Pushv

s.Pul
lSuppl
yChai
nSt
rat
egy
Acompany '
ssupplychainstretchesfrom thef actorywhereitsproductsaremadet o
thepointtheproductsareincust omerhands.Suppl ychainstrat
egydeter
mi neswhen
productshouldbefabri
cated,deli
veredtodistr
ibutioncentersandmadeav ail
ableinthe
retai
lchannel
.Underapul lsupplychain,actualcust omerdemanddr ivesthepr ocess,
whi l
epushstrat
egi
esaredr i
venbyl ong-t
erm projecti
onsofcustomerdemand.
Under
standi
ngSuppl
yChai
ns
Pushandpul lst rat
egiesbothworkwi thinthesuppl ychai n.At ypicalsupplychainhas
fi
v ediffer
entst eps.Productsstartoutasr aw mat eri
al s.Int hesecond st ep,the
manuf actur
ert akesr awmat er
ial
sandt urnsthem intopr oducts.Thet hi
rdstepoccurs
whent hefinishedpr oductsgetshippedt ot hedistr
ibutionf acil
ity.Instepf our,t
he
distr
ibuti
onf acili
tyusest heproductst ost ockar etailst or
eor ,int hecaseofane-
commer cebusi ness,aful
fil
l
mentcent er.Inthef i
nalstep,t heproduct sgetdeli
v er
edto
thehandsoft heconsumer .
PushSt
rat
egi
es
Apush- modelsupplychainisonewher eprojecteddemanddet ermineswhatent
ersthe
process.Forexampl e,war mjacketsgetpushedt oclothi
ngr etail
ersassummerends
and t he falland wi nt
erseasons st ar
t.Undera push sy stem,companies have
predictabil
i
tyinthei
rsupplychai nssi
ncetheyknowwhatwi l
lcomewhen–l ongbefore
i
tact uallyarri
ves.Thisalsoallowsthem topl anpr oduct
iont omeett hei
rneedsand
gi
v esthem t i
met oprepar
eapl acetostor
et hest ocktheyr
eceive.
Pul
lSt
rat
egi
es
A pullstrat
egyi sr el
atedt othejust-
in-ti
meschoolofi nventor
ymanagementt hat
minimizesstockonhand,f ocusi
ngonl ast-seconddeli
ver
ies.Underthesestr
ategi
es,
productsenterthesupplychainwhencust omerdemandj usti
fi
esit.Oneexampleofan
i
ndust r
ythatoper at
esundert hi
sstrat
egyi sadi r
ectcomputersel
lerthatwai
tsuntili
t
recei
vesanor dertoact ual
l
ybuildacust om comput erfortheconsumer .Wit
hapul l
strat
egy,compani esavoidthecostofcar ryinginvent
orythatmaynotsel l
.Theriskis
thattheymi ghtnothav eenoughi nventoryt omeetdemandi ftheycannotrampup
producti
onquicklyenough.
Push/
Pul
lSt
rat
egi
es
Technical
ly,ev
erysupplychai nstr
ategyi sahy bri
dbetweenthet wo.Af ul
ly-
pushbased
system sti
llstopsatt her etailst
orewher ei thastowai tforacust omert o"pull
"a
productoffoft heshelves.Howev er,achai nthatisdesignedt obeahy bri
df l
i
ps
between push and pul lsomewher ei nt hemi ddleoft hepr ocess.Fori nst
ance,a
companymaychooset ost ockpil
ef i
nishedpr oductatit
sdist
ributi
oncent erstowaitfor
ordersthatpullthem t
ost or es.Manuf actur
ersmi ghtchooset obuil
dupi nvent
ori
esof
rawmat eri
als–especi all
yt hosethatgoupi npr i
ce–knowi ngt hattheywi l
lbeablet o
uset
hem f
orf
utur
epr
oduct
ion.

Push–pul
lst
rategy
Fr
om Wiki
pedia,thef
reeency
clopedi
a
"
Pushandpul
l
"redi
rect
sher
e.Forot
heruses,
see 
Pushandpul
l(di
sambi
guat
ion)
.

Theoriginalmeani
ngofup
and pull
, as used
i
n oper
at i
ons

management, 
l
ogist
ics 
and 
suppl
ychai nmanagement .I nthepullsyst
em product
ion
or
ders begi
n upon invent
oryreachi
ng a cer tai
nlevel,whil
e on t
he push syst
em
pr
oducti
onbeginsbasedondemand( forecastedoractualdemand)
.The CONWIP i
sa
hy
bri
dbet weenapurepushandpur epull
sy st
em.

