A Framework for the Development of Multi-Agent Systems in Supply Chain Management

The application of multi-agent systems in the context of supply chain management has been much discussed during the last years and several implementations have emerged within research. Yet very few applications are actually being used in practice. The reason for this lies in an existing gap between domain concepts and agent technology, which complicates the application oriented development. A framework can support this process in order to devise customized and flexible solutions by providing the necessary agent modules and a supply chain management specific ontology. Within this paper, an analysis of requirements on multi-agent systems that stem from the domain of supply chain management is carried out. This forms the basis for the development of the architecture of the multi-agent framework whose design and implementation is described. In the following, common modules are designed and implemented to provide both a sophisticated and generic basis for specific projects.