A simulation-based decision support framework for real-time supply chain risk management

Abstract

In today’s competitive and dynamic market conditions, Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) has become a key concern for organizations in order to respond effectively to market uncertainties and disruptions. There are several sources for supply chain risk such as process, control, demand, supply, and environment. Natural disaster and manmade crises have also put negative impact on the performance of supply chains. In addition, risk management in the supply chain is a challenge due to the fact that the time, place, and severity of risks are fairly unpredictable. Controlling and monitoring risk in real-time is critical to providing a quick response to unanticipated events in order to reduce the consequences of these events. Hence, there is an immediate need to incorporate the risk management, computer simulation, and real-time information systems into a framework to assist decision makers in evaluating and managing supply chain risks. This paper develops a framework for the design of a simulation-based decision support system for the real-time management of disruptions and mitigation of risks in supply chains. The agent-based simulation is integrated into the framework in order to analyze the detailed interactions among various actors of the supply chain and evaluate the risk management process. The proposed simulation platform also provides a virtual marketplace that takes into account the interdependencies of the decisions made by costumers and company.

Keywords:

• agent-based simulation
• real-time
• supply chain
• risk management
• visualization