Design, Analysis and Optimization of Supply Chains. A System Dynamics Approach

If you're an executive dealing with extended supply chains, you live with stressand worry. Almost everything made today is manufactured by large networksof companies. Hundreds, if not thousands, of companies provide components,subassemblies, and major assemblies to a final manufacturer or integrator.These large distributed supply chains have created problems and headachesfor many industries.This book can help you prevent lost sales due to inventory shortages, highcosts due to large inventories, work stoppage due to loss of a key supplier, andsupply problems that may be causing a late introduction of a new product.Today's supply chains are not only highly complex in terms of the number ofcompanies involved but also dynamically complex in that their behavior andperformance variations over time range from "hard to comprehend" to baffling.It's no wonder that management is so difficult and challenging. Developing anintuitive grasp of supply chain dynamic behavior is the first step in drivingperformance improvement.In this book, a system dynamics framework for analyzing complex supplychain performance is presented. The feedback nature of supply chains is demonstrated and dynamic simulation models are used to examine the counterintuitive behavior that arises from time delays, lack of information, and incorrect planning assumptions. The benefits of establishing push-pull boundaries in supply chains are shown to provide increased customer service levels with reduce...