What is Bullwhip-Effect

This chapter analyzes the dynamics of supply chains for perishable and non-perishable items and compares them. It starts with a single echelon supply chain with widely used inventory management and ordering policies; and then generalizes it to multi-echelon supply chain. Simulation experiments are conducted to match the results with literature and real-world scenario. It shows how spoilage information can be incorporated in the ordering decision to create highly responsive supply chain, which may not always be desirable. Amplification is lesser and stabilization is faster for supply chains of perishable items. ANOVA shows significant difference for the identified performance metrics under varying demand patterns and to a certain extent varies with the item type.