An auction-based framework for integrated due date management

This paper proposes an auction-based multilateral negotiation mechanism for collaborative integrated due date management decision making. We assume a specific supply chain setting, in which a supplier supplies a group of customers. Due to limited production capacity within a scheduling time window (e.g. a season of the year), not all customers´ due date requirements can be accommodated. This competition for the use of production resources among self-interested customers poses a strategic challenge in the design of due date management systems. To make the resource allocation efficient, we present an iterative auction framework to coordinate the allocation process and to align customers´ self-interests with the overall system performance. Our purpose is to provide a decentralized decision support tool which enables the integration of key due date management decisions.