From supply chains to demand networks. Agents in retailing: the electrical bazaar

A paradigm shift is taking place in logistics. The focus is changing from operational effectiveness to adaptation. Supply Chains will develop into networks that will adapt to consumer demand in almost real time. Time to market, capacity of adaptation and enrichment of customer experience seem to be the key elements of this new paradigm. In this environment emerging technologies like RFID (Radio Frequency ID), Intelligent Products and the Internet, are triggering a reconsideration of methods, procedures and goals. We present a Multiagent System framework specialized in retail that addresses these changes with the use of rational agents and takes advantages of the new market opportunities. Like in an old bazaar, agents able to learn, cooperate, take advantage of gossip and distinguish between collaborators and competitors, have the ability to adapt, learn and react to a changing environment better than any other structure. Keywords: Supply Chains, Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Multiagent System.Postprint (published version

Exploring the bullwhip effect by means of spreadsheet simulation.

An important supply chain research problem is the bullwhip effect: demand fluctuations increase as one moves up the supply chain from retailer to manufacturer. It has been recognized that demand forecasting and ordering policies are two of the key causes of the bullwhip effect. In this paper we present a spreadsheet application, which explores a series of replenishment policies and forecasting techniques under different demand patterns. It illustrates how tuning the parameters of the replenishment policy induces or reduces the bullwhip effect. Moreover, we demonstrate how bullwhip reduction (order variability dampening) may have an adverse impact on inventory holdings. Indeed, order smoothing may increase inventory fluctuations resulting in poorer customer service. As such, the spreadsheets can be used as an educational tool to gain a clear insight into the use or abuse of inventory control policies and improper forecasting in relation to the bullwhip effect and customer service. Keywords: Bullwhip effect, forecasting techniques, replenishment rules, inventory fluctuations, spreadsheet simulationBullwhip; Bullwhip effect; Forecasting techniques; Inventory fluctuations; Replenishment rule; Simulation; Spreadsheet simulation;

The impact of freight transport capacity limitations on supply chain dynamics

We investigate how capacity limitations in the transportation system affect the dynamic behaviour of supply chains. We are interested in the more recently defined, 'backlash' effect. Using a system dynamics simulation approach, we replicate the well-known Beer Game supply chain for different transport capacity management scenarios. The results indicate that transport capacity limitations negatively impact on inventory and backlog costs, although there is a positive impact on the 'backlash' effect. We show that it is possible for both backlog and inventory to simultaneous occur, a situation which does not arise with the uncapacitated scenario. A vertical collaborative approach to transport provision is able to overcome such a trade-off. © 2013 Taylor & Francis

Information visibility and its effect on supply chain dynamics

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-64).Supply chains are nonlinear dynamic systems, the control of which is complicated by long, variable delays in product and information flows. In this thesis, we present a novel framework for improving the visibility of information in supply chains by reducing the delays in information flow. We first analyze the growth and evolution of production and operations management software over the past three decades, and the current trends in their development, coupled with recent advances in radio frequency technology, wireless communications, data representation methods, and the internet. Information visibility is identified as one of the key elements for successful implementation of any such software. We analyze the dynamics of a supply chain under different scenarios of information visibility and forecasting decisions with the help of simulations. Possible improvements in supply chain costs are identified, provided information visibility. We propose a framework to achieve information visibility in the supply chain using radio frequency tags, tag readers, product identification codes, an object description language, and the internet.by Yogesh V. Joshi.S.M

Evolution of a supply chain management game for the trading agent competition

TAC SCM is a supply chain management game for the Trading Agent Competition (TAC). The purpose of TAC is to spur high quality research into realistic trading agent problems. We discuss TAC and TAC SCM: game and competition design, scientific impact, and lessons learnt

Effects of a Trust Mechanism on Complex Adaptive Supply Networks: An Agent-Based Social Simulation Study

This paper models a supply network as a complex adaptive system (CAS), in which firms or agents interact with one another and adapt themselves. And it applies agent-based social simulation (ABSS), a research method of simulating social systems under the CAS paradigm, to observe emergent outcomes. The main purposes of this paper are to consider a social factor, trust, in modeling the agents\' behavioral decision-makings and, through the simulation studies, to examine the intermediate self-organizing processes and the resulting macro-level system behaviors. The simulations results reveal symmetrical trust levels between two trading agents, based on which the degree of trust relationship in each pair of trading agents as well as the resulting collaboration patterns in the entire supply network emerge. Also, it is shown that agents\' decision-making behavior based on the trust relationship can contribute to the reduction in the variability of inventory levels. This result can be explained by the fact that mutual trust relationship based on the past experiences of trading diminishes an agent\'s uncertainties about the trustworthiness of its trading partners and thereby tends to stabilize its inventory levels.Complex Adaptive System, Agent-Based Social Simulation, Supply Network, Trust