Supervisory control of a multi-echelon supply chain: A modular Petri net approach for inter-organizational control

Abstract

Petri nets (PNs) are frequently utilized to model system dynamics due to their ability to handle concurrencies and sequential dependence. In this paper, a portion of the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model has been extracted and modeled using PNs for the purpose of exerting supervisory control upon a multi-echelon supply chain (SC). The activities of source, make and deliver, inherent in the SCOR model form the basis of the representation of the PN model for each echelon considered in the SC model. Two control nets are utilized: one above the base model of each echelon to exert local constraints and an enterprise level supply chain manager (SCM). The local constraints are at the tactical and operational levels while the SCM enforces additional constraints consisting of long term planning goals at the strategic level. Place invariants are used to create the supervisors. Performance measures of the total SC are formulated to determine the effectiveness of any partnership. An efficient method for finding the current state of the system is developed which is used to determine the performance measures of each echelon. This paper presents a modular approach to the overall structure and PN modeling for a SC system. It is intended to extend the use of supervisory control from a shop-floor level to an inter-organizational facility and enterprise level.