Choosing a stock-control method for a product depends on that product's demand distribution. This paper presents a simple method of classifying product demand into ‘smooth’, ‘slow-moving’ or ‘sporadic’, by partitioning the variance of demand during a lead time into causal parts. A study of a public utility showed demand distributions in each category to be of a specific nature. Stock-control and forecasting methods are developed, and simulation tests are described which compare these methods with (for ease of comparison) the assumption of continuous demand.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Terry Williams (1984) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 3 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: