Conceptual Architecture for Agent-Based Modelling of Supplier Selection Conducted by a Supply Chain Dyad

Within the fourth stage of industrialization, artificial intelligence and in particular the multi-agent systems paradigm is highly adopted. Within the agent approach, the industrial resources are defined as intelligent agents that negotiate with each other to implement dynamic reconfiguration and reach agility and higher customer satisfaction. In this paper a smart configuration of the agent-based system for multi-product dyadic supplier selection is proposed. The objective is to select suppliers for multiple products simultaneously in a vertical collaboration context while involving the customer of the purchasing company and considering its preferences. Negotiation experiments are conducted for initial validation of the proposed conceptual architecture

Sustainable operations of industrial symbiosis: an enterprise input-output model integrated by agent-based simulation

Industrial symbiosis (IS) is a key for implementing circular economy. Through IS, wastes produced by one company are used as inputs by other companies. The operations of IS suffers from uncertainty barriers since wastes are not produced upon demand but emerge as secondary outputs. Such an uncertainty, triggered by waste supply-demand quantity mismatch, influences IS business dynamics. Accordingly, companies have difficulty to foresee potential costs and benefits of implementing IS. The paper adopts an enterprise input-output model providing a cost–benefit analysis of IS integrated to an agent-based model to simulate how companies share the total economic benefits stemming from IS. The proposed model allows to explore the space of cooperation, defined as the operationally favourable conditions to operate IS in an economically win-win manner. This approach, as a decision-support tool, allows the user to understand whether the IS relationship is created and how should the cost-sharing policy be. The proposed model is applied to a numerical example. Findings show that cost-sharing strategies are dramatically affected by waste supply-demand mismatch and by the relationship between saved and additional costs to run IS. Apart from methodological and theoretical contributions, the paper proposes managerial and practical implications for business strategy development in IS

An Adaptive Supplier Selection Mechanism in E-Procurement Marketplace

B2B e-commerce has fundamentally changed the way in which an organization purchases goods/service. Nowadays, the adoption of e-procurement, which means the electronic acquisition of goods/service, has been prevalent in supply chain management. A variety of supplier selection models have been developed in supply chain management literature. In this research, an adaptive supplier selection mechanism is proposed to help buyers evaluate suppliers in an e-marketplace. A Multi-Agent System simulation package of Repast is used to create a realistic environment where different kinds of suppliers and buyers equipped with the proposed selection model can interact so as to study the performance of the proposed selection model. We evaluate three supplier selection models and find that our proposed model outperforms the other two in terms of robustness and performance

Collaborative Models for Supply Networks Coordination and Healthcare Consolidation

This work discusses the collaboration framework among different members of two complex systems: supply networks and consolidated healthcare systems. Although existing literature advocates the notion of strategic partnership/cooperation in both supply networks and healthcare systems, there is a dearth of studies quantitatively analyzing the scope of cooperation among the members and its benefit on the global performance. Hence, the first part of this dissertation discusses about two-echelon supply networks and studies the coordination of buyers and suppliers for multi-period procurement process. Viewing the issue from the same angel, the second part studies the coordination framework of hospitals for consolidated healthcare service delivery. Realizing the dynamic nature of information flow and the conflicting objectives of members in supply networks, a two-tier coordination mechanism among buyers and suppliers is modeled. The process begins with the intelligent matching of buyers and suppliers based on the similarity of users profiles. Then, a coordination mechanism for long-term agreements among buyers and suppliers is proposed. The proposed mechanism introduces the importance of strategic buyers for suppliers in modeling and decision making process. To enhance the network utilization, we examine a further collaboration among suppliers where cooperation incurs both cost and benefit. Coalitional game theory is utilized to model suppliers\u27 coalition formation. The efficiency of the proposed approaches is evaluated through simulation studies. We then revisit the common issue, the co-existence of partnership and conflict objectives of members, for consolidated healthcare systems and study the coordination of hospitals such that there is a central referral system to facilitate patients transfer. We consider three main players including physicians, hospitals managers, and the referral system. As a consequence, the interaction within these players will shape the coordinating scheme to improve the overall system performance. To come up with the incentive scheme for physicians and aligning hospitals activities, we define a multi-objective mathematical model and obtain optimal transfer pattern. Using optimal solutions as a baseline, a cooperative game between physicians and the central referral system is defined to coordinate decisions toward system optimality. The efficiency of the proposed approach is examined via a case study

Modeling and Simulation Study of Designer’s Bidirectional Behavior of Task Selection in Open Source Design Process

Open source design (OSD) is an emerging mode of product design. In OSD process, how to select right tasks directly influences the efficiency and quality of task completion, hence impacting the whole evolution process of OSD. In this paper, designer’s bidirectional behavior of task selection integrating passive selection based on website recommendation and autonomous selection is modeled. First, the model of passive selection behavior by website recommendation is proposed with application of collaborative filtering algorithm, based on a three-dimensional matrix including information of design agents, tasks, and skills; second, the model of autonomous selection behavior is described in consideration of factors such as skill and incentive; third, the model of bidirectional selection behavior is described integrating the aforementioned two selection algorithms. At last, contrast simulation analysis of bidirectional selection, passive selection based on website recommendation, and autonomous selection is proposed with ANOVA, and results show that task selection behavior has significant effect on OSD evolution process and that bidirectional selection behavior is more effective to shorten evolution cycle according to the experiment settings. In addition, the simulation study testifies the model of bidirectional selection by describing the task selection process of OSD in microperspective

Logistics horizontal collaboration:an agent-based simulation approach to model collaboration dynamics

Underutilized capacity, long shipping lead time, high cost and lack of sufficient scale are examples of logistics inefficiencies that have troubled many supply chain operations. Logistics horizontal collaboration (LHC) is believed to be an innovative approach to tackle the increasing logistics challenges. This kind of collaborative logistics is quickly gaining momentum in practice but relevant contributions in literature are scarce. So far it remains unclear how LHC could be structured and operated given the limited understanding of the various characteristics and forms of LHC between companies. Furthermore, the explicit impact of LHC on the participating partners, as well as on the supply chain system is understudied. Very few studies have explored the process of collaboration and how it links to performance behaviours. Case studies and Agent-Based Simulation are employed in this thesis to study the research gaps identified above. Case studies are initially conducted to examine the key elements which can support the design of LHC, and to make a classification of models for collaboration. These are followed by Agent-Based Simulation to model a typical collaboration process and work out what benefits would emerge if participating in horizontal collaboration and how the collaboration can produce the impacts on the supply chain operations for individuals and the system as a whole. The case studies suggest that “collaboration structures”, “collaboration objectives”, “collaboration intensity”, and “collaboration modes” are the four key elements critical to the design of a LHC project. Each element represents an important aspect of the collaboration and exhibits different characteristics and forms. Based on these key elements, several typologies are derived which together provide a comprehensive view to explain the different types of LHC in practice. The simulation modelling demonstrates that LHC can significantly benefit the logistics efficiency in terms of capacity utilization and customer service in the sense of order fill-rate, and such beneficial effects are consistently observed in different supply chain environments. In particular, LHC can produce better logistics performance in a relationship-based supply chain network where downstream customers can support upstream shippers with more stable and predictable demand. On the other hand, information sharing in the collaboration, for the most part, does not facilitate the higher collaboration gains for partners. Specifically, sharing either the demand or supply information in the horizontal collaboration is not helpful in increasing collaboration gains. Hence there is a difference for the value of information sharing in the context of horizontal collaboration as opposed to vertical collaboration, the latter of which is often justified as providing more beneficial gains. The research findings provide insights for practitioners and scholars about how to develop a type of collaboration project or study, as well as enabling a better understanding of the dynamic collaboration effects

Logistics horizontal collaboration:an agent-based simulation approach to model collaboration dynamics

