Evaluating the impact of electronic data interchange on the ingredient supply chain of a food processing company

A model of an electronic data interchange (EDI) enabled ingredient supply chain for a food processing company was developed, the model was simulated and its performance was compared with a simulation model of the current ingredient supply chain process of a US food processing company. The simulation results indicated that an EDI enabled system, which removed many of the time delays associated with the current process, significantly reduced swings in raw materials inventory and allowed significant reductions in raw materials safety stock without increasing the risk of production delays due to out‐of‐stock ingredients.