A simulation method for evaluating product family supply chain

Abstract

In a supply chain, a slight change of management strategy in one company largely affects the effectiveness of the chain as a whole. In particular, when companies generate product families, the relationships between companies are very complex, so it is difficult to analyse them mathematically. We propose a modelling and simulation method to analyse a product-family supply chain for business process reengineering. By modelling the workflow and transport independently, the structure of the supply chain is expressed. From the simulation results, the various criteria (e.g. stock level, response time, etc.) can be calculated.