Quality Infrastructure System in China: An Agent-Based Model

Quality Infrastructure (QI) is a complex system for quality promotion. China has made great efforts in QI construction, but the efficacy of the QI system is not yet satisfactory especially in terms of product quality in the market. Figuring out how QI elements work and interact to influence the quality performance will help the government to better allocate QI construction resources and thus improve product quality level in the market. This paper proposes a model framework to model and simulates the impacts of the QI system on market. Systems Modeling Language (SysML) tools are used in system analysis and design, and Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) is used to build a simulation model. Pilot experiments are conducted to show the impacts of conformity assessment and market surveillance and to highlight the capability of the proposed model framework in providing an effective quantitative approach in studying and evaluating the impacts of QI elements.