Decision Support Tools for Managing Unpredictability in the Supply Chain

Abstract

Effectively managing unpredictability requires decision support tools that can predict the financial and business outcomes of various supply chain strategies. This paper will discuss the role of these decision support tools and their characteristics as well as review a case study. In the case study, decision support tools facilitated development of strategies that increased after tax profit by $140 Million. These strategies included: • Reliability improvement strategy: Identifying the reliability improvements that offered the biggest profitability impact. • Supply chain strategy: Defining inventory management and production scheduling rules that ensured order shipment within two days. • Capital investment strategy: Defining when new capacity should come on line as well as the minimum capital investment.