Transcript Slide 1

( MULTI-AGENT BASE )
HOLONIC SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT
By
OMOJARO A. PETER
MOSTAFA JAFARI
MOHAMMAD KHAONJANI
OUTLINE
Abstract
 Introduction
 Defining supply chain management (SCM)
. Integrated supply chain network
. Basic Operation categories
. Role of information Technology
 Holonic supply chain
 Characteristics of Holonic/Multi agent SCM
 Condition for implementation
 Comparing Holonic/Multi agent SCM with Conventional SCM
 Case study
 Application of Virtual Reality
 Conclusion
ABSTRACT
This analysis presents the fields of supply chain management, multi-agent
systems, and the merger of these two fields into multi-agent based supply chain
management.
The concept of supply chain management is to overlook and manage the
transition of raw goods in to finished products. and thus, a synthesis of supply
chain management and multi-agent systems introduce agents application to
achieve this.
For this purpose, agents are firstly, introduced as a new information
technology for supply chain management before focusing on how agents can
contribute to solving problems in supply chains.
A compairism of supply chain management and a multi-agents base SCM is
then presented followed by a case study.
A look at the possibility of a virtual form of simulating the proposed model is
stated.
INTRODUCTION
Today …..
 Market place is increasingly demanding more in term of lower cost,
faster time-to-market and better quality
SO
 Forcing companies to become ever more reactive and agile in
performing their business task.

Modern manufacturing should be able to act like a cell in an organism
(the market).

The survival of manufacturing companies has become increasingly
more depended on their ability to react promptly and flexibility to
market variation and need .

Flexibility appear to be the strategic success factor to satisfy the global
competition need of worldwide manufacturing enterprise, allowing them
to provide high- quality production at reasonable cost.
TERMS DEFINATIONS

Supply Chain Is the global network used to deliver products and
services from raw material to end customers through an
engineered flow of information, physical distribution, and cash.
- The association for operation management, (APICS)

Supply Chain is “the set of firms acting to design, engineer,
market, manufacture, and distribute products and services to
end-consumers”. In general, this set of firms is structured as a
network, in which we can see a supply chain with five levels
(raw material suppliers, tier suppliers, manufacturers,
distribution centers and retailers). - Muckstadt and his colleague
TERMS DEFINATIONS
Supply Chain Management : The Design, Maintenance, and operation of
supply chain processes, including those that make up extended product
features, for satisfaction of end-user needs.- James B. Ayers
INTERNAL SUPPLY CHAIN
Suppliers
Purchasing
Production
Distribution
fig. 1 SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATION REFERENCE ( SCOR)
Customer
Integrated SCM :
Over the years more corporations have become increasingly flexible
and dependent on outsourcing the production of their goods to other
corporations, who are able to do the job at a more affordable rate.
This explain the different links and merging of more than one company
to process and bring to existence a desired product from the raw
material supplier, the
tier supplier the manufacturer or assembler,
distributors and final consumer.
As previously explained, the concept of inter-company collaboration is
a way to create such synergies in a supply chain.
Flow of resources (transportations)
Raw material
suppliers
Tier suppliers
Manufacturers
Distribution
centers
Fig .2 An example of an integrated supply chain
Retailers
AN INTEGRATED SCM LAYERS
OEM’s
system
integrators
first-tier
suppliers
second-tier
Fig.3 Pyramid Structure of an Automotive Industry
OEM: The original equipment manufacturer e.g. Mercedes, Suzuki, HP, Peugeot.
SYSTEM INTEGRATORS: The integrator of the process in most case not physical
but are otherwise regarded as the main suppliers to the OEM.
SUPPLIERS: The different suppliers (manufacturers) of separate parts.
THREE BASIC CATEGORICAL LEVELS OF SUPPLY CHAIN ACTIVITIES:
1. Strategic: Optimization, and partnership with suppliers, distributors, and
customers, creating communication channels for critical information and operational
Improvements. Product design coordination, so that new and existing products can be
optimally integrated into the supply chain, load management Information Technology
infrastructure, to support supply chain operations. Where-to-make and what-to-make
-or-buy decisions.
