Modeling and distributed simulation of supply chain with a multi-agent platform

A supply chain is a complex adaptive system that is very difficult to analyze, in particular, with respect to its dynamics, stochastic, and uncertainty. The traditional analytical model is unable to cope with these characteristics of supply chain. In addition, the analytical model may not be solved due to its complexity and nonlinearity. Simulation, especially the multi-agent-based distributed simulation, is one of the most effective tools to model and analyze supply chain. In this paper, a multi-agent platform framework with multi-layers for modeling and distributed simulation of the complex supply chain is presented. In this platform, generic agents for modeling entities in supply chain are described and a novel simulation modeling approach enabled by the platform is proposed. The platform provides a flexible environment for defining, deploying, simulating, and displaying agent-based simulation models and enables users to instantiate generic agents to model their required simulation models rapidly. A three-echelon supply chain model is developed and simulated to illustrate the use of the simulation platform.