Effect of sharing forecast information on the performance of a supply chain experiencing disruptions

The supply chains today face the ever increasing threats to its operations from the frequent disruptions. There is an urgent need to devise the methods to mitigate the effects of these disruptions on the performance of supply chains. Sharing information amongst the players in a chain is considered to be the best method currently to do so. This helps all the players in the chain to be abreast of the risks faced by the chain from various sources. This up to date information helps the companies in the chain to take the effective actions to guard from risks. This paper, by studying the effect of sharing the forecasting information on the performance of dynamic supply chain during disruptions, is an important effort towards making the supply chain resilient. The supply chain is modelled on the lines of the famous beer game scenario and is simulated by subjecting it to frequent demand and supply disruptions. The forecast sharing is tested at different levels, ranging from sharing between just conjugate players to sharing the retailer data with all the players, and the results show that even less amount of sharing the forecasted information helps the chain to improve its performance.