Focusing on
a one supplier, one customer relationship particular attention is given to the
manufacturer’s production scheduling activities. To achieve this aim, an overview of a traditional supply chain and a VMI supply chain is given.
The bullwhip effect is then outlined and the various causes are highlighted.
Next, the two supply chain structures are compared with respect to the bullwhip effect, with each source being investigated in turn in order to verify the research findings. This gives confidence to the potential VMI system
performance benefits via time-series displays readily identified by managers as comparators with present-day dynamic behaviour.