This paper first describes a few existing models for product and merchant brokering and automated negotiation in the framework of agent-based emarketplaces. Our analysis shows that only simplest types of automated negotiation protocols are currently presented online, whereas some powerful systems have been already implemented in the product and merchant brokering field. Then we give an overview...

Most of data in a multi attribute decision making (MADM) problem are unstable and changeable, and thus sensitivity analysis can effectively contribute to making proper decisions. Here, we offer a new method for sensitivity analysis of multi-attribute decision making problems so that by changing one element of decision making matrix, we can determine changes in the results of a decision making p...

most of data in multi-attribute decision making (madm) problems are changeable rather than constant and stable. therefore, sensitivity analysis after problem solving can effectively contribute to making accurate decisions. in this paper, we offer a new method for sensitivity analysis in multi-attribute decision making problems in which if the weights of one attribute changes, then we can deter...

Social concerns about the environment and global warming suggest that industries must focus on reducing energy consumption, due to its social impact and changing laws. Furthermore, the smart grid will bring time-dependent tariffs that pose new challenges to the optimisation of resource allocation. In this paper we address the problem of optimising energy consumption in manufacturing processes b...

The theory of procurement auctions traditionally assumes that the offered quantity and quality is fixed prior to source selection. Multi-attribute reverse auctions allow negotiation over price and qualitative attributes such as color, weight, or delivery time. They promise higher market efficiency through a more effective information exchange of buyer’s preferences and supplier’s offerings. Thi...

Multi-Attribute Reverse Auctions (MARAs) are excellent protocols to automate negotiation among sellers. Eliciting the buyer′s preferences and determining the winner are both challenging problems for MARAs. To solve these problems, we propose two algorithms namely MAUT* and CP-net*, which are respectively the improvement of the Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) and constrained CP-net. The bu...

This paper first describes a few existing models for product and merchant brokering and automated negotiation in the framework of agent-based e-marketplaces. Our analysis shows that only simplest types of automated negotiation protocols are currently presented online, whereas some powerful systems have been already implemented in the product and merchant brokering field. Then we give an overvie...

This article serves as the second part in a two-part series that provides an overview of the reverse auction concept, building on the best research in the field of supply chain management. In this instalment, we look at the concerns involved in making reverse auctions work in practice – the implementation issues. Frist, we look at when reverse auctions should – and should not – be utilized by a...

The theory of procurement auctions traditionally assumes that the offered quantity and quality is fixed prior to source selection. Multi-attribute reverse auctions allow negotiation over price and qualitative attributes such as color, weight, or delivery time. They promise higher market efficiency through a more effective information exchange of buyer’s preferences and supplier’s offerings. Thi...

This paper describes an on-going study analyzing thousands of electronic procurement auctions conducted by a large multinational firm. We describe the challenges of developing metrics for auction success and auction dynamics and how these metrics improve our ability to model, understand, and manage this domain. Since we are in the initial stages of our study and since many of our findings are c...