A Study of Bullwhip Effect and Its Impact on Information Flow in Cloud Supply Chain Network

Cloud computing services need to be understood for analyzing Cloud Supply Chain Network (CSCN). One of the key information in a Supply Chain Network (SCN) is the quantity that is demanded at various nodes of the SCN. Every node in the supply chain tends to stock more items than actually needed because of uncertainties in the estimated quantity. The quantity of items magnifies upstream the supply chain and the effect is known as Bullwhip effect. There is a need to integrate IT services with supply chain to make it agile and enhance the information flow and decision-making process. Proper information available at lower cost and in quick time can help minimize the bullwhip effect. Hence, there is a need to understand and analyze the importance of various factors pertaining to cloud computing services. Benefits from cloud computing like lower cost of hardware and software, collaborations, software support and decision support services are considered for analysis. This paper aims at determining the weightages and contribution of such services. A relationship function encompassing the key parameters pertaining to the cloud computing factors is derived, which is useful for decision making and understanding how bullwhip effect can be minimized