A proposal of economic negotiation mechanism with a complex network for supply chain management

Virtual market based supply chain operations solve product allocation problems by distributing scheduled resources according to market prices, which define the common scale of value across various products. We formulate the supply chain model as a discrete resource allocation problem, and propose an economic negotiation mechanism with a market-oriented programming framework based on complex network information topology. Heterogeneous agents of three types are defined in the virtual market. Their interactions with micro-behaviour show a macro order of the virtual market via a complex network. The clearing price dynamism can be analysed in economic terms. The applicability of the framework to a resource allocation problem for supply chain management is also discussed. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.