Modeling Supply Chain Dynamics: A Multiagent Approach*

Abstract

A global economy and increase in customer expectations in terms of cost and services have put a premium on effective supply chain reengineering. It is essential to perform risk-benefit analysis of reengineering alternatives before making a final decision. Simulation provides an effective pragmatic approach to detailed analysis and evaluation of supply chain design and management alternatives. However, the utility of this methodology is hampered by the time and effort required to develop models with sufficient fidelity to the actual supply chain of interest. In this paper, we describe a supply chain modeling framework designed to overcome this difficulty. Using our approach, supply chain models are composed from software components that represent types of supply chain agents (like retailers, manufacturers, transporters), their constituent control elements (like inventory policy), and their interaction protocols (like message types). The underlying library of supply chain modeling components has been derived from analysis of several different supply chains. It provides a reusable base of domain-specific primitives that enables rapid development of customized decision support tools.

Cash flow management and manufacturing firm financial performance: A longitudinal perspective

“…This focus was chosen because manufacturers' positions in the middle of integrated supply chains allow them to influence or be influenced by both suppliers and customers (Swaminathan et al, 1998). These interactions with both suppliers and customers also provide substantial opportunities for payment term flexibility between the parties.…”

TAPAS: A multi-agent-based model for simulation of transport chains

“…The framework made use of a library of reusable software components to promote reusability, and it was used for analyzing different inventory policies with the purpose of achieving improved inventory management. The similarity TAPAS has with supply chain models like the one in (Swaminathan et al, 1998) is that it is built around similar structural components, however, the application area of TAPAS is similar to that of traditional freight transport models. In supply chain models, common structural components are activities/processes (such as manufacturing and assembling) and actors/roles (such as manufacturer and customer).…”

“…As an example, an agent-based supply chain modeling framework with the purpose of assisting managers to analyze and understand the impact (in terms of costs, risks, etc.) of different decisions was presented in (Swaminathan et al, 1998). The framework made use of a library of reusable software components to promote reusability, and it was used for analyzing different inventory policies with the purpose of achieving improved inventory management.…”

A Distributed Simulation Model for Inventory Management in a Supply Chain

“…Our application may be seen as a prototype of a tool supporting the decision making process in a virtual (extended) enterprise [10].…”