Chair of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management


Today´s supply chains are exposed to constantly growing uncertainties and challenges, e.g., volatile customer demand, increased need for digitalization, and natural or man-made threats as experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tackling these issues is the major objective of the Chair for Information Systems (IS) and Supply Chain Management, directed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Hellingrath. In particular, the chair provides research contributions in the areas of supply chain as well as operations management and investigates how IS can support decision makers in these domains. A focus lies in the evolution of traditional modeling and planning methods by integrating innovative approaches, investigating the digital supply chain under different perspectives. In this context, research is fostered by a culture of internationalization, illustrated by the growing number of international research partners and projects conducted.
  
The group´s research activities can be divided into three main research areas:
  • Digitalization is ubiquitous, and thus supply chains are thoroughly disrupted by its emerging phenomena, such as Industrie 4.0 and Big Data. Within the research area of Supply Chain Digitalization, the chair addresses the challenges of digitalizing supply chains and investigates how organizations can exploit arising opportunities. To achieve this, the chair conducts research on emerging trends such as data analytics-driven supply chain performance measurement, production planning under Industrie 4.0 and predictive maintenance. In addition, we research how supply chain digitalization can be facilitated through the means of computational intelligence and supply chain analytics.
  • The research area of Supply Chain Integration focuses on the cross-functional integration within a company and along the company´s supply chain. Supply chain integration is deemed as inevitable for business success and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. Hence, the group investigates and extends state-of-the-art solutions like Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and develops concepts to facilitate their efficient industrial applications. This includes the application of methods from enterprise architecture management and the usage of business analytics, among others.
  • The third research area Supply Chain Security and Crisis Management addresses challenges in uncertain and unsteady environments exposed to disruptive events. Our research activities are dedicated to understanding the use of IS in order to ensure a rigor and relevant solution design and evaluation. The goal is to provide reference models and procedures to assess current and future scenarios by means of modelling, visualisation, analysis, and simulation.

All activities of the Chair for Information Systems and Supply Chain Management in research and practice are integrated in the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS). In the framework of the outlined research areas, the chair is always delighted about interested graduates who strive for an academic career within the frame of doctoral studies.