A multi-agent based combinational auction model for collaborative e-procurement

Collaborative e-procurement has been considered as a vital link in many world-class supply chain strategies. Most of the previous related studies just covered the purchasing of distinct items. However, each buyer may have the purchase needs for multiple heterogeneous items at the same time. Therefore, in this research, we address a multi-agent based combinatorial auction model for collaborative e-procurement as a new business model that combines the strength of the combinational auction and the benefits of collaborative e-procurement. A representative combinatorial auction based collaborative e-procurement (CACP) process is presented, then, the system architecture and optimized bid selection modeling for CACP are described. Finally we show the viability of CACP through proof-of-concept prototype experiment results.