An Agentbased Approach to Support the Formation of Virtual Enterprises

1
An Agent-based Approach to Support the Formation
ofVirtual Enterprises
Sobah Abbas Petersen Dr. Ing. Thesis
Presentation Division of Intelligent Systems,
Dept. of Computer and Information
Science, Norwegian University of Science and
Technology, Trondheim, Norway 21 November 2003
This research has been funded by NTNU as part of
the CAGIS project and by NFR, through the ADIS
project.
2
Presentation Overview

• Introduction
• What is a Virtual Enterprise (VE)?
• Agent-based Approach
• Case Studies
• Results and Contributions
• Evaluation
• Conclusion and Future Directions

3
Motivation
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies

• There is a need to be able to model a VE as
  modelling allows a VE to analyse, prepare and
  (re)design the VEs business process, partner
  roles, contracts.
• The selection of the right partners has been
  identified as one of the success factors for a
  VE.
• Current approaches to support VEs from the agent
  and Distributed AI community consider a
  simplified view of a VE and do not take into
  account results from the Enterprise Modelling and
  Integration community.

4
Aim
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies

• To improve the efficiency of the VE formation
  process, using ideas from Enterprise Modelling
  and Integration and Intelligent Agents.

5
Research Questions
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
How can we support the formation of VEs using
agents?

• RQ1 What is a VE and how is it formed?
• RQ2 Can we represent a VE and its entities as
  agents?
• RQ3 Can the VE formation process be supported in
  terms of agent interactions?
• RQ4 How can we determine the best team of agents
  for a VE?
• RQ5 Is the proposed agent-based approach
  suitable for all VEs?
• RQ6 What are the common requirements for
  providing an agent-based support for the
  formation of VEs?

6
Research Method
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
Feedback from case studies
Literature
Develop/enhance Agent-based Approach
Validate using case studies
Results contributions
Research Projects
Industrial Experience
7
What is a VE?
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies

• A VE has the following characteristics
• Temporary alliance
• Strategic Alliance
• Limited lifetime
• Distributed
• Goal-oriented

A group of enterprises that collaborate to
achieve a specific goal.
8
Lifecycle View of a VE
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
9
Why Agents?
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies

• Human beings or organisations can delegate
  responsibilities to agents.
• Agents can conduct detailed evaluation and
  negotiation.
• Agents can automate routine actions.
• Agents can handle sophisticated interactions such
  as coordination and negotiations.

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Agent-based Definition of VE
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies

• Agents can be used to represent the partners of a
  VE.
• The partners of a VE can be human beings,
  organisations or software agents.

A team of partners that collaborate to achieve a
specific goal.
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Agent-based Approach
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
VE formation process as AIPs
Agent-based Model of VE (from Enterprise Modelling
)
Multi-agent Architecture
12
Agent-based Model of a VE
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
13
Agent-based Model Contents
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
14
Example Agent Attributes
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies

• The partners goal(s).
• The time period that the partner is available to
  do the work.
• Partners skills and experiences, e.g. java
  programming.
• The no. of skills possessed by the partner.
• Cost of hiring the partner (based on the total
  no. of hours and the cost per hour).
• Performance rating an indication of how
  efficient the partner is at performing a specific
  task.
• How committed the partner is at doing the work.
• The risk(s) involved in including a partner in
  the VE.

15
Terminology
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies

• Agents in a VE can be
• VE Initiator takes the initiative to form the
  VE.
• VE Partner agents that form the VE.
• VE partners go through the following stages
• Interested Partner one that is interested in
  becoming a partner and submits a bid.
• Potential Partner one that is considered as a
  partner and a contract is negotiated.
• Partner one that is selected as a part of the VE
  and a contract is signed.

16
VE Formation Process
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
Select Partner
VE Announce-ment
Receive Bids
Award Contract
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Example Selection Process as AIP
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
VE Initiator
VE Partner
inform(VE announcement)
VE announcement
refuse(no interest)
Propose bid
TERMINATE
Inform(attributes)
X
reject-proposal
Select Partner
TERMINATE
accept-proposal
Negotiation
Negotiation
accept-proposal
Final contract award
TERMINATE
reject-proposal
FINISH
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Example Partner Selection
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
Partner goals
Align Goals
Interested Partners
VE goals
Potential Partners
Bids
Match skills availability
Bids
Potential Partners
Individual bid evaluation
Qualified bids
Ranked list of Potential Partners
Utilities
Individual partners
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AGORA Multi-agent Architecture
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
Default agents
Manager
Interested Partner 1
Negotiator
Coordinator
VE Initiator
VE AGORA Node
Interested Partner 4
Interested Partner 2
Interested Partner 3
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AGORA Agent Architecture
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
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AGORA Agent Knowledge-base
Agent-based Approach
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Case Studies
22
Research Method
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
Feedback from case studies
Literature
Develop/enhance Agent-based Approach
Validate using case studies
Results contributions
Research Projects
Industrial Experience
23
Case Studies
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability

• Case studies were used to validate the
  agent-based approach and to determine the
  applicability of the approach.
• The case studies were conducted as follows
• Modelling the cases using the agent-based model.
• Comparing the attributes.
• Comparing the selection process.
• Identifying negotiation points.

