Page 402 - Practical Design Ships and Floating Structures

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Aglets are Java objects that can move from one host on the network to another. That is, an aglet that
executes on one host can suddenly halt execution, dispatch to a remote host, and start executing again.
When the aglet moves, it takes along its program code as well as the states of all the objects it is
carrying. A built-in security mechanism makes it safe to host untrusted aglets. The details of IBM
Aglet please refer to its ASDK [‘*I.
In the implementation of supply chain, we simplified the purchasing process into 8 activities:
Fill the buying request
Verifytheform
Research resource
IssuetheRFQ
Prepare the quotes
Analysis the quotes
Issue the order
Use product

The fulfillment process can be simplified into 5 activities:
Prepare quotes
0 Arrange production
0 Fulfill order
0 Send invoice
0 Customer support

The above activities include the major processes in the supply chain. As figure 3 show, the whole
system consists of 3 parts, use, the buyer’s subsystem and supplier’s subsystem. This sub system can
be exchanged. During the buying, customer can fill the order according the requirement of production
planning and scheduling, send it to the intermediary- the buyer department of shipyard, then verify and
integrated the requirement of different section, and form the buying list. This list is written with XML,
which include:
0 the price of product
0 the highest available price
0 the amount of product
0 delivery time
0 the URL for supplier
0 the ID of supplier
0 the ID of product for supplier
The buyer’s subsystem consists of stationary agent, mobile agent, the potential supplier information
and temporal log for recording transaction. The potential supplier information is acquired through
research resource, market analysis, also it can add the new supplier to the information of supplier. The
database of temporal transaction save the price and temporal transaction log when the mobile agent
move, it’s used for the final analysis. The seller subsystem consists of the stationary agent of supplier,
the database of current supplier inventory, and interface of database and transaction log. The stationary
agent is responsible for the transaction with buyer mobile agent, accept its price, and retrieve its
inventory and its production plan to decide whether sign this transaction.

In the actual running, when supply department of shipyard verify the form, the buyer stationary agent
firstly create a mobile agent, pass the mobile agent with the information from the list and supplier
information. Mobile agent then visits every supplier according to the supplier infomation, the quantity
of product and standard. During the negotiation, the standard of purchasing can be one of the following
according to the different need, such as price, delivery time, or the combination of them. When the
buyer’s mobile agent arrives at the supplier, it has an interaction with seller agent. So seller agent can