2. Tactical: Sourcing contracts and other purchasing decisions. Production decisions
including contracting, scheduling, and planning process definition. Inventory decisions,
Transportation strategy, and Benchmarking of all operations against competitors as
well as implementation of best practices throughout the enterprise. Focus is on
customer demand.
3. Operational: Daily production and distribution planning, including all nodes in the
supply chain. Production scheduling for each manufacturing facility in the supply chain
(minute by minute). Outbound operations, including all fulfillment activities and
transportation to customers. Order promising, accounting for all constraints in the
supply chain, including all suppliers, manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, and
other customers.
Information Technologies in Supply Chain Management
“Information technologies” is an important enabler of effective supply chain
management. Much of the current interest in supply chain management is
motivated by the possibilities that are introduced by the abundance of data
and the savings inherent in sophisticated analysis of these data”.
-
Simchi-Levi
and his colleagues,
Below is an illustration of interaction that can only be attain by forward and
respond information and data flow.
It can be in document form and ……
It follows that information technologies in supply chains pursue three goals;
1] Collecting information on each product from production to delivery or purchase point,
and providing complete visibility for all parties involved.
2] Accessing any data in the system from a single-point-of-contact, e.g. from a PDA
linked to the company information system through a wireless link.
3] Analyzing data, planning activities, and making trade-offs based on information from
the entire supply chain.
To achieve these activities, information technologies use certain means:
– Information technology infrastructure (network, databases. . .);
– E-commerce;
– supply chain components, which are the various systems directly involved in supply
chain planning, i.e., Decision Support Systems (DSS).
Concretely, information and decision technologies take the form of:
– Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) ; a class of software systems organizing and
managing companies, e.g., PeopleSoft/Oracle, or SSA Global;
– E-commerce, and in particular marketplaces, such as Commerce One and Ariba.
– Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS); a class of software for Decision Support
System (DSS) in supply chains.
According to Shapiro’s decomposition of information technologies, the first two
applications (ERP and e-commerce) belong to “Transactional Information Technologies”
because they are concerned with acquiring, processing and Communicating raw data.
On the other hand, APS and DSS belong to “Analytical Information Technologies”
because they allow analyzing raw data in order to help managers, which is a task at a
higher level.
In practice, companies first install transactional tools, because analytical tools need
them to be fed with raw data. More and more, multi-agent systems are seen as a new
technology for improving or replacing technologies used in both transactional and
analytical information technologies. We now explain why agent technology seems so
promising in the context of supply chains.
HOLONIC SYSTEM (MULTI - AGENT SYSTEM)
Stressing the concept of higher decentralized, coordination and control in
production system.
A holon is an autonomous and cooperative building block of a system
(manufacturing or others) for transforming, transporting, storing and or validating
information and physical objects.
IT has the following as it’s attributes





Integration
Agility
Synchronization
Customer-centric Service
Information Protection
Motivations For Using Holonic OR Multi-Agent Systems in Supply Chain
Management
Researchers have already applied agent technology in industry to concurrent
engineering, manufacturing enterprise integration, supply chain management,
manufacturing planning, scheduling and control and holonic manufacturing systems.
Concerning supply chain organized as a network of intelligent agents, it is noted to be
made up of heterogeneous (Different types) production subsystems gathered in vast
dynamic and virtual coalitions. Intelligent distributed systems, e.g. multi-agent systems,
enable increased autonomy of each member in the supply chain. Each partner (or
production subsystem) pursues individual goals while satisfying both local and external
constraints.
Therefore, one or several agents can be used to represent each partner in the
supply chain (plant, workshop, etc.). Moreover, the agent paradigm (standard) is a
natural metaphor for network organizations.
CHARACTERISTICS OF HOLONIC/MULTI – AGENTS SCM SYSTEMS
AUTONOMY: a company carries out tasks by itself without external intervention and has some kind of control
over its action and internal state;
INTEGRATION: this is an attribute that links all the participants and activities involved in converting raw
materials into products and delivering them to consumers at the right time and at the right place. i.e. interacts
with other companies e.g. by placing orders for products or services (social ability);
SYNCHRONIZATION: synchronizing supplier planning, production planning, logistics planning, and demand
planning will provide a comprehensive view of all supply chain activities and enable management to make more
informed trade off decisions.
