A generic analytical target cascading optimization system for decentralized supply chain configuration over supply chain grid

While centralized supply chain configuration (SCC) adopts an integrated decision model solved by an all-in-one decision method, decentralized SCC normally allows constituent enterprises to employ distributed decision models which are coordinated through a decomposition method to achieve an overall solution. Decentralized SCC paradigm could offer various contemporary advantages such as individual suppliers' decision right protection and overall decision efficiency enhancement. This paper proposes an optimization system, atcPortal, to practically enable such a decentralized SCC process. Individual suppliers convert their local decision support systems into decision web services to form a distributed open-standard SCC service platform, called supply chain grid (SCG) in this paper. As a decomposition-based optimization method, analytical target cascading (ATC) is the mechanism for atcPortal to coordinate these web services through three phases of service searching, service-based ATC problem definition, and service-oriented ATC execution. atcPortal is a generic and extensible web portal in the sense that ATC accommodates a variety of decentralized SCC decision structures without confining the local decision models of individual enterprises. Finally, the usage of atcPortal is demonstrated through a typical decentralized SCC problem.

[1]  Ralph-Johan Back,et al.  Decentralization of Process Nets with Centralized Control , 1983, PODC.

[2]  George Q. Huang,et al.  Optimal configuration of assembly supply chains using analytical target cascading , 2010 .

[3]  Yugang Yu,et al.  Optimal Zone Boundaries for Two-Class-Based Compact 3d As/Rs , 2007 .

[4]  George Q. Huang,et al.  Extending analytical target cascading for optimal supply chain network configuration of a product family , 2009, Int. J. Comput. Integr. Manuf..

[5]  T. H. Truong,et al.  Optimal design methodologies for configuration of supply chains , 2005 .

[6]  Tao Jiang,et al.  Target Cascading in Optimal System Design , 2003, DAC 2000.

[7]  Domenico Talia.  The Open Grid Services Architecture: Where the Grid Meets the Web , 2002, IEEE Internet Comput..

[8]  David F. Pyke,et al.  Sourcing Strategy and Supplier Relationships : Alliances vs . eProcurement April 8 , 2002 , 2002 .

[9]  Ian T. Foster,et al.  Grid Services for Distributed System Integration , 2002, Computer.

[10]  Ian Foster,et al.  The Open Grid Services Architecture Platform , 2003 .

[11]  Feng Chu,et al.  A Stackelberg game and its improvement in a VMI system with a manufacturing vendor , 2009, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[12]  Ting Qu,et al.  Extensible multi-agent system for optimal design of complex systems using analytical target cascading , 2006 .

[13]  George Q. Huang,et al.  Towards integrated optimal configuration of platform products, manufacturing processes, and supply chains , 2005 .

[14]  Karl T. Ulrich,et al.  Component Sharing in the Management of Product Variety: a Study of Automotive Braking Systems , 1999 .

[15]  Arnold Maltz,et al.  Improving Supply-Chain-Reconfiguration Decisions at IBM , 2005, Interfaces.

[16]  Panos Y. Papalambros,et al.  Convergence properties of analytical target cascading , 2002 .

[17]  Takeo Kanade,et al.  Formal Methods for Open Object-Based Distributed Systems , 2006, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[18]  B. Segal,et al.  Grid computing: the European Data Grid Project , 2000, 2000 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium. Conference Record (Cat. No.00CH37149).

[19]  Sean P. Willems,et al.  Optimizing the Supply Chain Configuration for New Products , 2005, Manag. Sci..

[20]  Yugang Yu,et al.  Optimal zone boundaries for two-class-based compact three-dimensional automated storage and retrieval systems , 2009 .

[21]  Eleni Stroulia,et al.  Flexible interface matching for Web-service discovery , 2003, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Web Information Systems Engineering, 2003. WISE 2003..

[22]  Zhenyu Wu,et al.  Framework for grid manufacturing , 2004 .

[23]  Steven Tuecke,et al.  The Physiology of the Grid An Open Grid Services Architecture for Distributed Systems Integration , 2002 .

[24]  Tao Yu,et al.  Resource Management Framework for Manufacturing Grid , 2004 .

[25]  Peter Mertens,et al.  Supply Chain Management Based on SAP Systems , 2002 .

[26]  Ting Qu,et al.  Extending analytical target cascading for optimal configuration of supply chains with alternative autonomous suppliers , 2008 .

[27]  Robert M. O'Keefe,et al.  Web-based customer decision support systems , 1998, CACM.