the.com/bullwhip effect
a small wobble at the checkout counter becomes a factory-wide panic three states away.
means in a supply chain, small demand fluctuations at the retail end get amplified into wild swings in ordering and production further upstream.
from named for how a flick of the wrist at the handle of a whip turns into a huge crack at the tip - procter & gamble noticed the same pattern in diaper orders in the 1990s and gave it the name.
first studiedp&g execs baffled by wild pampers order swings
causeeach link in chain over-orders to buffer uncertainty
beer gamemit simulation makes students recreate it hands-on
fixsharing real demand data flattens the whip
for instance
toilet paper 2020 — pandemic panic-buying spiked mill orders 400 percent
chip shortage 2021 — auto plants idled after over-correcting 2020 order cuts
mit beer game — classroom simulation since 1960s reliably triggers the effect