Supply chain configuration modeling based on colored Petri-nets

In nowadays global manufacturing, supply chain configuration modeling has been recognized as a linchpin to form different supply chains in response to changing customer demands. It is accomplished through addressing properly a high variety of supplies. This paper develops a set of formalism based on colored Petri-nets to model supply chain configuration with focus on product, process and logistics design. The Petri-net technique is applied to address such issues as generic variety representation, constraint satisfaction and flow control. Also reported is a case study of configuring supply chains for motor products in a multinational manufacturing company.