Methodology for the study of collaborative demand in a commercial chain

Abstract

One of the main challenges in commercial chains is to assess what their customers want and need, where uncertainty and risks sometimes become a limitation in the process of decision-making in an integrated way among the chain actors. Hence, the need for collaboration between the actors of a chain arises to mitigate the bullwhip effect, and the fact that the end customer finds himself at the center of it. This article aims to systematize a methodology for the study of the demand in a collaborative way in a Cuban commercial chain. The study is carried out in three stages: the demand management is analyzed, the demand is diagnosed and its calculation; and the demand is exchanged. This work presents a methodological value, for being a proposal of tools for the demand in the chain and a practical value for the application of the methodology in a practical case.