Evaluating orders allocation within networks of firms

In a context of profound transformation of the relations between firms, an organizational paradigm is developing rapidly: the network. Networks of firms are specific co-ordination modes between market and hierarchy, and need collaborative tools to regulate their activities fairly and to limit opportunism. This paper exposes a method to calculate satisfying routes for customers' orders within manufacturing networks of small and medium-sized enterprises. This method aims at designing the routing of activities, so as to meet the customers' needs in terms of cost, quality and delivery time (short-term performance constraints), and to promote learning processes and skills exchanges within the network (long-term performance criteria). The method is illustrated with a case study.