Infrastructure of an agile supply chain system: A virtual agent modeling approach

Abstract

This paper attempts to suggest an infrastructural framework for the design and development of an agile supply chain system which is characterized by its ability to cope with unprecedented changes related to the management of suppliers and the flow of parts within the value chain of the entire production network. In particular, a virtual agent modeling approach, which provides the adaptive and predictive capability to meet the requirements of this agile system, is proposed. The infrastructure of this agile supply chain system highlights the deployment of virtual agents, which are basically intelligent functional objects emulating the behavior of human beings with relatively high adaptability. The significance of contribution of this paper is concerned with the suggestion of an infrastructural framework, which is able to enhance the agility as well as adaptability of value-added activities in a supply chain, thereby providing more alternatives and ideas for those researchers who are interested in this field of study. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2003.