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Title: Using Business Process Specification and Agent to Integrate a Scenario Driven Supply Chain

Journal Article · · International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. POSTECH University, South Korea
  2. ORNL
  3. Daejeon University
  4. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

In today's increasingly competitive global market, most enterprises place high priority on reducing order-fulfillment costs, minimizing time-to-market, and maximizing product quality. The desire of businesses to achieve these goals has seen a shift from a make-to-stock paradigm to a make-to-order paradigm. The success of this new paradigm requires robust and efficient supply chain integration and the ability to operate in the business-to-business (B2B) environment. Recent internet-based approaches have enabled instantaneous and secure information sharing among trading partners (i.e., customers, manufacturers, and suppliers). In this paper, we present a framework that enables both integration and B2B operations. This framework uses pre-defined business process specifications (BPS) and agent technologies. The BPS, which specifies a message choreography among the trading partners, is modeled using a modified Unified Modeling Language (UML). The behavior of the enterprise applications within each trading partner -- how they respond to external events specified in the BPS -- is modeled using Petri-nets and implemented as a collection of agents. The concepts and models proposed in this paper should provide the starting point for the formulation of a structured approach to B2B supply chain integration and implementation.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
989587
Journal Information:
International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Vol. 17, Issue 6; ISSN 0951-192X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English