Title: An object-oriented supply chain simulation for products with high service level requirements in the embedded devices industry

Authors: Detlef Herbert Grittner; Raul Valverde

Addresses: Sohard Software GmbH, Wuerzburger Str. 197, 90766 Fuerth, Germany. ' John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., S-MB 11311, Montreal, Canada

Abstract: The supply chain of a case study in the embedded devices industry was examined from the perspective of a high service level for the delivery of one of its products. For this purpose, an agent-based object-oriented model of the supply chain with a quantity reorder system for the inventory management was developed. The historical demand data from the ERP system of the case study was examined and pseudo-random numbers for a Monte Carlo simulation of the supply chain was generated with it. The paper examines the performance of the supply chain by using a simulation with a stockout penalty and the percentage of items delivered from stock. Results from simulation show that no single solution for the reorder point and quantity with an optimal stockout penalty can be found. The simulation generated a solution for the minimum average penalty.

Keywords: supply chain management; SCM; supply chain modelling; object-oriented modelling; ERP; enterprise resource planning; risk assessment; Monte Carlo simulation; agent-based systems; mulit-agent systems; agent-based modelling; service level requirements; embedded devices; quantity reorder systems; inventory management; stockout penalty.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPSCM.2012.050388

International Journal of Business Performance and Supply Chain Modelling, 2012 Vol.4 No.3/4, pp.246 - 270

Published online: 11 Aug 2014 *

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