Spreadsheet analysis to show effect to customer service level on inventory

Copyright 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. This paper describes the use of a spreadsheet for simulating inventory replenishment systems for a multi-echelon supply chain model. A spreadsheet model was built using Excel VBA Macro to explore the replenishment policies and inventory carrying units of the branches and the distribution centre of a multi-echelon model by considering a demand that is normally distributed. Managing inventory and keeping stock at optimum levels are two of the foremost considerations in this paper. This paper shows how the customer service levels vary according to the replenishment policies given the specific capacity restrictions and demand patterns in a multi-echelon supply chain. As such, the spreadsheet can be used as a tool to gain a clear insight into the use of inventory control policies and demand patterns in relation to the customer service.

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