The automation of negotiation among buyer-supplier-supplier triad is an important policy in e-supply network coordination (e-SNC). In addition to the buyer-supplier coordination advantages, a further coordination among suppliers is also highly important in order to maximize the network supply capacity utilization especially when the suppliers are geographically decentralized. This chapter focuses on the impact of suppliers’ coordination in a network where the coordination among buyers and suppliers is in place. The proposed agent-based model is composed of two negotiator agents, one monitor agent, and one coordinator agent. The model begins with buyer-supplier negotiation and coordination mechanism adopted from the approach developed by Mohebbi and Shafaei (2010). Then, the suppliers’ coordination mechanism is developed to investigate the interaction among suppliers and evaluate the subsequent benefit obtained in the global network. The efficiency of the proposed approach is evaluated using a simulation model. The results demonstrate that in a network where the coordination among buyers and suppliers is in place, a further coordination among suppliers leads to the reduction of total network cost.
Simulative Assessment of Agent Based Production Planning and Control Strategies
