This paper studies supply chain demand variability in a model with one supplier and Nretailers that face stochastic demand. Retailers implement scheduled ordering policies: Orders occur at fixed intervals and are equal to some multiple of a fixed batch size. A method is presented that exactly evaluates costs. Previous research demonstrates that the supplier's demand variance declines as the retailers' order intervals are balanced, i.e., the same number of retailers order each period. This research shows that the supplier's demand variance will (generally) decline as the retailers' order interval is lengthened or as their batch size is increased. Lower supplier demand variance can certainly lead to lower inventory at the supplier. This paper finds that reducing supplier demand variance with scheduled ordering policies can also lower total supply chain costs.supply chain management, multi-echelon inventory, bullwhip effect

Increasingly shorter product life cycles impel ÿrms to design, develop, and market more products in less time than ever before. Overlapping of design and development stages is commonly regarded as the most promising strategy to reduce product development times. However, overlapping typically requires additional resources and can be costly. Our research addresses the trade-o between product development time and costs and introduces an algorithm to determine an appropriate overlapping strategy under di erent scenarios. The methodology developed was successfully employed at Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International.

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Product development has become the focal point of industrial competition and is the cornerstone of long-term survival for most firms. One of the major management challenges in product development is to deal with development risk in the design process. In this paper we provide a strategic guideline as to how the design process should be managed and controlled. We describe how design reviews and engineering resources can be scheduled as the control mechanisms to operationally manage development risk. The methodologies developed are an integral part of a project to fundamentally restructure product design processes at Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International, which designs and develops liquid-propellant rocket propulsion systems.