AGILITY: SCM systems must be able to process transactions rapidly and accurately. in today's business
environment organizations must focus on moving information and products quickly through the entire supply
chain, distribution, assembly manufacture and supply. the faster information, and decisions flow through an
organization, the quicker it can respond to customer needs and orders.
FLEXIBILITY OR REACTIVITY: a company perceives its environment, i.e., the market and the other
companies, and responds in a timely fashion to changes that occur in it. In particular, each firm modifies its
behaviour and customize its services to meet the needs of distinct customer segments or individual accounts.
to adapt to market and competition evolutions.
PRO-ACTIVENESS: a company not only simply acts in response to its environment it can also initiate new
activities, e.g. launch new products into it.
BASIC TYPES OF HOLON BUILDING BLOCKS IN A HOLONIC
MANUFACTURING SYSTEM (HMS)
1) Product holons: A product Holon holds the process and product knowledge to
ensure the correct fabrication of the product with sufficient quality. It acts as an
information server to the other Holon's in the HMS. A product Holon provides
consistent and up-to-date information on the product life-cycle, user requirements,
design, and process plan and bill of material.
2) Order holons: An order holon represents a manufacturing order. It is an active
entity responsible for performing the work correctly and on time. It explicitly
captures all information and information processing of a job (Valckenaers, 1996).
3) Resource holons: A resource Holon consists of a physical part, namely a
production resource in the HMS, and of an information processing part that controls
the resource. It offers production capacity and functionality to the surrounding
Holon's (Wyns, 1996). It holds the methods to allocate the production resources,
and the knowledge and procedures to organize, use and control these production
resources to drive production. A resource Holon is an abstraction for the production
means such as machines, furnaces, conveyors, pipelines, pallets, components,
raw materials, tools, tool holders, material storage, personnel, energy, floor space,
etc.
Depending on the situation of the environment in which an holonic approach is to be
implemented. different types of holon can be created and each holon has a specific
role it will be carrying out and cooperating with other holons to achieve the set
objective at the same time.
Order
Holon
Product
Holon
Resource
Holon
Cell
Holon
Cell
Holon
Machin
e
Holon
AVG
Holon
Machin
e
Holon
Robot
Holon
Fig. 4 Types of holons and their relation with each other
AVG
Holon
Robot
Holon
CONDITION FOR IMPLEMENTATION
Multi-agent systems offer a way to elaborate production systems that are:
1] Decentralized rather than centralized.
2] Emergent rather than planned.
3] Concurrent rather than sequential.
It must be used for problems whose characteristics require its capacities. According
to Parunak, five characteristics are particularly salient. In fact, agents are best suited
for applications that are;
1] Modular
2] Decentralized
3] Changeable
4] Ill-structured
5] Complex
COMPARING MULTI-AGENT SCM WITH CONVENTIONAL SCM
To judge relevance for supply chains of autonomous agents, multi-agent systems are
identified as biological (ecosystems) and economical (markets) models, whereas
traditional approaches are compared with military patterns of hierarchical organization.
ISSUE
Model
AUTONOMOUS AGENTS
(HOLONIC)
Economical, Biological
CONVENTIONAL
SYSTEMS
Military
Issues favouring conventional system
1. Theoretical optimization?
2. Level of prediction
3. Computational stability
No
Aggregate
Low
Yes
Individual
High
Issues favouring autonomous agents
4. Match to reality
5. Requires central data?
6. Response to change
7. System re-configurability
8. Nature of software
9. Time required to schedule
High
No
Robust
Easy
Short, simple
Real time
Low
Yes
Fragile
Hard
Lengthy, complex
Slow
Table 1 . Agent-based (Holonic) vs. Conventional technologies.
1. Theoretical optima cannot be guaranteed, because there is no global view of the system;
2. Predictions for autonomous agents can usually be made only at the aggregate level;
3. In principle, systems of autonomous agents can become computationally unstable, since, according
to System Dynamics, any system is potentially unstable.