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Case Descriptions
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability

• BFS, Small Consulting Company maintains a
  database of highly qualified consultants in
  various fields and draws upon these resources to
  form project teams.
• Statoil, Student Project Groups operates in the
  oil and offshore industry on a global scale. The
  particular scenario that we analysed was the
  selection of several groups of students who will
  work together as teams during their summer
  holidays.
• DNVS, Strategic Alliance operates in the
  maritime industry on a global scale. They felt
  that they were operating in a saturated market
  and thus, decided to form an alliance with
  another company with complementary skills,
  technology and markets, in order to expand their
  own customer base.

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Case Descriptions
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability

• PTL, Building Construction Project hired by a
  customer to assist them to evaluate bids in the
  selection of a contractor for large scale
  projects in various domains.
• ODA, Integrated Project Organisation hired by a
  customer to assist them to evaluate bids in the
  selection of a contractor for large scale
  projects. The projects vary from IT to the
  offshore industry.

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VE Formation as AIPs
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
Select Partner
Select Partner
VE Announce-ment
Receive Bids
Award Contract
This process varies from one VE to another.
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VE Formation as AIPs
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
Match requirements
Verify if information in bids are correct
Match requirements
Align goals
Negotiate on multiple attributes
Verify if information in bids are correct
Match availability
Match skills
Match price
Yes
Yes
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VE Formation as AIPs
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
VE Initiator
VE Partner
inform(VE announcement)
VE announcement
Propose bid
refuse(no interest)
TERMINATE
inform(attributes)
refuse(failed match)
Match Requirements
TERMINATE
query-ref(more information)
Provide more information
inform(more information)
Verification
reject-proposal
TERMINATE
accept-proposal
Negotiation
Negotiation
accept-proposal
Final contract award
TERMINATE
reject-proposal
FINISH
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Limitations of the Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability

• Representation of the attributes of the agents
  (Potential Partners) and thus the evaluation
  criteria cannot be represented as desired.
• For large scale projects, the selection of
  partners involves a lot of psychology and cannot
  be reduced to a simple matching process.
• Our approach considers one level of partners
  during evaluation.
• Lacks attributes that truly capture the
  collaboration aspects of partners.

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Partial Support for VE Partner Selection
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
Cost of forming the VE
This could be reduced
X
No. of attributes (Complexity of the selection
process)
Could be supported by the agent-based approach
31
Comparison of Cases
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
32
Evaluation Framework
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
Virtual Enterprises
indicates applicability
applied to
Agent-based Approach
Evaluation Framework
(Requirements for VE, attributes of
partners, selection process)
(Set of characteristics of the VE)
evaluates approach
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Applicability of the Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
Agent-based Approach is more applicable on this
side of the scale.
DNVS
ODA
Statoil
PTL
BFS
Specialisation of Skills, Duration of VE, Scale,
Complexity
High
Low
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Research Method
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability
Feedback from case studies
Literature
Develop/enhance Agent-based Approach
Validate using case studies
Results contributions
Research Projects
Industrial Experience
35
Requirements
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability

• A language to represent the partners capabilities
  in a manner that reflects the true world.
• Flexibility to define the selection criteria for
  a partner as different VE situations base their
  evaluation and selection of partners on different
  sets of attributes.
• Flexibility to define the selection process.
  There is no universal selection process. There is
  a need to be able to support a variety of
  processes, defined by the user.

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Requirements
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability

• Flexibility in negotiation (when, what and who).
  There is a need for the user to be able to define
  when a negotiation should take place during the
  selection process, between which entities and
  upon which set of attributes.
• To evaluate partners that are coalitions, where
  the individual members within a coalition can be
  considered during the evaluation. In such
  situations, there is a need to be able to look
  into the coalition as well as obtain a collective
  view of the coalition.

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Suggestions for Improving the Model
Case Studies
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Validation
Applicability

• Flexible set of attributes for the entities in
  the model.
• Structured set of requirements, e.g.
• Skills requirements
• Availability requirements
• Cost requirements
• Agents experience structure an agents activity
  structure should contain information to show the
  activities an agent has performed in the past.

