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Insurance, alternate sourcing, and cross-country diversification are some of the risk reduction tactics for natural catastrophes.

In industries with high volatile demand like fashion apparel, the costs of stockouts and markdowns (in most cases due to inaccurate forecasting) can exceed the total cost of manufacturing.

A seasonal index for a monthly series is about to be calculated on the basis of three years’ accumulation of data. The three previous July values were 110, 150, and 130. The average demand over all months during the three-year time period was 190. What is the approximate seasonal index for July?

Core competencies are good candidates for outsourcing.

You should visualize inventory as stacks of money sitting on forklifts, on shelves, and in trucks and planes while in transit.

“Innovative” products tend to have long life cycles of two years or more, predictable demand with low average demand forecast error, low profit margins, and low product variety.

The bullwhip effect refers to the increasing fluctuations in orders that often occur as orders move through the supply chain.

Firms often use multiple suppliers in different geographical regions for important components to reduce the risks of natural catastrophes.

In a supply chain, vertical integration requires the firm to become more specialized.

When using the low-cost strategy for supply chain management, a firm should use buffer stocks to ensure speedy supply.