The impact of supply chain relationships and automatic data communication and registration on forecast information quality

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain the effects of the customer‐supplier relationship and of automatic forecast data communication and registration on the perceived information quality of forecasts. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model and three hypotheses are derived. The empirical analysis is based on survey data from 219 Swedish manufacturing companies. Findings – Findings show that the customer‐supplier relationship and automatic data communication and registration have significant impact on the perceived quality of forecast information received from a downstream customer in the supply chain. The reliability and timeliness of the forecast information are affected to about the same extent by both the relationship type and the data communication and registration strategy. Credibility is correlated with the relationship type, while the completeness, validity and conciseness of the received forecast are operative issues depending mainly on the communication strategy. Research limitations/implications – Using single informants, focal customers and some single‐item constructs in research design. Practical implications – The paper explains how various dimensions of forecast information quality are affected by different factors, thus guiding how to differentiate information quality improvement work in diverse situations. Originality/value – Detailed empirical studies of supply chain information exchange, especially focusing on explaining causes of high‐quality information exchange, are lacking in the literature and demanded in industry.