Artificial Immune Algorithms for Partner Selection Problem in a Virtual Enterprise

One of the key factors of virtual enterprise’s success is that the dominant enterprise can make the correct decision in the selection of a cooperative partner. Thus partner selection is the essential and the most important issue, which is usually a combinatorial optimization problem as a matter of fact. This paper proposes a partner selection based on artificial immune algorithm (AIS).First, an optimization model is presented, which includes the main crucial factors for partner selection, such as running cost, reaction time and failure risk. In the method, the optimal partners are regarded as antigens, and a group of partners are regarded as antibodies. The clonal selection algorithm inspired by immune system is employed to evolve antibodies. The population of antibodies is iteratively evaluated according to fitness function, and evolves into the optimal antibody using the evolution principles of the clonal selection. A typical example is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithm. Experimental results indicate that the proposed model and algorithm can obtain satisfactory solutions.