Production strategies change the working environment. In the 1980s CIM introduced the application of computers in production (Wildemann 1990). Later Lean Production (Womack et al. 1990) gave reason for numerous restructuring projects in the automobile industry. Iacocca's Agile Production (Iacocca Institute 1990) continued this. Since the late 1990s, holistic production systems are the tool to adapt Toyotas production system to western mass production. Since around the turn of this century, concepts of Supply Chain Management as an element of the holistic systems have directed the entire enterprise towards the needs of the customer and aim for a considerable acceleration of all processes. The ability to react towards sudden and unplanned events in the framework of the Supply Chain Event Management (SCEM) demands additional adaptive regulation and controlling concepts in all areas of the business. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.