material and energy flows in enterprises concerning economic, ecologic or other aims." Thus the first step is to clarify the aim: are single expensive or problematic materials the centre of concern, or the search for alternatives for a product, are you looking for a broad overview or for an in-detail-controlling tool? Taking in account aspects of different branches and individual enterprises there is a wide range of methods for material flow management ― and an accordingly wide range of software tools. The following chapters highlight some characteristics of material flow management and of software that aid four different aims: 1. Get the broad overview of material flows. 2. Make material flows within the company transparent. 3. Relate material costs to the originating processes or persons 4. Calculate and display material flows caused by a product A market overview of software products with their main focusses and some aspects to grant for successful material flow management complete this paper.