Market Engineering - Computer-aided Market Engineering

Computer-aided Market Engineering

The Computer-Aided Market Engineering (CAME) tool suite meet2trade showcases a service engineering approach to the development of electronic markets as a service offering (Weinhardt et al. 2006, Neumann et al. 2005). For e-markets, the market operator—as service provider decides the following prerequisites that characterize the complex service: the products that will be traded; the market rules to match demand and supply; the IT infrastructure of the trading platform; the business structure trefies defining the value proposition; and the business model to derive revenue from the service offering.

The CAME tool suite provides a conceptual framework for designing e-markets, a process model to guide the design, and methods and tools supporting these design steps. These tasks are inherently interdisciplinary. The strategic task of defining the segment, in which the e-market is intended to operate, is primarily a management and marketing endeavor. The design of the market mechanisms that describe the flow of the negotiation process, pertains to economics. Implementing the market mechanisms as a running service system is mainly a software engineering task.

The CAME approach extends state-of-the-art methods, as it tackles all problems associated with the design of e-markets holistically. For example, Knowledge-based Auction Design Support (KADS) enables the market operator to decide on the principal auction format. Auction Runtime Environment (ARTE) and Adaptive Client (AC) support the transformation of the concept into an instantiation of a running auction format, supporting embodiment and detail design. Lastly, Agent-based Simulation Environment (AMASE) and Experimental System (MES) provide extensive testing functionalities. Prototypes can be generated and tested on-the-fly, improving the design process considerably.

This research work focuses on how to design and operate market services, how to gain knowledge for this task, and how to provide this knowledge to those who need to set up auctions, exchanges, or e-procurement platforms. CAME epitomizes an SSME approach and meet2trade workbench showcases an integrated outcome of service sciences, management, and engineering.