Supply Chain Coordination for Products with Uncertain Demand

Ananth Raman has been investigating supply chain coordination for products with uncertain demand in industries as diverse as apparel, power tools, computers, and footwear. Most recently he has been exploring the role of intermediaries, particularly in supply chains that transcend national boundaries. This research, spurred by the steadily rising costs of mismatched supply and demand, takes on added importance with the continuing proliferation of product models and ever-diminishing product life cycles. Raman has identified a number of operational changes that might enable a firm to better match supply with demand, and has developed tools for quantifying the impact of those changes. His findings have been reported in Harvard Business Review and Operations Research, as well as in a number of industry publications.