Information sharing value of a complex multi-level supply chain

As far as a supply chain management is concerned, the quantitative value of information will redound to coordination among partners in the supply chain and carrying out the strategy of information sharing. A three-level model of supply chain is considered involving one manufacturer, multiple distributors and multiple retailers, and the inventory costs of each partner in the supply chain with and without information sharing are analyzed respectively. The result shows that the reduction of the supply chain's average costs is substantial with the information sharing among the partners.