Supply Chains: A Complex System Perspective
Networks to distribute goods, from raw materials to food and medicines, are the backbone of a functioning economy. Recent events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts, have highlighted the fragility of global supply chains. This satellite aims to explore supply chains from a complex systems perspective, addressing sustainability, resilience, and efficiency challenges. Join us at CCS 2025 to discuss new models and methods to analyze supply chains.
A Complex System Perspective
Traditionally, scholars of supply chain management and operations logistics have conceptualized distribution systems as linear chains. Using this perspective implies that supply chains in principle can be fully designed by a single manufacturer. However, nowadays, this conventional approach falls short. While firms could choose their partners, they have limited control over the business relations of those partners. In other words, the connections within the distribution system extend beyond the control of a single entity, and the resulting structure strongly deviates from a simple chain. Thus, today’s distribution systems should be better viewed as self-organized systems emerging from the interactions of several firms. These self-organized systems can be suitably represented as complex networks. Network science has provided tools to move beyond the oversimplified chain perspective. Yet, research in this direction has been limited by a lack of comprehensive data. The satellite aims to bring together researchers from network science, operations research, and supply chain management to discuss new models and methods to analyze supply chains."
- Understand supply chain structures and their impact on resilience.
- Explore sustainability in environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
- Discuss methodological advancements in network science and agent-based models.
- Identify challenges and future directions in supply chain research.
Agenda
The satellite will consist of three thematic sessions, each featuring an invited speaker and a contributed talk. The event will conclude with a workshop synthesizing key insights and outlining future research directions.
- Session 1: Sustainability in Supply Chains
- Session 2: Distribution of Essential, Renewable, and Rare Earth Goods
- Session 3: Resilience and Efficiency of Supply Chains
- Final Workshop: Interactive discussion to map research gaps and draft a white paper.
Submit a Manuscript
We invite researchers to submit manuscripts contributing to the discussion on supply chains as complex systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, sustainability, resilience, efficiency, network models, and data-driven approaches.
- Submission Open: 17.03.2025
- Submission Deadline: 01.06.2025
- Accepted topics: Sustainability, resilience, efficiency, data, and network models.
- Send us an extended abstract: format as for the main conference (here for more info)
Satellite Committee
Our committee comprises experts in supply chains, network science, agent-based modelling.
- Dr. Giacomo Vaccario (ETH Zurich)
- Dr. Giona Casiraghi (ETH Zurich)
- Dr. Ambra Amico (Singapore-MIT Alliance)
- Dr. Luca Verginer (ETH Zurich)