ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an in-depth explanation of collaboration specifically aimed at retail industries and the manufacturers serving this business segment. The history of traditional interaction and inventory decisions is explained to provide a basis for newer methods of vendor-managed inventories (VMI) and jointly managed inventories (JMI) that have evolved into a true collaborative approach. The focus is on processes and methods regarding inventory management between the manufacturer and the retail store, and methods for determining demand in the value chain. Although the methods presented here are most applicable to the processes outside the manufacturer, they are excellent bases of ideas and experiences to jump-start the thinking processes to apply collaboration deeper in the supply chain network.
