A Software Interface Between System Dynamics and Agent-Based Simulations - Linking Vensim® and RePast®

A software-based integration of agent-based modeling and system dynamics is presented. More precisely, it is described how RePast and Vensim can be coupled using standard procedure calls. In an example from supply chain management, agents modeled with RePast in an agent-based simulation context are provided with system dynamics models as internal schemata, which are built with Vensim. The prototypical application shows both, the technical simplicity of combining agent-based and system dynamics simulations when using RePast and Vensim, and the potential of a combination of the two approaches.