Title: System dynamics modelling for the chemical supply chain - a case study

Authors: Azeen Shahna Khan; Sunith Hebbar

Addresses: Department of Chemical Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India ' Department of Humanities and Management, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India

Abstract: The chemical supply chain constitutes all the activities from sourcing of raw materials to the delivery of goods to customers within, or across national boundaries. The study was conducted in ABC Ltd. company which manufactures chemicals like methanol and benzene. The firm was concerned about significant risks in SC like uncertain demands and orders. Thus, a system dynamics model was developed and simulated for the SC under changing demand levels, raw material shipment time, and cycle time. The results revealed that the increase in shipment time did not affect the sales, but, the RM inventory increased. Thus, it was advised to change the ordering pattern which minimises RM inventory. The results also revealed the existence of the bullwhip effect and identified an ideal cycle time which stabilises the system. An optimum requirement of transportation resources, labour and trucks, were determined. Furthermore, appropriate suggestions were made which may help in improving the SC performance.

Keywords: chemical supply chain; CSC; system dynamics; supply chain risk; demand uncertainty; backlog level; cycle time; bullwhip effect.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2021.113604

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2021 Vol.38 No.3, pp.441 - 465

Received: 03 Dec 2018
Accepted: 06 Apr 2019
Published online: 15 Mar 2021 *

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