Autonomous Cooperation and Control in Logistics

Autonomous Co-operation and Control (ACC) describes ...processes of decentralized decision-making in heterarchical structures. It presumes interacting elements in non-deterministic systems, which possess the capability and possibility to render decisions. The objective of ACC is the achievement of increased robustness and positive emergence of the total system due to distributed and flexible coping with dynamics and complexity (Hülsmann & Windt, 2007) . However, realizing 100% ACC in logistics systems is not feasible as it can lead to e.g. locally optimal decisions which are globally suboptimal (e.g. causing the bullwhip-effect). As implementing ACC technologies can only be successful if potential limitations and constraints can be identified and handled, this book aims to describe and analyze the maximum level and optimal degree of ACC as well as momentarily barriers, which need to be managed to achieve the optimal degree of ACC, from different points of view.