Collaborative demand planning: Cvalue through demand signals

Abstract

This chapter focuses on collaborative demand planning particularly when information is shared in the downstream supply chain between manufacturer and retailer. The use of collaborative practices is transforming traditional supply chain models toward demand-driven supply chains but implies deep organisational changes to prompt vertical alignment. The analysis of practices that permit efficient collaboration between manufacturers and retailers shows that information sharing on demand signals in supply chains is one of the keys to responding to retail demand with greater agility. This chapter aims to show how a manufacturing supply chain needs to be aligned with the retail supply chain in order to create value for the trading partners and for the final consumer. Through the analysis of three case studies, it is attempted to identify which practices allow efficient collaborative demand planning. Regarding the findings, different types of demand signals are identified through the planning process and allow one to highlight some breaking points that prevent the alignment and the optimisation of the retail chain. Research implications are the identification of four steps in the demand planning process that will help managers to better understand which actions should be taken to improve their collaboration practices. The originality of this chapter lies in the fact that it goes beyond historical demand figures analysis and focuses, rather, on information sharing concerning demand signals within supply chains as one of the keys to responding to retail demand with greater agility. © 2010 Springer-Verlag London.