Member Agent Behavior-oriented Supply Chain Process Modeling And Simulation

The supply chain operation process is usually a value added process which iscomposed by a series of autonomous behaviors and interactive behaviors of supplies,manufacturers, distributors, retailers and customers. The purpose of supply chaincoordination is to enhance the flexibility and service level of supply chain, and in themeanwhile to maximize the overall profit, by coordinating the autonomous behaviorsand the interactive behaviors process.Therefore, aiming at the characteristics of supply chain operation process, and fullyconsidered the initiative, autonomy, collaboration characteristics of the supply chainmembers, this thesis carried out deeply research on the agent behavior oriented suppychain operation modelling and simulation. The contents of this thesis are as follows:Firstly, by analyzing the characteristics in the supply chain operation, and based onCAS（Complex Adaptive System）theory and MAS（Multi-agent System）modellingprinciples, an integrated agent-behavior oriented supply chain operation model whichincluding member agent sub-model, order sub-model, transportation tool sub-model andinformation sub-model was presented. In order to describe the member agent’sbehaviors, based on INTERRUP hybrid agent model, the behavior rule was definedfrom reaction layer, planning layer, and cooperation layer, and then the executionbehaviors and interaction behaviors of different leve member agents were analyzed andmodelled by using hierarchy colored stochastic Petri-net. Furthermore, the mainbehavior protocol of supply chain member was also discussed to support the followingdevelopment of a simulation system.Secondly, the coordination strategy in the agent behavior oriented supply chainoperation model was discussed. The coordination problem in supply chain was dividedinto operation coordination problem and interest coordination problem. The operationcoordination is mainly aiming at coordinating the autonomous behavior and interactivebehavior of supply chain members, which includes dynamic order selection,transshipment partner selection and its conflict resolution, tranportation tool selectionand its conflict resolution. Dynamic coordination framworks of these three kinds ofoperation coordination problems were established based on thecoordination-decision-making mechanism of multi-agents, and the correspondingcoordination strategy and decision-making strategy were also designed. Compared with the operation coordination problem, the interest coordination is aiming at sovling theinterest optimization and allocation in supply chain, the core of this kind of problem ispricing coordination. An independent pricing based amount discount coordinationpricing method for the suppy chain member was presented. Then, based on the analysisof the coordination stategy, a performance evaluation system of the supply chaincoordination problem was designed from micro and macro level, and alogrithms foreach index in the evaluation system was described.Thirdly, a dynamic simulation system for the agent behavior oriented supply chainoperation process has been developped. Based on the integrated model of supply chainpresented, a member agent-oriented supply chain operation process simulation system（MA-SCOPS）was developed by using Visual C++. This simulation system adopted amember agent behavior driven simulation technique, the dynamic simulation for thestatus changes and interaction of different level member agents, order tasks,transportation tools and supply chain information can be realized, and the performanceanalysis of the supply chain coordination process can also be supported by integratedthe performance evaluation indexes into the simulation system. Taking a specific supplychain operation case as an example, the correctness and validity of the simulationplatform developed has been verified.Finally, the research on the coordination strategy optimization was carried outbased on the MA-SCOPS developed. Several operation coordination strategies such asdynamic order selection, transshipment partner selection and its conflict resolution,transportation tool selection and its conflict resolution, and the pricing coordinationbehaviors in interest coordination process was respectivelly simulated and analyzed.Simulation results indicate that the agent behavior oriented supply chain operationprocess modelling and simulation method proposed by this thesis can provide aneffective approach to predict, optimize, and enhance the coordination performance of asupply chain.