THE STABILITY, BULLWHIP EFFECT AND OPTIMIZATION OF A HORIZONTAL COLLABORATION SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORK

摘要

In this paper, we study the stability, bullwhip effect and optimization of the order policy system for a horizontal collaboration supply chain network in which two or more retailers or distributors may mutually accept a small order. Two Z-transform expressions of the solutions to the order equations are obtained respectively for the horizontal collaboration and non-horizontal collaboration supply chain networks. It is shown that a stable (unstable) order policy system for the non-horizontal collaboration supply network can remain (become) stable in the horizontal collaboration supply network as long as suitable order policies are adopted. Conditions sufficient for the absence or presence of the bullwhip effect in the order policy system are obtained. A special relation between the horizontal collaboration and non-horizontal collaboration supply chain networks is proved. This relation shows that the horizontal collaboration supply chain network can either enhance or reduce the bullwhip effect in the non-horizontal collaboration supply chain network. Moreover, we present an approach to obtain the optimal order policy indirectly.