Design and optimization of integrated e-supply chain for agile and environmentally conscious manufacturing

An agile and environmentally conscious manufacturing paradigm refers to the ability to reconfigure a flexible system quickly, economically, and environmentally responsibly. In modern manufacturing enterprises, e-supply chains integrate Internet and web-based electronic market and are promising systems to achieve agility. A key issue in the strategic logistic planning of integrated e-supply chains (IESCs) is the configuration of the partner network. This paper proposes a single- and multiobjective optimization model to configure the network of IESCs. Considering an Internet-based distributed manufacturing system composed of different stages connected by material and information links, a procedure is presented to select the appropriate links. A set of performance indices is associated with the network links. Single-criterion and multicriteria optimization models are presented under structural constraint definitions. The integer linear programming (ILP) problem solution provides different network structures that allow to improve supply chain (SC) flexibility, agility, and environmental performance in the design process. The proposed optimization strategy is applied to two case studies describing two networks for desktop computer production.