Perspectives and relationships in Supply Chain Simulation: A systematic literature review

• The importance of Supply Chain Simulation to the decision-making process.
• Modeling and hybrid simulations can improve the Supply Chain Performance.
• The agent-based simulation is an alternative to deal with the SC complexity.
• The efficiency of modeling and simulation is based on the accuracy of the methodology.
• Advances, relationships and perspectives in Supply Chain Simulation.

The main purpose of this article is to develop a meta-analysis about the relationships and potential perspectives of modeling and simulation in supply chains. The research methodology used in this paper was a systematic literature review, exploring the state of the art in Supply Chain Simulation. The methodological procedures were based on a systematic literature review and statistical analysis of a sample of papers. The results indicated that modeling and simulation in supply chains can be better integrated. The models could be more sophisticated to capture the dynamics and behavior of these networks. The combination of optimization methods with agent-based simulation is an observed trend. Hybrid simulations involving normative models and empirical applications can be useful to represent the reality of supply chains, generating alternative solutions that improve supply chain performance. The relevance of this article is to analyze the interfaces related to this field of research, in order to establish a theoretical framework that improves the process of modeling, simulation and decision-making in supply chains.