Abstract
The work conducted in the paper is concerned with the study of apparel inventory control strategies using computer simulation. The investigation used, as case studies, two South Korean apparel organizations: one (specified as company A in the following sections) specialized in the overseas branded apparel, and the other (company B in succeeding part 2) in locally manufactured products. The aim of the research was to explore the issues associated with the supply and distribution of apparel products to improve the understanding of the interrelation of apparel supply chain control factors with the goal of developing optimum inventory control strategies by the use of computer simulation (or different supply chain system scenarios. The research analyzed these two, selected case study companies'activities and the data derived was used to develop a computer simulation model of apparel inventory control strategies. The modeling structures, algorithms and programmed events of the specific apparel systems within the simulation model are described in part 1 ; and the experiments performed employing the simulation model were considered through parts 1 and 2. In particular, key apparel production-supply functions, i.e. the selected "overseas-brand" distributors forecasting/reordering decisions (in part 1 ) and "domestic" supplier's stock level control strategies (in part 2) were examined by the use of computer simulation [l] to determine optimum strategies by exploring the interactions of the defined apparel production-sup-ply parameters and their relative contributions within the given systems. The study clearly demonstrated the feasibility of computer simulation modeling apparel inventory control strategies and an understanding of how this can be done, particularly using WITNESS. It also showed the potential benefits afforded by forecasting methods in combination with simulation from a general perspective, the need to balance initial order quantity with 0.R. re-ordering in order to realize the full benefits of Q.R./EPOS monitoring/re-ordering.