Simulation-Based Inventory Planning for the Digital Supply Chain Era

For business today, hazards develop ever more quickly, and increasing global interdependency means the risks are greater. The impact on inventory planning is significant.

Even single-echelon supply chains are now complex systems, and multi-echelon networks are much harder to predict and manage. True multi-tier inventory optimization in the changing world requires new technologies that allow analysts to take a holistic view of the end-to-end supply chain.

Analytical calculations and optimization, being the most widespread technologies in the supply chain world, have been unable to provide solutions with the level of detail and precision required to address today's inventory optimization and planning challenges. That is why dynamic simulation modeling has been gaining popularity, and is increasingly becoming mainstream, just as optimization did before.

This white paper takes a close look at what advantages simulation provides, and how it can help analysts define the right inventory strategies.