Multi Site Coordination using a Multi-Agent System

A new approach of coordination of decisions in a multi site system is proposed. It is based this approach on a multi-agent concept and on the principle of distributed network of enterprises. For this purpose, each enterprise is defined as autonomous and performs simultaneously at the local and global levels. The basic component of our approach is a so-called Virtual Enterprise Node (VEN), where the enterprise network is represented as a set of tiers (like in a product breakdown structure). Within the network, each partner constitutes a VEN, which is in contact with several customers and suppliers. Exchanges between the VENs ensure the autonomy of decision, and guarantiee the consistency of information and material flows. Only two complementary VEN agents are necessary: one for external interactions, the Negotiator Agent (NA) and one for the planning of internal decisions, the Planner Agent (PA). If supply problems occur in the network, two other agents are defined: the Tier Negotiator Agent (TNA) working at the tier level only and the Supply Chain Mediator Agent (SCMA) working at the level of the enterprise network. These two agents are only active when the perturbation occurs. Otherwise, the VENs process the flow of information alone. With this new approach, managing enterprise network becomes much more transparent and looks like managing a simple enterprise in the network. The use of a Multi-Agent System (MAS) allows physical distribution of the decisional system, and procures a heterarchical organization structure with a decentralized control that guaranties the autonomy of each entity and the flexibility of the network

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

Evaluating urban freight transport policies within complex urban environments

Urban Freight Transport (UFT) entails significant advantages for the economic growth of cities, but can also hamper population quality of life, obstructing vehicles and people movements while exacerbating environmental problems. Many initiatives have been engaged by many city administrators in order to efficiently manage UFT, evaluating different policies at a global scale. From the perspective of operators, most works analyze a limited set of policies or only focus on the benefits of companies. In this work, a decisionmaking process is used to evaluate a large set of UFT policies, through different attributes representing the advantages and limitations of each policy over promoter companies and the society. To do so, an ex-ante procedure in five steps is proposed to classify the policies: (1) attributes definition, (2) attributes weighting, (3) policy-attribute assessment, (4) policy ranking, and (5) feasibility threshold satisfaction. The whole process is supported on consultations to 26 experts regarding shop supply and restocking activities within complex urban environments. Results show a classification of the analyzed policies, according to their suitability for implementation ; which could be extended (directly or with small adjustments) to other contexts, given the flexibility of the decision-making procedure developed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Designing effective contracts within the buyer-seller context: a DEMATEL and ANP study

This study examines the factors that contribute to effective contract design within the context of buyer-seller relationship. Research streams on contract factors, supply chain factors, environmental factors, and competitive factors were reviewed to arrive at 18 contract factors. A hybrid model of Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (ANP) analysed empirical data collected from 17 experts to weight the importance of contract factors. It was found that most important factors are, in order of significance: policies, supplier technology, force majeure, formality, relationship learning, buyer power, legal actions, liquidated damages, supplier power and partnership

A Review on the Integration of Supply Chain Management and Industrial Cluster

Although Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Industrial Cluster (IC) are two different fields of study, it has been identified that there is a natural and internal relationship between these two theories. Most of research works depict that, integration of the two concepts is in its infancy. The aim of this research is to review the integration between supply chain management and industrial cluster, at the same time to identify the gap and propose solution. To achieve the research aim, two pairs of keywords namely “supply chain” and “industrial cluster” were used, to track literatures from the online databases. The search initially identified over 46 articles. After further screening, they were reduced to 17. Finally, contents of these articles were analyzed based on their general focus area. From the content analysis, considerable evidences are found in the literature review on the integration of supply chain management with industrial cluster. The entire emphasis of the previous researches was on cluster supply chain (CSC) management, which highly promotes efficient operations of industrial clusters. Most of the CSC articles focused on the importance of cluster supply chain. However, there are few researches in the design, implementation and improvement of cluster supply chain. On the other hand, the role of industrial clusters in a global supply chain management and benchmarking of best practices have not yet been given the attention they deserve in previous studies. This is one of the first studies which critically examine researches that deal about supply chain management and industrial cluster integration theories

A Multiagent System for Production Synchronization in SME Mecatronics Supply Chain

International audienceWe present in this paper the application of multiagent system (MAS) for modelling and simulation of the dynamic structure and behaviour of the supply chain in SMEs mechatronic context in Savoie. First, a short literature overview describes the context and the contribution of multiagent modelling for SMEs integration. In the rest of the paper, the supply chain concepts and their agentification are presented. On the basis of this correspondence, we propose a synchronization protocol for the operational system (production flow and resources)

Upgrading strategies in global furniture value chains

Abstract not available