An Approach based on Constraint Satisfaction Problems to Disruptive Event Management in Supply Chains

GUARNASCHELI, ARMANDO; CHIOTTI, OMAR; ENRIQUE SALOMONE, HÉCTOR

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION ECONOMICS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2013 vol. 141 p. 223 - 242

0925-5273

This work introduces a generalized model for evaluating and restoring feasibility in the execution of supply chain processes. The model was designed to provide automation to the disruption management function of Supply Chain Event Management (SCEM) systems reducing the need for a rescheduling task. This is especially important in collaborative supply chains composed by several partners where the schedules of their corresponding processes must be coordinated. The repair mechanism is based on a constraint satisfaction problem that can be automatically instantiated from self-contained descriptions of the ongoing schedules without previous knowledge of the supply chain structure. In order to provide this ability, we propose a reference model as a common language to describe supply processes and the interaction with the resources in a generic way and focusing on their feasibility aspects. The proposed mechanism intends to make surgical modifications to the current schedule which do not affect the economical and operational considerations made at the moment the schedule was created. On purpose, the allowed changes are limited to the space of slacks already included by the original schedule. This level of repair can be safely delegated to automated systems and would facilitate the design of collaborative inter-organizational business processes to manage events along the supply chain. A complete case study validates the applicability of the proposed models.