공급네트워크 구조와 재고 비용 성과의 관계

Although supply chain research with a network perspective has been growing fast recently, there are some limitations to verifying a relationship between supply network structure and performance due to the lack of data availability and the complexity of mathematical modeling. Based on a theoretical background, we propose a hypothesis that suggests a curvilinear relationship between supply network structure and performance. In order to test the hypothesis, we develop an agent-based model that extends the Beer Distribution Game from a serial chain to a complex network structure. The model considers different factors that may affect the supply network performance such as lead time, ordering policy, demand pattern, and product cost characteristics. Through deliberately structured simulation experiments, we develop a huge data set at the supply network level. The results show that there is an inverted-U relationship between the average path length (APL) of a supply network and its performance. In other words, supply network performance increases and then decreases as its APL increases. This means that we may achieve minimum supply network costs when the supply network structure is either centralized such as with a hub and spoke structure or decentralized as with a tree structure. Furthermore, the inverted-U relationship between structure and performance is moderated by lead time, ordering policy and unit inventory holding cost. As the overall lead time of supply network members increases or the unit inventory holding cost rises, the slope of the inverted-U shape steepens.