But on the other hand, the autonomous, agent-based approach has advantages like:
4. Because each agent is close to the point of contact with the real world, the system’s computational
state tracks the state of the world very closely. . .
5 . . . . And this tracking is without need for a centralized database.
6. Because overall system behavior emerges from local decisions, the system readjusts itself
automatically to environmental noise . . .
7 . . . . Or to the removal or addition of agents;
8. The software for each agent is much shorter and simpler than would be required for a centralized
approach, and as a result is easier to write, debug and maintain.
9. Because the system schedules itself as it runs, there is no separate scheduling phase of operation,
and thus no need to wait for the scheduler to complete. Moreover, the optima computed by
conventional systems may not be realizable in practice, and the more detailed predictions permitted by
conventional approaches are often invalidated by the real world.
CASE STUDY
For a piston manufacturing company with a dynamic and complex market
demand that is very high.
How can we utilize Multi-agents system to improve the shop floor in coping
and meeting with demand at the lowest adjustments on machine, shortest
possible time and easy decision making?
DATA MANAGEMENT
MARKET
EMPLOYEE DATA
MAIN DATA BASE
PRODUCTION
SCHEDULING
SUPPLIER
TOTAL
PRODUCTIVE
MAINTENANCE
Fig.5
ANALYSIS
DESIGN AND
R&D
DM [DECISION MAKERS]
Lower the effects on
machines
Increase the production capacity
by satisfying the aftermath
customers.
MULTI ENTERPRISE LAYER
Raw
material
supplier
Iran Khodro customers
1
ABC company
Piston rings
supplier
Saipa customers 2
Aftermath customers 3
ENTERPRISE LAYER
Fig.6
Diesel piston
[factory 1]
Sales 1
Car piston
[factory 2]
Sales 2
SHOP FLOOR LAYER
Moulding and initial rough
machinery. [work area 1]
Final control, grading and
packaging.
[Work area 3]
Accurate machinery
processing.
[Work area 2]
Queing and surface finishing.
[work area 1]
AGV
Fig.7
AGV
M/C 1
IN
OUT
M/C 2
IN
OUT
CELL LAYER
CURRENT STATE
1. Piston of up to 3,000,000 are produced.
2. There is over 3,000 aftermath customer. (i.e. excluding main
brand customer which are SAIPA [KIA motor] and IRAN
KHODRO [Peugeot motor]).
3. Over 500 employers.
4. Location [in the North-west of Iran].
5. It is a private own company.
6. Under pioneer license from MAHLE Brand Germany .
FACTORY AND SHOP FLOOR SYSTEM
PRODUCTIO
N
/SCHEDUL
E DEPT.
M
1
IN
OUT
M
2
IN
OUT
M
3
IN
OUT
MAINTENAN
CE
DEPT
SALES
ORDER
Fig.8
EVENTS COMMON WITH THIS SYSTEM
1. Rely heavily on the maintenance department
2. The production manager will have to be informed before any major decision are take [from the 2
minute,15 minute and 30 minute stipulated machine breakdown tolerance]
3. The sales have a constraint of giving customer an immediate feed back for meeting an urgent
demand.
4. Each machine buffer has a schedule task it must deliver.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
A. VARIATIONS IN DEMAND:
1] AFTERMATH [ very high un-predictable demand]: With over 30 different models,
quantities demand of different models varies and is high.
2] OEM’s: The issues of customized demand at unplanned time is highly possible
and constant.
B. HIGH ADJUSTMENTS ON MACHINES:
1] Effects of continuous changing of machine affects machine performance.
2] Risk of quality depreciation as machine specified tolerance and precision level
can be affected by adjustments.
3] Human error tend to increase with much adjustments.
C. INCREASEMENT IN PRODUCTION [30%]: Available capacity to meet high demand.
D. INTEGRATION AND HARMONIZATION:
1] Need for quick and on time accurate information and support on the shop floor.
