This chapter is organized as follows. After a brief introduction, the authors describe the collaboration process and types of collaboration. Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment is then explained. The chapter also explains quantitative models and software application, and ends with a case study.
TopCollaboration Process
The general collaboration process can be completed in six phases: “definition, local domain planning, plan exchange, negotiation and exception handling, execution, performance measurement” (Kilger and Reuter, 2005, p.270).
Definition: Formal agreement is necessary for incorporating the target of joint work in predefined ways between business partners in a collaborative relationship.
Each partner makes a contribution to the collaboration such as money or knowledge, and the specific gains of partners contributing in the collaboration such as broader market access should also be determined in this step. Issues related to the collaboration items such as products with long lead-times should be also considered. Duration of the collaboration has to be determined in this step. The last important issue is to consider the conflict situations and different mechanisms that may be useful for resolving these disagreements.
Local domain planning: Future activities are organized in a local domain plan. For example, Components of planned activities of supply chain’s members are uncertain without collaboration. So, these should be planned in local domain planning.
Plan exchange: In this process, the partners want to improve planning level by interchanging information.
Negotiation and exception handling: Partners obtain a general view of the planning situation by exchanging plans. In this way, they can also figure out the improvement of achieving the predefined goals.
Dudek and Stadtler (2005) have proposed a negotiation-based scheme for collaborative planning between two partners. They used this scheme to extend the simple coordination form planning by affording an opportunity for the partners to modify their planned order or supply in an iterative way. Mathematical models were used to show the reduction of total supply chain’s costs.
Execution: An organized plan fulfills the goals and is then executed.
Performance measurement: After the execution of a plan, an analysis of the current situation and aimed situation is done to measure the results of execution of the master plan.
TopTypes Of Collaboration
The structure of the collaboration network, objects, and leadership can be considered as three aspects of collaborations.
Usually, one partner is leading the process, and the others are followers. The leader starts and conducts the collaboration process, whereas a follower supports the process. In the CP process, a supplier can be the leader or a consumer can also have this role.
The consumer uses the items, which the supplier prepared, and collaborations are done regarding this relationship. Information related to demand and supply of those items is exchanged between supplier and consumer. According to this aspect, collaboration can be classified into two types: material-related collaboration and service-related collaboration. In the former information is related to the item, and in the latter information is related to capacity or services needed to make the item or to transport it, for example.