A Strategic Multicriteria Decision Support System to Assess the Best Supply Chain Distribution Strategy and Characterize the Bullwhip Effect

The attention on optimal management of production systems has increased, thus the control of production with local control of the coordination of an entire chain of production and distribution (Supply Chain Management). The aim of this work is to analyze some issues relating to new types of production realities based on the Supply Chain, to show the multiple causes of the change in demand along a Supply Chain, the reasons that cause the Bullwhip Effect and the techniques to improve it. From this point of view the authors have developed a strategic multicriteria decision support system based on the Analityc Network Process with which the authors can analyze the criticality throughout the supply chain process. Definitively this paper introduces a conceptual framework for evaluating different supply chain structures in the context of Bullwhip Effect. The authors also illustrate the applicability of the resulting framework through a specific model applied in an automotive industry. A Strategic Multicriteria Decision Support System to Assess the Best Supply Chain Distribution Strategy and Characterize the Bullwhip Effect