Evaluation of Purchasing Collaboration Using a Simulation Approach

This paper investigates a case study involving the purchasing models of raw materials in an industry centre.The evaluation compared outcomes under non-collaborative and collaborative procurement models.Purchasing collaboration (PC) was developed by aggregating demand across industries using the Common Replenishment Epoch (CRE) principle.A designated agent determined the optimal basic replenishment for centre members, allowing purchases to be aggregated to receive the supplier's discount.The collaborative model with inventory centralisation reduces total procurement costs by 7.26 %.Subsequently, this model was implemented within the manufacturing process and assessed through simulation using Flexsim software.Profitability increased by an average of 32.13 % since employing the collaborative model.Sensitivity analysis reveals that the selling price and quantity of sales have a substantial impact on profitability.These findings highlight the strategic advantage of adopting a coordinated procurement system in industry centres.This study offers valuable insight for decision-makers aiming to enhance cost efficiency through supply chain collaboration.