Bootstrap confidence interval estimates of the bullwhip effect

This paper introduces the confidence interval estimate for measuring the bullwhip effect, which has been observed across most industries. Calculating a confidence interval usually needs the assumption about the underlying distribution. Bootstrapping is a non-parametric, but computer intensive, estimation method. In this paper, a simulation study on the behavior of the 95% bootstrap confidence interval for estimating bullwhip effect is made. Effects of sample size, autocorrelation coefficient of customer demand, lead time, and bootstrap methods on the 95% bootstrap confidence interval of bullwhip effect are presented and discussed. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.