Modeling and resilience analysis of multi-group supply chain network

Modern supply chains are highly complex and have a networked structure, known as supply chain networks (SCNs). Traditional models for SCNs are constructed in a multi-level structure, where each level contains nodes of the same type, such as second-tier suppliers, first-tier suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers. However, in real-world SCNs, enterprises at the same level may produce different types of products. An enterprise's function is defined by the type of the product it produces. Based on this fact, this paper proposes a new SCN model that groups nodes based on their functions, called the multi-group supply chain network (MGSCN) model. In order to study the resilience of the proposed MGSCN, we build an underload cascading failure model, which takes the recovery strategy during the failure process into account. The simulation result indicates that the ungrouped SCN underestimates the impact of cascading failures. The proposed MGSCN clearly shows that reducing the number of functional groups can effectively enhance the resilience of MGSCNs. In addition, increasing the upper bound or reducing the lower bound of node capacity can also improve the resilience of MGSCNs. The MGSCN model proposed in this paper and the research on its resilience can provide a valuable reference for the management and optimization of real-world SCNs.