Underutilized capacity, long shipping lead time, high cost and lack of sufficient scale are examples of logistics inefficiencies that have troubled many supply chain operations. Logistics horizontal collaboration (LHC) is believed to be an innovative approach to tackle the increasing logistics challenges. This kind of collaborative logistics is quickly gaining momentum in practice but relevant contributions in literature are scarce. So far it remains unclear how LHC could be structured and operated given the limited understanding of the various characteristics and forms of LHC between companies. Furthermore, the explicit impact of LHC on the participating partners, as well as on the supply chain system is understudied. Very few studies have explored the process of collaboration and how it links to performance behaviours. Case studies and Agent-Based Simulation are employed in this thesis to study the research gaps identified above. Case studies are initially conducted to examine the key elements which can support the design of LHC, and to make a classification of models for collaboration. These are followed by Agent-Based Simulation to model a typical collaboration process and work out what benefits would emerge if participating in horizontal collaboration and how the collaboration can produce the impacts on the supply chain operations for individuals and the system as a whole. The case studies suggest that “collaboration structures”, “collaboration objectives”, “collaboration intensity”, and “collaboration modes” are the four key elements critical to the design of a LHC project. Each element represents an important aspect of the collaboration and exhibits different characteristics and forms. Based on these key elements, several typologies are derived which together provide a comprehensive view to explain the different types of LHC in practice. The simulation modelling demonstrates that LHC can significantly benefit the logistics efficiency in terms of capacity utilization and customer service in the sense of order fill-rate, and such beneficial effects are consistently observed in different supply chain environments. In particular, LHC can produce better logistics performance in a relationship-based supply chain network where downstream customers can support upstream shippers with more stable and predictable demand. On the other hand, information sharing in the collaboration, for the most part, does not facilitate the higher collaboration gains for partners. Specifically, sharing either the demand or supply information in the horizontal collaboration is not helpful in increasing collaboration gains. Hence there is a difference for the value of information sharing in the context of horizontal collaboration as opposed to vertical collaboration, the latter of which is often justified as providing more beneficial gains. The research findings provide insights for practitioners and scholars about how to develop a type of collaboration project or study, as well as enabling a better understanding of the dynamic collaboration effects

Advanced supplier selection: A hybrid multi-agent negotiation protocol supporting supply chain dyadic collaboration

This paper proposes a novel form of supplier selection involving the supply chain dyad as the buyer and the suppliers as sellers. The main proposed contribution is a multi-attribute decision hybrid protocol for supplier selection based on collaboration and negotiation, adapted to dyadic collaboration in a supply chain context. Suppliers and the purchasing dyad can reach an agreement on the details of the products simultaneously and exploit the preferences of the customer dyadic partner to enlarge the criteria choices of the products. For this, the proposed protocol combines a one-to-one bilateral dyadic collaboration protocol inside the purchasing dyad along with a one-to-many multi-bilateral bargaining protocol between the purchasing dyad and suppliers. Illustrative multi-agent simulation experiments were carried out to prove the effectiveness of the proposed protocol. The protocol implementation shows better negotiation results than the classic supplier selection process, along with expected higher customer partner satisfaction and a more embedded dyadic relationship

Consolidation, delimitation and stalemate: disruptive interplay and strategic incentives in the CBD-TRIPS relationship

"The relationship between the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the WTO Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is characterized by a persistent potential for disruptions in implementation, such as 'biopiracy' conflicts, because of the agreements' incompatible provisions on property rights over genetic resources. The lack of consolidation is often explained by attempts to strategically exploit interplay between the two institutions. Countries of the North and the South are said to push for provisions under their preferred agreement in order to circumvent obligations under the other. We develop an alternative explanation based on a conception of international negotiators acting as agents of particular interest groups rather than as representatives of the state as a whole. Using a Two-level Games model of independent negotiations for agreements on functionally interdependent issues, we analyze the incentives for negotiators to delay or prevent consolidation for strategic reasons. The analysis shows that, under certain conditions, persistent disruption may be due to a strategic dilemma that prevents negotiators from taking initiatives for consolidation." (author's abstract