# Collaborative Planning in Non-Hierarchical Networks--An Intelligent Negotiation-Based Framework
## 3 Framework Proposal
The partner search tool developed in the project is based on the definition of partner profiles including both data provided by the supplier itself (e.g., administrative data, description of competences, and provided material or process) and data derived from the analysis of the suppliers' past behavior based on performance indicators such as the following:  
* Collaboration degree: indicating how the supplier behaved in previous collaborations (e.g., number of collaborations held in the previous period and number of successful negotiations). * Product quality: reflecting the quality of the provided products (e.g., number of defective products). * Flexibility: describing the partner's ability to react rapidly and adapt to changes in the order or at production time. The collaborative planning process plays a pivotal role in coordinating activities to ensure the harmonization of companies' plans, ultimately striving for collective optimization of planning across departmental boundaries. When navigating complex and practical business scenarios, such as those prevalent in the textile or footwear sectors, safeguarding the autonomy of each entity emerges as a crucial consideration. To address this concern, a  
Figure 3: Description of the planning process during the supply network lifecycle. novel collaborative planning concept is introduced within the framework. This concept is designed to facilitate intelligent decision making in supply network planning, drawing upon the requirements analysis gathered from the project's industrial partners. This framework specifically targets the fulfillment of networked manufacturing requirements for innovative and complex products. The novel approach adopted is grounded in decentralized and cooperative actions, facilitated by a user-friendly interface that effectively connects stakeholders within the supply network. This web-based platform supports intricate negotiation practices, fostering collaboration among partners. Moreover, leveraging multicriteria analysis, the framework enables the establishment of assessment mechanisms for optimizing the overall supply network planning process. The proposed approach is founded upon a decentralized negotiation model, enabling partners to suggest revised delivery dates and costs, visually represented in Figure 4.  
With the present approach, every business opportunity proposed by a customer can be tackled through a business front office that acts as a broker, interfacing with the collaborative network. The broker acts as a cloud service, providing the necessary tool access to assist the creation of the supply chain aimed to address the business opportunity. The event that triggers the start of the negotiation process is the submission by a partner of the technical specification form that details the characteristics of the new product and its manufacturing process on the negotiation platform. From this moment forward, the broker (web service) takes over the support of the entire negotiation process, ensuring compliance with the rules initially established in the business proposal definition. With this approach, the decision-making process is ensured on a decentralized non-hierarchical basis. The broker starts by accessing the partner search module, which allows them to identify the list of potential partners that satisfy the business and technological requirements to participate in the collaborative network. After the elicitation of the major requirements on the required custom-made product, the product concept/design is defined by the broker and by the new partners that are invited to join the supply network, according to their specific competencies and availability. For the building of the collaborative plan, there are two steps: the first step aims to help the prospective partners to collaboratively define a realistic quotation and share prices,  
Figure 4: Decentralized collaborative planning approach architecture. through a decentralized negotiation process, where dependencies and time overlapping between the required operations are defined.