Efficient Exchange Mechanisms for Services and Configurable Goods

精益生产和准时生产在现代供应链管理中是必不可少的。它们的实现取决于按照交易过程中商定的规格生产的商品（生产周期仅在下订单后开始）。服务通常以类似的方式进行配置和交付，即在需要时进行配置和交付。物联网为制造和服务交付过程提供了新的机会，因为它允许机器与其制造商和服务提供商之间的自动化通信。***这些发展为采购货物和服务带来了新的挑战；有一个要求是快速采购它们，但它们需要在采购期间进行配置。拍卖已经成为一种有用的机制，因为它容易建立，而且省时。多属性反向拍卖（MARA）使交易过程中商品和服务的配置成为可能。然而，MARA的效率依赖于准线性假设，即价格和配置是独立的，成本对市场参与者和整个经济都是重要的。虽然已知拟线性不是一个现实的假设，但没有提出不依赖于这一假设的MARA机制。***如果不满足拟线性假设，那么在许多情况下，由MARA得到的有效契约可以共同改进。虽然获胜的合同是有效的，但有效边界可能是这样的，即选择另一个合同并伴随着卖方的附加支付，会增加买方和卖方的剩余。这样的合同对双方都有利，因为它们节省了开支，提高了采购商品的质量。***采购是供应链的关键职能之一，控制着企业总成本的25%至85%。采购成本平均占总支出的1%；拍卖可以节省2%到12%的成本。使用行政管理和行政管理办法可以在成本保持不变或更低的情况下采购价值更高的货物和服务；一项研究表明，MARA可以节省12亿美元，占总成本的20%。***违反准线性假设意味着低效率可能接近50%。本项目提出了不依赖于这一假设的新交换机制的设计和实施。所提出的机制考虑了有效边界的类型，要么要求买方进行拍卖后谈判，卖方提出修改后的合同，要么自动探索可行集，寻找共同改进。这些采购机制将在实验室和在线实验中得到广泛检验，并用于教学和培训。它们的实际意义在于它们可能带来的节省。**

Lean manufacturing and just-in-time production are essential in modern supply chain management. Their implementation depends on the goods produced to the specifications agreed upon during the transaction process (the production cycle starts only after the order is placed). Services are often configured and delivered in a similar manner, that is, when they are needed. Internet-of-things provides new opportunities to manufacturing and service delivery processes in that it allows for automated communication between machines and their manufacturers and service providers. ***These developments create new challenges for the procurement of goods and services; there is a requirement that they be procured quickly and yet they need to be configured during the procurement. Auctions have become a useful mechanism because they are easy to set up and are time-efficient. Multi-attribute reverse auctions (MARA) make the configuration of goods and services during the transaction possible. However, MARA's efficiency depends on the quasi-linearity assumption that price and configuration are independent and the costs are of any importance for market participants and the economy as a whole. Although it is known that quasi-linearity is not a realistic assumption, yet no MARA mechanisms that do not rely on this assumption have been proposed. ***If the quasi-linearity assumption is not met then, in many situations, the efficient contracts obtained from MARA may be jointly improved. Although a winning contract is efficient, the efficient frontier may be such that the selection of another contract accompanied with the seller's side-payment increases the surplus for both the buyer and the seller. Such contracts are beneficial for both sides because they create savings and increase the quality of the procured goods. ***Procurement--one of the key supply chain functions--controls between 25% and 85% of an enterprise's total costs. The costs of the procurement average 1% of the total spent; auctions can save between 2% and 12 % of the costs. The use of MARA allows for the procurement of goods and services that have greater value while the cost remains the same or is lower; one study shows that MARA could save $1.2 billion which was 20% of the total costs.***The violation of the quasi-linearity assumption means that inefficiencies may approach 50%. This project proposes the design and implementation of new exchange mechanisms that do not rely on this assumption. The proposed mechanisms take into account the type of efficient frontier and either require that the buyers move to post-auction negotiations in which the sellers propose revised contracts or automatically probe the feasible set searching for joint improvements. These procurement mechanisms will be extensively tested in lab and online experiments and used in teaching and training. Their practical significance lies in the savings that they may bring. **