An agent based model of supply chains

This paper describes a generic simulation model that is capable of representing a supply chain from raw material producers through to final consumers, with products flowing up the chain and money flowing downwards. Each level of the chain may have many competitors that may have relationships with multiple customers and suppliers. The model provides a framework for defining the behaviour of producers in terms of the product range that they supply, their pricing strategy and production volumes. Customer purchasing decisions are represented by rules that determine the sources of supply and order quantities. These rules use information that may be based upon purchasers, suppliers and product attributes. The model represents companies and their interrelationships as networks of autonomous intelligent agents (Etzioni & Weld 1995). The program is implemented in Java. A case study in the meat industry is provided.