The central task of material flow control is the rationally thought-out handling of all relevant sub-processes in intra- and production logistics with the aim of optimizing operating costs. Material flow control primarily takes on tasks within the scope of transport management and commissioning with transport orders and coordinates the allocation of conveyor routes with conveyors. It ensures optimal routing and the best possible utilization of routes and resources, organizes replenishment for order picking and initiates a permanent inventory. The execution of transport orders, on the other hand, is the responsibility of the subordinate control system (PLC) for automatic high-bay warehouses, small parts warehouses, conveyor technology, etc.

High demands are placed on the material flow control system, particularly at peak times when systems are operated under high load and a large number of conveyors carry out transport orders in parallel: These trips must be coordinated and controlled in such a way that freed-up resources are immediately reoccupied, the system is not blocked, the goods are transported to their destination via the shortest possible route and the throughput rate is kept constant. Against this background, it is also important to prioritize orders where necessary.

In short, material flow control is responsible for the implementation of individually suitable actions and goods movements from goods receipt, through warehousing and order picking to dispatch. The material flow control system also coordinates and optimizes their sequence, continuously monitors all source/sink relations relevant to order processing and issues movement commands to the subordinate control systems (PLC) via telegram protocol (e.g. TCP/IP).

By using a material flow control system, a wide variety of technologies can be controlled without middleware. These include, for example