Development of an Approach to Managing Dry Fruit Supply Chains Using Expert Systems

The paper outlines an approach to the management of dry fruit supply chains (DSC) using expert systems (ES), which implies modernization of the concept of supply chain management by complementing it with knowledge-oriented tools of decision-making support. It was shown that the technologies of ES development existing in engineering are not effective in organizing a unified information space within the DSC. In the framework of this approach, we considered the methodical approach to decomposition of the general problem of business processes management in the DSC into a series of interconnected functional sub-problems and the procedure of synthesis of a typical decision-making support unit (DMSU) by the DSC participants in the form of ES. The essence of the approach is to represent the DSC management process as a multi-layered hierarchical structure of problems, which can be implemented by a totality of interconnected typical DMSU by correspondent DSC participants. At the same time, a specialized ES shell was developed for each type of DMSU. Application of the approach under discussion will in practice ensure the homogeneity of the general information space of the DSC due to: clear positioning of each DMSU in the general management structure; widespread use of typical solutions in the synthesis of information support tools for DSC participants. The effectiveness of the described approach is shown using the example of implementation of the ES shell for the problem of choosing a rational route of delivery of dried fruit batches from foreign suppliers to wholesalers in Ukraine. The results of the study can be used by logistics companies in the formation of a rational route for the delivery of a batch of goods for various purposes from foreign suppliers to a focus company