| Supply Chain Collaboration is regarded as a panacea for challenges associated with coordination issues across partners in a supply chain. Supply chain collaboration is a complex problem. Planning functions within one company do not have complete and reliable access to the information in other domains. There are significant demand and supply uncertainties, some exogenous and other endogenous to the supply chain. In addition, the motives of supply chain partners are not necessarily aligned. This research focuses on collaboration centering on attempts made by supply chain partners to synchronize their mid term supply-demand plans or master plans.;In this research, we developed an integrated performance evaluation test bed and conducted designed experiments to develop insights about the value of collaboration in tactical material plans among adjacent partners in a supply chain. The test bed consists of three major components or modules - a Forecasting Module, a Hierarchical Planning Module and a Supply Pipeline Simulator. The forecast evolution module drives the entire system by creating a T-period forecast. The hierarchical planning module consists of a master planning model for the producer and a master planning model for the supplier. The supply pipeline simulator module is a deterministic simulation that pushes order releases through the pipeline to satisfy end customer demand. The integrated test bed consists of the above mentioned three modules placed in a discrete time simulation context.;To develop insights about the value of collaboration in tactical material plans, we conducted full factorial designed experiments with various factors around supply planning, supply chain configuration, the demand-forecast process and supply chain costs, using our integrated performance evaluation test bed. Multiple regression was used to statistically analyze the results of the designed experiments conducted, and the results of the analysis were interpreted to derive managerial insights. Within the confines of our experimental settings, we concluded that collaboration is not always helpful, but is beneficial only under very specific conditions and that gains from operational efficiencies significantly overshadow gains from collaboration. |
