Intelligent Multi-Agent English Auction Interaction Protocol for Logistics Service Provider Selection

Global supply chains have become dynamic and complex over the past years, and this is expected to increase in the future. Logistics planning is a key part of supply chain management; hence it is crucial to shift towards agile and automated logistics models with the utilization of advanced information and communication technologies. The scope of this paper is the use of multi-agent systems for selection of Logistics service providers in cargo shipping. Cargos are modeled within auction-based mechanisms to automate the supplier selection and negotiation procedure between a client and multiple logistics service providers to find the best offer. FIPA English Auction Interaction Protocol is investigated to manage different actions between the agents, and a new model is proposed by applying communication acts of (Cancel, Refuse, and Failure) with different levels of credibility (Low, Moderate, and High). It was found that introducing an individual act into the interaction protocol can increase the number of interactions between agents from 24 to 26 up to 30 in case of introducing all the three acts into the interaction protocol. This means that the entire system will spend more time and energy in analyzing and responding to the additional acts. It is concluded that the higher the credibility, the lower the interactions between agents as the system will spend less time and energy in communication, which leads to enhance the performance and the efficiency of the system and the network. Therefore, a trade-off between maintaining the commutation speed and the system performance and reliability is vital.