Role of intelligent agents in facilitating information flow in Supply Chain Management

A global phenomenon is occurring in which companies, large and small, are seeking competitive advantage through supply chain integration. Supply Chain Management (SCM) enables the coordinated management of 'material' and 'information' flows throughout the chain, from raw material suppliers, through factories and warehouses to end customers. An inevitable endeavour of SCM is to promote information transparency that allows organisations to coordinate supply chain interactions efficiently in vibrant market conditions. Although through the implementation of IT many companies are overloaded with information, very few have gained a competitive advantage. Implementation of IT is not enough if it only transfers the pool of data faster, management and utilisation of information is crucial. Today, supply chains require a combination of human analysis and IT guided software systems that are intelligent and are known as intelligent agents. An agent is a self‐driven, goal oriented software process that operates autonomously. They work on their own or cooperate with other agents. The primary objective of this paper is to review the role of intelligent agents for managing seamless information flow in a supply chain.