Demand-Chain-Management
Demand chain management (DCM ) is the management of relationships between suppliers and customers to meet the demand of the customers through the supply chain ( engl. supply chain ) as possible and at the lowest possible cost to meet. The term demand chain management means the same thing as far as supply chain management, but with emphasis on the demand side. Demand chain management software is to close the gap between customer relationship management and supply chain management.
While the logistical processes of the company ( the supply chain) are organized to meet the ( presumed to exist ) customer demand as possible, see a study by the University of Wageningen (The Netherlands ) DCM as an extension of the supply chain through the explicit inclusion of market perspective.
A big topic within the demand chain management is the communication model. Often the dealer protects its customers and would like to look after this just right. Here the so-called conflict between manufacturers and retailers is created (sales promotion ).
Different implementations of DCM
An approach to demand chain management combines business intelligence software and predictive models which holidays, sporting events, holidays, and other factors into account in order to calculate future customer demands. Based on these results, the supply chain is controlled.
Another approach is called Real-Time DCM. In this approach, all inventory changes (sales, deliveries, etc. ) are processed in real time. Based on these data, one can calculate current sales trends and react quickly to products at any time to have available. Systems of this type have warned, for example, that the organic milk will be sold out in 4 hours. The supply chain is continuously supplied with current data. If the corresponding delivery times are taken into account, delivery bottlenecks by taking into account real inventory data and current sales trends can be avoided.