Purpose. This paper proposes the framework of a Decision Support System (DSS) to select the optimal number of suppliers that are candidate to join a supply chain network. The DSS bases the decision on the cost evaluation of the transaction among the buyer and the potentially available suppliers by way of a Monte Carlo approach. Methodology. In particular, the presented DSS includes a statistical module and the DSS core. The former module estimates (in a probabilistic way) the exchange performance indices, i.e. total cost of the transaction, purchasing price and additional costs of purchasing, while the latter module implements the transaction evolution making use of a simulation model. Findings. The DSS is tested by way of a case study, namely the supply of a customized product by a general contractor in the construction industry. The obtained DSS results are validated with the actual data of the purchasing, confirming the underlying model suitability and the DSS effectiveness for purchasing management in supply chains. Research limitations/implications. Indeed, the DSS is able to evaluate the total cost of purchasing and the optimal number of suppliers to contact before the transaction takes place and may be employed by the buyer to forecast the cost of the purchase and take decisions to minimize such a performance index of the exchange. Perspectives on future research include further validations of the DSS, also considering other factors than price in the transaction evaluation. Originality/value of the paper. The DSS can be successfully employed to identify managerial guidelines that can be followed by practitioners, particularly when the first supply of a product has to be carried out.
The paper specifies an Integrated System (IS) devoted to the management of Intermodal Transportation Networks (ITNs) to take both tactical decisions, i.e., in an offline mode, and operational decisions, i.e., in real-time. Both the resulting IS structures rely on a closed-loop approach that is able to tune the choices with the current system conditions. In either case, the core of the presented IS are a reference model and a simulation module. In particular, the reference model uses information from the real system, obtained by modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the simulation module evaluates the impact of the management decisions. In order to obtain a systematic model suitable to describe a generic ITN, the paper proposes a metamodeling approach that describes in a thorough and detailed way the structure and the behavior of ITNs. Moreover, the metamodeling procedure is a top-down technique based on the well-known Unified Modeling Language (UML), a graphic and textual formalism able to describe systems from structural and behavioral viewpoints. In order to show the IS application at the tactical decision level, the paper specifies the IS for an ITN case study that is constituted by the port of Trieste (Italy) and the inland terminal of Gorizia (Italy).\ud
The results show how the IS can improve the performance of the ITN by applying ICT tools and information-based services
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.