An Analysis of the 2004 Supply Chain Management
Trading Agent Competition
C Kiekintveld, Y Vorobeychik, and MP Wellman
In Han La Poutré, Norman Sadeh and Sverker Janson (eds.), Agent-Mediated Electronic Commerce:
Designing Trading Agents and Mechanisms, LNAI 3937, pages 99–112, Springer-Verlag, 2006.
Copyright (c) 2006, Springer-Verlag. This is the author's
version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Blackwell
Publishing for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive
version can be found here.
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Abstract
We present and analyze results from the 2004 Trading Agent Competition supply chain management
scenario. We identify behavioral differences between the agents that contributed to their performance
in the competition. In the market for components, strategic early procurement remained an important
factor despite rule changes from the previous year. We present a new experimental analysis of the impact
of the rule changes on incentives for early procurement. In the finals, a novel strategy designed to
block other agent's access to suppliers at the start of the game was pivotal. Some agents did not
respond effectively to this strategy and were badly hurt by their inability to get crucial components.
Among the top three agents, average selling prices in the market for finished goods were the decisive
difference. Our analysis shows that supply and demand were key factors in determining overall market
prices, and that some agents were more adept than others at exploiting advantageous market conditions.
Earlier versions
An Analysis of the 2004 Supply Chain Management Trading Agent
Competition. (C Kiekintveld, Y Vorobeychik, MP Wellman). In
IJCAI-05 Workshop on Trading Agent Design and Analysis,
Edinburgh, 2005.
