An integrated framework for agent based inventory–production–transportation modeling and distributed simulation of supply chains

Abstract

A supply chain is a complex stochastic adaptive system featuring dynamics, uncertainty, and partial information sharing. Though agent-based discrete event simulation is a more efficient method of handling those features than the traditional analytical methods, agent-based modeling and simulation of supply chain requires the integration of a mature modeling and simulation theory, an excellent modeling framework, and a special simulation platform. This paper proposes an integrated framework for agent-based inventory–production–transportation modeling and distributed simulation of supply chains. This paper’s multi-level framework comprises four levels—from domain modeling to the implementation of multi-agent systems—and integrates the agent-based modeling and distributed simulation theory, a four-layered conceptual agent modeling framework, a meta-agent class library, and a multi-agent based distributed simulation platform to build an agent-based inventory–production–transportation model and simulate it in a distributed way. It extends the conceptual modeling framework. This extended framework provides users with a meta-agent class library and a multi-agent based distributed platform for supply chains with which to build an agent-based simulation model visually and rapidly by using meta-agents as building blocks. Further, it supports the independent building of sub-simulation models, implementing and synchronizing them together in a distributed environment. Therefore, the proposed integrated framework has strong flexibility in multiple layers, multiple granularities, reusability, and scalability in simulation modeling. A two-echelon supply chain is modeled and simulated to illustrate the proposed integrated framework.