DASCh: Dynamic Analysis of Supply Chains

Modern manufacturing is moving away from vertically integrated companies that control all aspects of production and distribution, toward networks of independent suppliers and distributors. These supply networks (more commonly called “supply chains”) address a number of business needs, including concentration on core competencies and the ability to respond rapidly to unanticipated change. However, they present significant operational challenges. Many of these challenges are driven by the dynamical behavior of the supply chain as its members interact with one another. Data analytic approaches are not effective in understanding these dynamics, because the commercial environment changes too rapidly to permit the collection of consistent data series long enough to support statistical requirements. DASCh takes the approach of constructing and experimenting with an agent-based emulation model of the system that can maintain a given set of conditions as long as desired.