Model-based Engineering of Supply Networks

Simulation technology has been a significant tool for improving operations within individual manufacturing plants in the past. With increased focus on supply chain issues, the modeling of supply chains that integrate the activities of multiple manufacturers, engineering service firms, shippers, warehouses, and retailers has become more important. Management of these organizations will need to focus on issues that they have not been concerned with in the past. New technologies and standards will be needed to model and integrate models of the component elements of manufacturing supply chains. This project focuses on the application of web technology and discrete event simulation to build distributed, executable models of manufacturing supply chains.

This project will develop a simulation integration infrastructure using Web services technology that will allow supply chain partners to connect simulations of their facilities over the Internet. Data specifications are needed to identify the types of information that will need to be exchanged between different suppliers models, manufacturing applications, and databases. To address production requirements, simulations will include technical solutions for modeling manufacturing supply chains at multiple levels. Web-based solutions will enable the integration of multiple simulations at the supply-chain, enterprise, plant, and shop-floor levels.

Data that needs to be shared includes orders; schedules; tooling, raw material, WIP, finished part inventory and tracking data; production capabilities and capacities; resource status and usage; reject and rework data. Templates will provide basic structures for developing models that will be typically required. Templates will ensure that models are consistent, address typical data exchange, and visualization requirements. Information models will define the structure of the content that needs to be shared between supplier simulations.

Web services technology promises to provide better solutions for integrating simulations than High Level Architecture (HLA) based systems. Establishment of a web-based simulation integration capability will enable companies to develop models independently using different simulation tools, share data between distributed executables running in remote locations while addressing security concerns such as protection of proprietary data. Ultimately standards will be needed for modeling and simulation methodologies, system architectures, data formats and test data sets. NIST can play a key role in helping to develop those standards.