Tackling the complexity of a textile dyeing enterprise with the help of agent-based simulation

This paper presents an agent-based system (ABS) for the exploration of potential solutions to optimizing energy usage and reducing waste discharges in the printing and dyeing (PD) industry. The behaviors of a PD enterprise/plant emerge from interactions among low-level entities. Via these interactions among entities in different levels of hierarchy, materials, energy, and capital are transformed to products, wastes, and services. In addition, an enterprise is also designed as a BDI agent that has beliefs, desires, and intentions. The proposed ABS is used to simulate the activities of a PD plant and their interactions with market and environment. A PD enterprise in Xiaoshan district of Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province in China is used as in a case study. Three management strategies, including “business-as-usual” strategy and the other two waste discharge tax strategies, are assessed. The results show how the effectiveness of strategies and the distribution of their impacts can be very different from what one would expect without the benefit of a simulation system.