Suppliers often prefer to offer their retailers a delay period in payment to attract more sales and promote revenue in a supply chain. The retailers usually ask their customers to pay a portion of purchasing cost when receiving the product (i.e., a downstream partial trade credit) to reduce the...

Forecasting demand and determining safety stocks are key aspects of supply chain planning. Demand forecasting involves predicting future demand for a product or service using historical data and other external and internal drivers. Stockouts and excess production can be reduced by accurately...