Conclusions and Future Developments

In this chapter, the conclusions of the research described in the above chapters are discussed. The chapter highlights the major contributions of the research developed. In particular, the value added by the coalition approaches is highlighted. The conclusions are supported by an extensive experimental investigation based on a simulation environment developed in open source language. The approach based on NASH equilibrium leads to the better compromise between customer and suppliers benefits. The suppliers gain the major benefits from the centralized approaches. Moreover, the future development paths are discussed.