Ontology-Based Knowledge Management for Co-operative Supply Chain Configuration

The interest in Supply Chain (SC) decision-making problem is fast growing. There is an increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based engineering and management technologies in supply chain problem solving. Furthermore, the trend is towards product data and knowledge globalisation in the SC network. The purpose of a SC is to transform incomplete information about the market and available production resources into co-ordinated plans for production and replenishment of goods and services in the network formed by co-operating entities. The value of this information is critical to managing the network, built on principles of a co-operative supply chain (CSC). The goal of SC Knowledge Management (KM) is to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing in the context of SC structures, thereby integrating the customer and the supplier. Ontology-oriented KM tools for SC configuration utilise reusable components and configure knowledge as needed, in order to interactively assist users (agents) in decision-making. This paper discusses a generic development methodology for information support of supply chain management using an industry example.