Intelligent Supply Chain Networks: Design and Analysis

Supply Chain Management has become the primary competitive weapon in many industries. This book describes a model of intelligent supply chain networks that will improve information visibility and flow within the supply chain. In the proposed model, products will have the intelligence to direct themselves throughout the distribution network and will have the capability to be purchased and sold while in transit. The book gives an overview of the supporting technologies that make such a supply chain a reality. It is intended to provide a preliminary outlook at the various issues related to implementation and could be used for future research as a basis for building the infrastructure required for the new model. An effort has been made to provide a design structure for XML identification tags, which will be one of the most critical components of the system. In addition to that, this report will describe the results of a simulation analysis using a model of a hypothetical public logistics network covering the southeastern United States.