Supply chain flexibility assessment by multivariate regression and neural networks

Abstract

This paper compares two vastly different methods of analysis-multiple regression and neural networks, in supply chain flexibility assessment. Data of manufacturing firms evaluating their prominent suppliers were analysed by multiple regression and simulated using three-layer multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks. Our study shows that NN can accurately determine a supplier's flexibility capability within an error of 1% The incorporation of these two methods can lead to better understanding and dynamic prediction of supply chain flexibility for buyers. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.