This book is the outcome of my research in the field of multi levellot sizing and scheduling which started in May 1993 at the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (Germany). During this time I discovered more and more interesting aspects ab out this subject and I had to learn that not every promising idea can be thoroughly evaluated by one person alone. Nevertheless, I am now in the position to present some results which are supposed to be useful for future endeavors. Since April 1995 the work was done with partial support from the research project no. Dr 170/4-1 from the "Deutsche For schungsgemeinschaft" (D FG). The remaining space in this preface shaH be dedicated to those who gave me valuable support: First, let me express my deep gratitude towards my thesis ad visor Prof. Dr. Andreas Drexl. He certainly is a very outstanding advisor. Without his steady suggestions, this work would not have come that far. Despite his scarce time capacities, he never rejected proof-reading draft versions of working papers, and he was always willing to discuss new ideas - the good as weH as the bad ones. He and Prof. Dr. Gerd Hansen refereed this thesis. I am in debted to both for their assessment. I am also owing something to Dr. Knut Haase. Since we al most never had the same opinion when discussing certain lot sizing aspects, his comments and criticism gave stimulating input.

The logic of Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) is im plemented in most commercial production planning software tools and is commonly accepted by practitioners. However, these peo ple are not satisfied with production planning and complain about long lead times, high work-in-process, and backlogging. As many researchers have pointed out, the reason for these shortcomings is inherent to the methods that are used. The research community is thus eager to find more sophisticated approaches. This book is an attempt to compile some state-of-the-art work in the field of production planning research. It includes mate rial that somehow dominates the existing MRP II concept. 15 ar ticles written by 36 authors from 10 countries cover many aspects related to MRP II. All papers went through a single-blind refere eing process before they were selected for being published in this book. When we received papers for this issue, we discovered that MRP II is a topic about which not only management scientists show interest. As the list of authors proves, industrial engineers, computer scientists, and-operations researchers from academia as well as practitioners have contributed to this book. This, we hope, makes the book of value for a broad audience. We thank all authors who submitted papers. And, we are in debted to Dr. Werner Muller from Springer for his support in this book project.

Includes special issues: The Professional series in the management sciences.

The CIM-Europe provides a focal point for reporting on progress in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). CIM practitioners, decision makers and researchers exchange experiences gained in developing and implementing CIM technologies. This work deals with the application of technology innovation to industrial demand.