PROPOSED AGENT TECHNOLOGY MODEL FOR THE SUPPLY SCHAIN
HOLON 1
HOLON 2
HOLON 3
HOLON 4
M/C
AGENT
1
M/C
AGENT
2
M/C
AGENT
3
M/C
AGENT
4
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
TPM
AGENT
TPM
AGENT
TPM
AGENT
TPM
AGENT
TPM MANAGER
SUB-HOLON
BUFFE
R
AGENT
BUFFE
R
AGENT
BUFFE
R
AGENT
BUFFE
R
AGENT
SUPPLIER
MANAGER
SUB-HOLON
SALES
AGENT
SALES
AGENT
SALES
AGENT
SALES
AGENT
SALES
MANAGER
SUB-HOLON
SUB
DATA
AGENT
SUB
DATA
AGENT
SUB
DATA
AGENT
SUB
DATA
AGENT
IT-MANAGER
SUB-HOLON
SUB-HOLON
Fig.9
Detailed Agents SCM roles Holon and sub-holon
IMPLEMENTATION RE-ADJUSTMENTS CHALLENGES
• Training or hiring of personnel to function as a reliable
agent.
• The same machines can be effectively put into use without
increasing production line.
RESOURCE. HOLON 1 M/C
L & T OUTGOING
ORDER HOLON
RESOURCE. HOLON 2 M/C
RESOURCE. HOLON 3 M/C
RESOURCE. HOLON 4 M/C
RESOURCE. HOLON 5 M/C
COOPERATIVE
NEGOTIATION
[created any
time an order
arise]
SALES
INCOMING
ORDER HOLON
CUSTOMER 1
CUSTOMER 2
CUSTOMER 3
Details decision making Holon
PRODUCT HOLON
[ PD.M ]
Overall decision making Holon
RESOURCE HOLON
[TPM ]
PRODUCT HOLON
[SU- M ]
Fig.10
PRODUCT HOLON
[ I-T . M]
ABC Agents SCM domain data flow diagram Design
SUPPLIER 1
SCM HOLON
SUPPLIER 2
SCM HOLON
BENEFITS
1.Easy decision making that is cooperative and autonomous.
2.Readjust the change in the system with the least change constraint.
3. There is consistent up to date information available to all agents in the data
pool.
4. Overall general decision can be made with within the shortest possible time.
5. High flexibility that meets the satisfying need of the aftermath
market/demand.
6. Transportation issues are addressed as assurance can be given for a prompt
response to demand and delivery.
APPLICATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY
The ability of Virtual Reality to provide realistic simulations of data, objects and
environments, with which users can interact and manipulate in an intuitive and
realistic manner is very possible. This has been provided in situations like layout
planning and concept creation, operation use, production simulation, operators
training.
Because of complex structures of Supply Chain and project team major business
driver for the use of virtual reality by it’s professionals is to visualize and understand
engineering problems and hence reducing risk and uncertainty.
It is basically used by companies to address and show their technical competency and
expertise.
It should be noted that the better a simulation platform corresponds to their
application environment, the easier the development process will be.
Before taking a new order from a customer, a simulation model can show when the
order will be completed because just taking the new order can affect other orders in
the facility. Simulation can be used to augment the tasks of planers and schedulers to
run the operation with better efficiency.
The aims usually are to test and verify plans, check the material flow routing and
control principle, verify the buffer size and location and search for bottlenecks. The
data should be real production data if available, or data from similar products or
variants in the same product family. This is an interactive analysis, the engineers
should return back to cell level studies, if some parameter need more detail study, for
example cycle time need to be shorter.
Models can be used to plan, design and process day-to-day operation of
manufacturing facilities. These “as build” models provide manufacturers with the
ability to evaluate the capacity of the system for new orders, unforeseen events such
as equipment downtime and changes in operations. Some operations models also
provide schedules that manufacturers can use to run their facilities. planning and
scheduling systems plans can be complimented.
CONCLUSIONS
All these reasons show the relevance to use agents in supply chain
management. In other words, thanks to their adaptability, their autonomy and
their social ability, agent-based systems is a viable technology for the
implementation of communication and decision-making in real-time. Each agent
would represent a part of the decision-making process, hence creating a tight
network of decision makers, who react in real-time to customer requirements, in
opposition to the flood of current processes, which is decided before and after a
customers place an order.
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