Information in supply chain management of perishables.

摘要

In this research, we explore the value of information for inventory replenishment of a perishable product. The value of information is measured as the marginal improvement in profit contribution that facilities achieve, relative to the case without information sharing. A principal objective is to understand the determinants for the value of information and the operating conditions that give rise to these determinants. Another related and important question is how other facilities in a supply chain fare when information is used in replenishment.; We address the value of information in the context of a three-echelon, arborescent supply chain that supplies a single perishable product to consumers. We assume a decentralized system in which each facility is responsible for its own replenishment decision. Consumer demand is random and future demand is forecasted from the empirically observed time-series of demand. Other key assumptions of the problem include lost sales, positive order lead times, and order quantity restrictions. Research methodologies include stochastic modeling and simulation.; The results are extensive and show that the value of information that facilities realize depends on several factors. The three most significant determinants are the product lifetime, the level of demand uncertainty a facility experiences, and a facility's cost structure. Whenever these factor levels are high, the value of information is high. Our results show that facilities do not benefit equally from shared information. The value of information decreases the further upstream in a supply chain that a facility is positioned. Moreover, a facility may be worse off from using shared information in replenishment.