Title: ATC-based task allocation in virtual enterprise

Authors: Liuyi Ling, Liang Liang, Qinglong Gou, Shaofu Du

Addresses: School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230026, China. ' School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230026, China. ' School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230026, China. ' School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230026, China

Abstract: A virtual enterprise (VE) consists of several autonomous and heterogeneous member enterprises (MEs) that move towards their own objectives. In order to improve its efficiency and responsiveness, the VE has to effectively synchronise and integrate business components that are distributed across the MEs. This paper probes task allocation problem in a virtual enterprise. ATC (Analytical Target Cascading) is used to coordinate the production task allocation in order to achieve the optimal solution with high customer satisfaction and low total production cost. The numerical study in this paper demonstrates that ATC is an effective coordination method.

Keywords: analytical target cascading; task allocation; virtual enterprises; web based enterprises; online enterprises; autonomous enterprises; heterogeneous enterprises; member enterprises; efficiency; responsiveness; synchronisation; integration; business components; component distribution; coordination; production tasks; optimal solutions; customer satisfaction; production costs; numerical studies; integrated supply chains; SCM; supply chain management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISM.2011.038334

International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, 2011 Vol.6 No.1, pp.92 - 107

Published online: 28 Jan 2011 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article