Multi-agent simulation for the dominant players' behavior in supply chains

This paper describes a multi-agent simulation model for analyzing the dominant player's behavior of supply chains. The supply chain consists of a raw material supplier and component supplier, a manufacturer and retailer are simulated by the model. The main sources of uncertainty for the dominant players' behavior are identified, including of market information, selling prices, purchasing prices. The economic phenomenon (Players can maintain their profits stably in spite of decreasing the selling price) is shown by the model, and the SPP (Stable Profit Platform) is used to indicate the level of domination power for the player achievement. Moreover, the model can also be extended to various supply chain for better understanding of the dominant players' behavior and improving the effective decision making of supply chain cooperation. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.