The shampoo and lipstick aisles at Target and Wal-Mart hardly seem like battlegrounds, but are actually sites for an unending struggle among consumer products companies for retail shelf space No company knows this better than Procter Gamble, one of the world's largest consumer goods companies, with annual revenue surpassing $76 billion and 138,000 employees in 80 countries. The company sells more than 300 brands worldwide, including Cover Girl cosmetics, olay skin care, crest, Charmin, Tide, Pringles, and Pampers. Demand variability for P&G's products from its Beauty division is very high. A popular eye shadow or lipstick color may quickly fall out of favor, while fashion trends call for new products continually to come on stream. Major retail outlets such as Wal-Mart and Target compete by offering brand-name products at the lowest price possible. response to these pressures, P&G is constantly searching for ways to reduce supply chain costs and improve efficiency throughout its entire manufactur- ing and distribution network. It recently imple mented a multi-echelon inventory optimization system to manage its supply chain more efficiently