EDI and intelligent agents integration to manage food chains

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is a type of inter-organizational information system, which permits the automatic and structured communication of data between organizations. Although EDI is used for internal communication, its main application is in facilitating closer collaboration between organizational entities, e.g. suppliers, credit institutions, and transportation carriers. This study illustrates how agent technology can be used to solve real food supply chain inefficiencies and optimise the logistics network. For instance, we explain how agribusiness companies can use agent technology in association with EDI to collect data from retailers, group them into meaningful categories, and then perform different functions. As a result, the distribution chain can be managed more efficiently. Intelligent agents also make available timely data to inventory management resulting in reducing stocks and tied capital. Intelligent agents are adoptive to changes so they are valuable in a dynamic environment where new products or partners have entered into the supply chain. This flexibility gives agent technology a relative advantage which, for pioneer companies, can be a competitive advantage. The study concludes with recommendations and directions for further research

MACS: Multi-agent COTR system for Defense Contracting

The field of intelligent multi-agent systems has expanded rapidly in the recent past. Multi-agent architectures and systems are being investigated and continue to develop. To date, little has been accomplished in applying multi-agent systems to the defense acquisition domain. This paper describes the design, development, and related considerations of a multi-agent system in the area of procurement and contracting for the defense acquisition community

Using artificial intelligence to optimize intermodal networking of organizational agents within the digital economy

The problems of forming a digital economy supersystem have been analyzed by the authors using a key business model of sharing digital assets by organizational agents based on the convergence of telematic, computing and information services with the final output of a complex of managed digital objects to a new quality control based on the M2M principle integration. The integration of standardized network infrastructures allows the transformation of traditional linear-hierarchical chains of management transactions in a network of transactions of digital objects that perform intelligent interaction without human intervention through IP-like connections. The introduction of universal shells of any business process from the processing of primary data to processing in the deep region with the use of advanced multi-agent optimization algorithms of the next [after 3G] generation [based on 4G, 5G, etc.], implemented within the electronic micro-, meso-and macrocontent allows us to ensure the stability of the super system within the optimal values of the activities of controlled digital objects due to the increased possibilities of observation and control

Integration of decision support systems to improve decision support performance

Decision support system (DSS) is a well-established research and development area. Traditional isolated, stand-alone DSS has been recently facing new challenges. In order to improve the performance of DSS to meet the challenges, research has been actively carried out to develop integrated decision support systems (IDSS). This paper reviews the current research efforts with regard to the development of IDSS. The focus of the paper is on the integration aspect for IDSS through multiple perspectives, and the technologies that support this integration. More than 100 papers and software systems are discussed. Current research efforts and the development status of IDSS are explained, compared and classified. In addition, future trends and challenges in integration are outlined. The paper concludes that by addressing integration, better support will be provided to decision makers, with the expectation of both better decisions and improved decision making processes

A multi-agent system to support location based group decision making in mobile teams

This paper describes an agent-based approach for developing a location-based asynchronous group decision-support system for mobile teams. The approach maximises the use of reusable service components (GSCmas — generic service component for multi-agent systems) as the main interaction mechanism between agents to allow flexible support of a new group-decision process. The paper describes the architecture of a GSCmas and provides details of how the GSCmas is integrated within a decision support system. Finally a system (mPower) based on the proposed approach is introduced and applied to a location-based group decision problem

Agent Technology in Supply Chains and Networks: An exploration of high potential future applications

This paper reports on an ongoing research project that\ud is aimed at evaluating how software agents can improve\ud performance of supply chains and networks. To conduct\ud this evaluation, first a framework is developed to classify\ud potential applications of software agents to supply\ud networks. The framework was used in workshop sessions\ud with logistics and information systems experts from\ud industry, software/consultancy and academia to identify\ud promising areas for agents. Based on the framework and\ud the outcome of the workshop sessions, this paper presents\ud promising application areas for the near future and\ud beyond