Designing a Supply Chain System to Maximize Replenishment Efficiency: A Simulation Exercise

摘要

An important issue in supply chain management is to reduce the bullwhip effect. The bullwhip effect gives rise to excessive inventory, loss of revenue and inaccurate production plans throughout supply chain management systems. The traditional replenishment model will accumulate excessive inventory for the clients and customers, or cause shortages and the inability to meet the demands of change. A Theory of Constraints (TOC) replenishment solution is developed to aggregate inventory buffers at the central warehouse and to change the operating model from push to pull. In the absence of empirical research, this study applied the AGI simulator by to design a supply chain system for different replenishment methods. It was found that the TOC replenishment method improved replenishment efficiency significantly. It allows managers to better understand and enhance replenishment through the adoption of a game approach to the problems.