Flow Control Protocols for Resilient Supply Networks

Abstract

Resilience is a dynamic property of SNs. The ability of a SN to minimize the effect of disruptions on its performance depends on the interaction between its structural properties and the set of flow control protocols used to dynamically assign and re-assign flow and resources. Hence, SN design should not only be concerned with the structural or control aspects in isolation but rather with the integrated design of these and their seamless interaction. Flow control protocols manage digital, physical, and service flows, and com-munication exchanges, among and within SN agents in order to conduct operations under normal and disrupted conditions, without altering existing SN structure. In this chapter, the three main types of flow control in SNs—sourcing control, internal resource control, and distribution control—are characterized and their interrelation with SN structural characteristics is discussed within the SN formalism introduced in Chap. 2. Several examples from literature illustrate applications that belong to each of the three protocol types.