38
Research Method
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
Feedback from case studies
Literature
Develop/enhance Agent-based Approach
Validate using case studies
Results contributions
Research Projects
Industrial Experience
39
Publications
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies

• S. A. Petersen, M. Gruninger, "An Agent-based
  Model to Support the Formation of Virtual
  Enterprises". Int. ICSC Symposium on Mobile
  Agents and Multi-agents in Virtual Organisations
  and E-Commerce  (MAMA'2000), Australia, Dec.
  2000.
• S. A. Petersen, M. Divitini, M. Matskin, "An
  Agent-based Approach to Modelling Virtual
  Enterprises''. In the special issue on Enterprise
  Modelling of International Journal of Production
  Planning Control, Taylor Francis, Vol. 12,
  No. 3, 2001.
• S. A. Petersen, M. Divitini, "Using Agents to
  Support the Selection of Virtual Enterprise
  Teams", Proc. of 4th Int. Bi-Conference Workshop
  on Agent-Oriented Information Systems (AOIS-2002)
  (at AAMAS 2002), Bologne, Italy, July 2002.
• S. A. Petersen, J. Rao, M. Matskin, Virtual
  Enterprise Formation with Agents an Approach to
  Implementation, IEEE/WIC International
  Conference on Intelligent Agent Technology,
  IAT2003, Halifax, Canada, October 2003, p.
  527-530.
• S. A. Petersen, An Agent-based Evaluation
  Framework for Supporting Virtual Enterprise
  Formation, IEEE 12th Int. Workshop on Enabling
  Technologies, Infrastructures for Collaborative
  Enterprises, WET-ICE2003, Linz, Austria, June
  2003.
• S. A. Petersen, G. J. Husøy, E. Karlsen, M.
  Matskin, Requirements for an Agent-based
  Approach to Support Virtual Enterprises, In
  Processes and Foundations for Virtual
  Organisations, L. Camarinha-Matos and H.
  Afsarmanesh (Eds.), Kluwer, 2003.
• S. A. Petersen, M. Matskin, Agent Interaction
  Protocols for the Selection of Partners for
  Virtual Enterprises, Multi-agent Systems and
  Applications III, 2003.  V. Marik et al. (Eds.),
  LNAI 2691, Springer-Verlag.
• S. A. Petersen, Using Competency Questions to
  Evaluate an Agent-based Model for Virtual
  Enterprises, In Processes and Foundations for
  Virtual Organisations, L. Camarinha-Matos and H.
  Afsarmanesh (Eds.), Kluwer, 2003.
• J. Rao, S. A. Petersen, Implementing Virtual
  Enterprises using AGORA Multi-agent System,
  Information Systems for a Connected Society,
  CaiSE03 Forum, Klagenfurt/Velden, Austria, June,
  2003.
• S. A. Petersen, O. Szegheo, "A Model-based
  Methodology for Extended Enterprise Engineering".
  Advances in Concurrent Engineering, Proceedings
  of CE2000, Eds. P. Ghodous, D. Vandorpe, Lyon,
  France, 2000.
• O. Szegheo, S. A. Petersen, "Extended Enterprise
  Engineering - A Model-based Framework". In
  Journal of Concurrent Engineering Research and
  Applications (CERA), Vol. 8, No. 1, 2000.
• O. Szegheo, S. A. Petersen, "Modelling of the
  Extended Enterprise". In Enterprise Modelling
  Improving the Global Industrial Competitiveness,
  by A. Rolstadås B. Andersen, Kluwer, 2000.

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Results and Contributions
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies

• An agent-based definition of a VE.
• Agent-based model of VE.
• AIPs for VE formation process(es).
• A multi-agent architecture to support VEs.
• A framework to evaluate the applicability of the
  agent-based approach for VEs.
• Requirements for an agent-based for providing
  support for the formation of VEs.

41
Research Questions Revisited
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
How can we support the formation of VEs using
agents?

• RQ1 What is a VE and how is it formed?
• RQ2 Can we represent a VE and its entities as
  agents?
• RQ3 Can the VE formation process be supported in
  terms of agent interactions?
• RQ4 How can we determine the best team of agents
  for a VE?
• RQ5 Is the proposed agent-based approach
  suitable for all VEs?
• RQ6 What are the common requirements for
  providing an agent-based support for the
  formation of VEs?

42
Evaluating Contributions
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
43
Conclusions
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies

• Presented an agent-based approach to support the
  formation of VEs
• Agent-based model
• VE formation processes as AIP
• Multi-agent architecture
• Validated using industrial case studies
• The agent-based approach can provide partial
  support to the VE formation process, reducing the
  time and resources required.

44
Future Directions
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
Goal
VE Announcement VE goals, roles and requirements
is_assigned
achieved_by
Multi-agent Architecture (AGORA)
Activity
performed_by
assigned_to
Role
requires
filled_by
Requirements
Potential Partners, selected partners after
negotiation
meets
Agent
Enterprise Model of a VE
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Future Directions
Intro
What is a VE?
Contributions
Evaluation
Conclusion
Agent-based Approach
Case Studies
Conduct a detailed analysis of the cases to
identify a generic set of selection criteria that
can be supported and used in negotiation.
Cost
Can we identify these generic attributes?
X
No. of attributes (Complexity of the selection
process)