Petri-net based application for supply chain management: An overview

Since supply chain networks are discrete event dynamic systems, Petri-net has been an effective tool for supply chain modeling. Current research on Petri-net based modeling focuses on supply chain design and integration, production planning, inventory control, logistics and distribution. This paper first gives an overview of recent research work in supply chain management involved in all the above areas based on Petri-net, and then proposes potential directions. These directions are (1) modeling with uncertainty elements, (2) modeling combined with case study, (3) extend the modeling methods, (4) modeling for 3D concurrent engineering, (5) combination of Petri nets and System Dynamics, and (6) coordination of material and information flow.