A supply chain as a series of filters or amplifiers of the bullwhip effect

The bullwhip effect refers to the phenomenon of amplification and distortion of demand in a supply chain. By eliminating or controlling this effect, it is possible to increase product profitability reducing useless costs such as stock-out and obsolescence costs. The main focus of this work is to study a single-product serial supply chain in which a control parameter can switch the chain from a series of filters to a series of amplifiers of the bullwhip effect and to analyse how the optimal values of the parameters change when discontinuities in order policy are considered. Furthermore, it is also shown that the bullwhip itself it is not a good index of the chain's performance, because it does not consider the oscillations that occur in the inventories, which also may affect the supply-chain performance. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.