Global Supply Chain Management: A Reinforcement Learning Approach

In recent years, researchers and practitioners alike have devoted a great deal of attention to supply chain management (SCM). The main focus of SCM is the need to integrate operations along the supply chain as part of an overall logistic support function. At the same time, the need for globalization requires that the solution of SCM problems be performed in an international context as part of what we refer to as Global Supply Chain Management (GSCM). In this paper we propose an approach to study GSCM problems using an artificial intelligence framework called reinforcement learning (RL). The RL framework allows the management of global supply chains under an integration perspective. The RL approach has remarkable similarities to that of an autonomous agent network (AAN); a similarity that we shall discuss. The RL approach is applied to a case example, namely a networked production system that spans several geographic areas and logistics stages. We discuss the results and provide guidelines and implications for practical applications. 1. Politecnico di Bari Dipartimento di Progettazione e Produzione Industriale Viale Japigia 182, 70126 Bari, ITALY 2. University of Southern Colorado, Industrial Engineering Program, 261, Technology Building, 2200, Bonforte Blvd, Pueblo, CO 81001 Phone: (719) 549-2788 3. University of South Florida, College of Engineering Department of Industrial & Management Systems Engineering 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33647 (813)974-5576, Fax: (813)974-3651 ** Corresponding Author