Enhancing the resilience of a supply chain (SC) presents a critical and challenging problem. Many of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that measure the operational effectiveness of different SC entities conflict with each other; such conflicts frequently arise between local optimization and global resilience across the SC. Moreover, the SC has hidden brittle points that adversaries could exploit, resulting in degradation of overall SC performance. We propose a framework for assessing the resilience of an SC exposed to exogeneous risks. The framework consists of an agent-based simulation model of a generalized SC, a simulation-based optimization algorithm, and a decision support capability. The project’s continuing research will center on areas such as implementation of the framework to create a tool that enables the sponsor to make data-driven, informed decisions that buttress SC resilience to exogenous risks.
Hua et al. (Tue,) studied this question.