Analysing Information Flows for Controlling Activities within Supply Chains: An Arvato (Bertelsmann) Business Case

Supply Chain Management (SCM) deals with the management of flows of goods, information and funds within and between supply chain partners in order to satisfy consumer needs in the most efficient way (Chopra & Meindl 2007, Christopher 1998). Along a supply chain, various decisions have to be made continuously, from the simple choice, which customer order to be processed next, to the serious question, whether to select a new supplier or to cancel an existing one (Fleischmann & Meyr 2003). All of these decisions are supported by the provision of relevant information. Therefore, the efficiency of a supply chain is strongly influenced by the accurate setup of information flows for decision support. Supply Chain Controlling (SCC) supports SCM by providing the right information at the right time to the right manager for rational decision making. However, there is hardly any methodology available in order to analyze and redesign information flows for controlling activities in supply chains in a structured way. Based on a business case a pharmaceutical cold chain managed by arvato, we show how the informational and organizational situation along a supply chain can be assessed by applying a theory originally grounded in cybernetics.