A hierarchical approach to supply chain simulation modelling using the Supply Chain Operations Reference model

Simulation is a very useful tool for predicting supply chain performance. Because there are no standard simulation elements that accurately represent the activities in a supply chain, there exist a variety of approaches for developing supply chain simulation models. This paper is an attempt to improve this situation by describing a novel supply chain simulation framework that follows the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model. This framework has been used for building powerful simulation models that integrate discrete event simulation and spreadsheets. The simulation models are hierarchical and use submodels that capture activities specific to supply chains. The SCOR framework provides a basis for defining the level of detail in such a way that it includes as many features as possible, while not being industry specific. This approach enables the reuse of submodels, which reduces the model development time. The paper describes the implementation of the simulation models and details how the submodels interact with each other. The paper also explains a study that used this framework to analyse the impact of rescheduling frequency on the supply chain performance.