Considers the dynamical effect of lateral emergency transhipments within a supply chain. It tests various different strategies for improving customer service via the MIT Beer Game. Four distinct strategies are considered. “Electronic point of sales (EPOS)”, where marketplace information is...

Purpose – The design of distribution networks is prone to risks due to the uncertainties associated with factors that change over time. The purpose of this paper is to present a new method to identify those factors that the structure of a distribution network is most sensitive to....

The Law of Industrial Dynamics ensures that if a production control system can amplify then it will surely find a way of doing so despite the best efforts of production schedulers to take corrective action. In fact, practical studies show that such human intervention frequently aggravates the...

Describes the use of a decision support system (DSS) in part of a strategic supply chain initiative of an international automotive aftermarket organisation undertaken in 1996‐97. The strategic initiative consisted of four distinct stages; a review of the current state, definition of the future...