Article Contents
Article Contents

# The evolution mechanism of the multi-value chain network ecosystem supported by the third-party platform

• *Corresponding author: zhangxumei@cqu.edu.cn
• This paper aims to study the evolution mechanism of the third-party platform ecosystem. A multi-value chain network ecosystem composed of multiple manufacturers, multiple suppliers, several logistics providers and a third-party platform for manufacturing is considered. The system dynamics method is used to build the model, and this paper collects relevant industry and platform data to simulate the evolution of user scale and participants' revenues. Furthermore, the influence of platform subsidy and matching service level on the evolution is studied. The results show that the platform's evolution can be divided into four stages: emergence, growth, maturity and upgrade. This paper also finds that, at the emergence stage and the growth stage, the augmentation of the subsidies to manufacturers makes the manufacturers' scale expand but let their revenues decline. Meanwhile, the platform's revenues reduce at the emergence stage while increase at the growth stage. When the subsidy amount is high and continues to augment, its positive effect on the user scale is weakened while its negative effect on manufacturers' revenues is enhanced. Besides, improving the matching service level is not conducive to the platform's revenues at the emergence stage, but after entering the growth stage, it can increase user scale and the platform's revenues simultaneously.

Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary: 58F15, 58F17; Secondary: 53C35.

 Citation:

• Figure 1.  Multi-value chain network of the third-party platform

Figure 2.  SD diagram of the third-party platform ecosystem's evolution

Figure 3.  The evolution of the user scale

Figure 4.  The evolution of participants' revenues

Figure 5.  The evolution of the user scale under different subsidy amount

Figure 6.  SD diagram of the third-party platform ecosystem's evolution

Figure 7.  The evolution of the user scale under different matching service levels

Figure 8.  The evolution of the participants' revenues under different matching service levels

Table 1.  Survey on related works

 Reference Research object Research problem Certain stage/Different stages Siddiqui and Raza [37]; Sohaib et al. [38]; Valilai and Houshmand [42]; Yoo et al. [45]; Cen and Li [3]; Sheng et al. [39]; Que et al. [33]; Liu et al. [21] Third-party platform for manufacturing Issues in the early development stage or operation process Certain stage Liu et al. [22]; Ren et al. [34] Third-party platform for manufacturing Dynamic evolution of the platform Certain stage Tan et al. [40]; Kim [18] Third-party platform for consumption/service Strategies used in the evolution of the platform Different stages Zhu and Iansiti [46]; Casey and TÖyli [4]; Manchanda [5]; Ruutu et al. [35] Third-party platform for consumption/service Dynamic evolution of the platform Certain stage Goli et al. [7]; Goli et al. [8]; Khalilpourazari et al. [15]; Khalilpourazari et al. [16]; Lotfi et al. [23]; Tirkolaee et al. [41]; Goli et al. [9]; Khalilpourazari et al. [17]; Goli et al. [11]; Lotfi et al. [26]; Khalilpourazari et al. [13]; Khalilpourazari et al. [14]; Goli et al. [10]; Pahlevan et al. [32]; Lotfi et al. [27]; Lotfi et al. [28] Value chain without considering the participation of the third-party platform Optimization and operation of the value chain Certain stage This research The multi-value chain network ecosystem supported by the third-party platform for manufacturing Dynamic evolution of the platform Different stages

Table 2.  Initial value of constants in the model

 Notation Variables Value Unit ${{N}_{M0}}$ Initial scale of manufacturers 10 User ${{N}_{S0}}$ Initial scale of suppliers 50 User $a$ Potential market demand 4500 Auto/(user*month) $s$ Supply per supplier 20000 Part/(user*month) ${{p}_{M}}$ Product price 100000 Yuan/auto ${{p}_{S}}$ Part price 800 Yuan/part ${{C}_{S}}$ Part cost 700 Yuan/part $\Delta t$ Duration of subsidy 6 Month $r$ Unit subsidy 500 Yuan/(user*month) $\rho$ Commission rate 0.005 - $f$ Unit logistics fee 18 Yuan/part $F$ Membership fee 200 Yuan/(user*month) $\Delta T$ Time before expansion 12 Month $\lambda$ Matching service level 0.8 - $\zeta$ Logistics service level 0.8 - ${{M}_{M0}}$ Manufacturer capacity before expansion 300 User ${{M}_{S0}}$ Supplier capacity before expansion 10000 User ${{M}_{M}}$ Manufacturer capacity after expansion 500 User ${{M}_{S}}$ Supplier capacity after expansion 15000 User

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