bullwhip effect

Bullwhip effect is a problem in supply chain. It is the problem that recurring happens. Before I explain about bullwhip effect, I will explain about supply chain first.
A supply chain its self is an organizations or business network that connect firm its self, suppliers, manufacture, distribution centers, retail outlets, until to consumer to supply goods and services through final consumption. It is like chain that link supplier – manufacture – firm - distribution center – retailer – customer – consumption.
The link consist process to get raw materials, change these materials into goods in process, and then finished product, and finally distribute to customers.
It is simple if we talk in a small firm. But it can be more complex in big firm. In small company, it can coordinate each other with simple way, and sometimes easily. We just telephone if we want to order or supply something. But in big company, supplier, manufacture, distribution center, retailer, consumer are not just one, but may be a firm have hundreds or even supplier, distribution center, and retailer. Of course, it can’t coordinate easily, and many problems will happen.
The problems are sometime demand is higher than amount of finished product, lack of raw material, late shipment from suppliers, defective parts of raw materials, or trouble in production process. It cause of firm can’t predicted what will be happen in the future because they don’t have information about how many units of product customer wanted, when they want them, when the product can be produced, or how to implement highly efficient with just in time strategy.
One of the problems is called with bullwhip effect. This effect happen because there is distorted information between one entity to the other entity in supply chain about product demand.
The solution of bullwhip effect is all entity in supply chain reduce uncertain information about demands and supply, they must have accurate and up to date information and share it each other. To support this action all entity need supply chain management system to help them make better purchasing and scheduling decisions.
We can see example of Bullwhip effect .In one side, manager of one retailer see increasing in demand from customer amount 100 units. So this increasing demand looked by distributor amount 500 units. And finally firm will see this increasing demand amount 2500 unit. If we have pay attention for this situation, information of 100 unit can looked in firm like a snow ball from top to down. Progressively downwards.a snow ball will be greater. It can be problem for company, the increasing demand that catched of company is too big than tha actual increasing demand. It will make so many inventories in warehouse.

Review : IT infrastructure hardware and software

IT’s infrastructure consist of five major components, they are :
• Computer hardware
Computer hardware consist of the tools to processing, data storage, input and output.
The input device likes keyboard, scanner, camera. The process device like processor, monitor. The output device likes monitor, printer, speaker.
• Computer software
Computer software includes both system software and application software. System software manages the resources and activities of the computer. Application software is to apply the specific task to an end user.
• Data management technology
This technology needs some data management software to organizes, manages, and process data to business purpose that concerned with inventory, customer, and vendors.
• Networking and telecommunications technology
Networking and telecommunications technology provides data, voice, and video connectivity to employees, customers, and suppliers.
• Technology services
When business need to make major system changes or implement an entirely new IT infrastructure, they typically turn to external consultants to help them with systems integration. System integration means ensuring that the new infrastructure works with the firm’s older, so-called legacy system and that the new elements of the infrastructure work with one another. Legacy systems are generally order transaction processing systems created for older computers that continue to be used to avoid the high cost of replacing or redesigning them.
And they must coordinated each other to give good result.

Types of computers
• Personal computers (PC)
This computer using for working alone or with a few other people in a small business.
• Workstation
This computer fits on a desktop but has more powerful mathematical and graphics-processing capabilities than a PC
• Server
Server computers are specifically optimized to support a computer network, enabling users to share files, software, peripheral devices (such as printers), or other network resources.
• Mainframe
A mainframe is a large-capacity, high-performance computer that can process large amounts of data very rapidly.
• Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a specially designed and more sophisticated computer that is used for tasks requiring extremely rapid and complex calculations with thousands of variables, millions of measurements, and thousand of equations.
• Grid computing
Grid computing involves connecting geographically remote computers into a single network to create a “virtual supercomputer” by combining the computational power of all computers on the grid.

The principal storage technologies are :
• Magnetic disks
• Optical disks
• Magnetic tape
• Storage networks

Contemporary hardware trends:
• The emerging mobile digital platforms
• Nanotechnology
• Cloud computing
• Autonomic computing
• Virtualization,
• Multicore processors

There are a number of software tools that businesses use to build Web sites and applications that run on the web, like :
• Java
• Ajax
Java and ajax used for building applications that run on the web.
• HTML
HTML is used for creating Web pages.