Electronic Commerce Negotiation in a Supply Chain Via Constraint Evaluation

Negotiation is of critical importance in e-commerce applications where the supply chain is dynamic and reconfiguring. In this research supply chain negotiation problems are addressed as constraint-satisfaction problems. In general each negotiation is handled in the largest scope possible to avoid the sub-optimality that can result from many local solutions. This global approach, however, must be balanced with time constraints that apply in e-commerce supply chain execution. In this paper, we describe a new approach for e-commerce supply chain negotiation via constraint evaluation. As well, results from prototype software, distributed across the internet, are discussed. Beyond the general formulation, we describe a more particular problem of kitted demand where a collection of purchased items must be acquired within the same time horizon. To address slow convergence a time-based penalty function is proposed.