Multi-Agent Technology for Supply Chain Network Information Support

Supply chain network (SCN), a society formed by autonomous agents to solve a common logistics problem is a philosophy for enterprise integration. A multi agent infrastructure for information support of SCN management is proposed. It consists of SCN problem domain agents and an agent platform. Member acts as a Problem domain agent, while Group serves as a Supply Chain Advisor. An agent platform consists of Directory Facilitator, Agent Management System, Agent Communication Channel, Internal Platform Message Transport, and Wrapper Agents. Use of this platform ensures interoperability among agents and reusability of components and services. An automotive SCN case study is illustrated utilizing the proposed multi agent framework.