Reference Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH - Global Production Networks
Successfully Optimizing a Production Network Requires Transparency
Initial Situation and Project Goals
In January 2007 UNITY began work on a project to optimize the production network of Wincor Nixdorf. For around four months Wincor Nixdorf, together with UNITY, pursued the goal of calculating the effects that would arise from changes to the global production network. For this purpose a simulation model was developed with which the repercussions of different decisions could be calculated more accurately.
“Working with UNITY we could take decisive further steps in the optimization of our global production network. We managed to gain transparency over the effects of alternative production networks, with the well-founded decisions we then took delivering crucial competitive advantages.”
Dr. Bernard Motzko, Vice President Logistics & Production
Tasks of UNITY
UNITY’s main task was the conceptual development of the mathematical model with which the effects of changes to the production network could be calculated. This model took into consideration realistic factors while remaining manageable. Beyond formulating the model, a challenge was to capture and process all the necessary data.
Benefits for the Client
For Wincor Nixdorf there were huge advantages in that different combinations of locations and supply strategies (such as the shortest possible delivery times vs. lowest cost delivery options) could be picked out and directly compared with one another. A mathematical method could then be used to calculate the optimum among a whole range of possibilities. Today certain specific questions like “ Which production network minimizes costs across the entire supply chain if delivery times are kept to two weeks?” can be answered at Wincor Nixdorf precisely and on a sound basis. While the project was underway the simulation model could already be put to good use providing support for the decision making process around an existing problem. This produced the first concrete recommendations regarding a course of action for the organization of the global production network. The simulation model took into consideration the full costs of the supply chain. Effects between procurement, production and distribution that canceled each other out were also taken into account, as was logistics performance, which was a central part of the model. This required keeping delivery times for different regions of the world in view. By combining cost- and logistics-aspects, a complete overview of the production network could be achieved.
The Wincor Nixdorf Goup
Wincor Nixdorf is one of the world’s leading providers of IT solutions and services to retailers and retail banking. The company’s extensive portfolio is centered around optimizing business processes at banks and retail companies. The company’s headquarters are in Paderborn, Germany. Wincor Nixdorf has a presence in over 90 countries, with its own subsidiary companies in 36 of these. The company was demerged from Siemens Group by means of a buyout on October 1, 1999, by private equity firms that, together with the management, successfully took the company public on May 19, 2004. With annual sales of € 2.15 bn and around 8,400 employees globally, Wincor Nixdorf was Europe’s leading company in 2007 in the area of programmable electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) systems and held second place in the area of ATM machines. Globally, the company holds the third-place spot in these areas.
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Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