The image shows a t

echnol
ogy push,mainl
y driv
en by internalr esear
ch and
[1]
dev
elopmentact
ivi
ti
esandmarketpul
l,
dri
venbyext
ernalmar
ketforces.
The busi ness t er
ms push  pul
and  l
 ori
ginated i n l
ogi
sti
cs 
and 
supply chai n
[
2] [
3][
4]
management, butar
ealsowidel
yusedin 
mar keti
ng,   andi
salsoaterm widel
yused
i
nt hehoteldist
ribut
ionbusi
ness.Wal
-Mar
tisanexampl
eofacompanyt
hatusest
he
pushvs.pullstr
ategy.

Suppl
y-
chainmanagementedi
t]
Mainart
icl
e: 
Suppl
ychai
nmanagement
Compl
etedef
ini
ti
onedi
t]

 Push:AsstatedbyBonneyetal
.(1999)cont
roli
nfor
mat
ionf
low i
sint
hesame
di
rect
ionofgoodsf
low

 Semipush 
or Push-
pull
 :Succeedi
ngnodemakesorderr
equestf
orprecedi
ngnode.
Precedi
ngnodereactsbyrepleni
shi
ngfr
om st
ockt
hatisrebui
l
tever
yfixedper
iod.

 Pull
 :Succeedi
ngnodemakesor
derrequestf
orprecedi
ngnode.Precedingnode
reactsbyproduci
ngt
heor
der,
whi
chinvol
vesal
li
nter
naloper
ati
ons,
andr epleni
shes
whenf i
nished.

 Semi-pul
l
 or pull
-push 
:Succeedingnodemakesorderr
equestforprecedingnode.
Precedi
ngnoder eactsbyrepleni
shingf
rom st
ockt
hati
srebui
lti
mmedi ately.Ther
e
aresever
allev el
sofsemi-pullsyst
emsasanodecanhavestockatseverallayersi
n
[
5]
anorganizati
on.
I
nformationflow[edi
t ]
Withapush- basedsupplychain,productsar epushedt hrought hechannel,from the
producti
onsi deuptotheretai
ler.Themanuf act
urersetspr oducti
onatal evelinaccord
withhist
oricalorder
ingpatt
ernsf r
om  r
etai
lers.Ittakeslongerf orapush-basedsuppl y
chaintorespondt ochangesindemand, whi chcanr esul
ti nov er
stocki
ngorbot tl
enecks
anddelays( t
he bul
lwhi
peffect
),unacceptable serv
icelevels andproductobsolescence.
I
napul l-
basedsuppl ychai n,procurement,pr oductionanddi st
ri
buti
onar edemand-
dri
venratherthant of
orecast.Howev er,apullstrat
egydoesnotal waysrequir
e make-
to-
order 
product
ion. 
ToyotaMot orsManufacturi
ng isfrequentlyusedasanexampl eofpull
producti
on,yetdonott ypicallyproducetoor der.Theyf oll
owt he"supermarketmodel"
wherel i
mitedi nvent
oryiskeptonhandandi sreplenishedasi tisconsumed.I n
Toyota'
scase, Kanbancards  areusedtosignaltheneedt orepleni
shinvent
ory.
A suppl ychaini sal mostalway sacombi nati
onofbot hpushandpul l,wheret he
i
nter f
acebet weent hepush-basedst agesandt hepul l-
basedst agesissomet i
mes
[
6]
knownast push–pul
he  lboundary.  
Howev er ,
becauseoft hesubt l
ediff
erencebetween
pullproducti
onandmake- t
o-orderproduct i
on,amor eaccur at
enamef orthismaybe
the decoupli
ngpoi nt.Anexampl eoft hisis Dell'
s buil
dt oor der 
supplychain.I
nventory
l
ev elsofindi
vidualcomponent saredet er
mi nedbyf orecastinggeneraldemand, butfi
nal
assembl yisinr esponset oaspeci fi
ccust omerr equest.Thedecoupl ingpointwoul d
thenbeatt hebegi nningofthe 
assembl yli
ne.

 Appl
i
edt
othatpor
ti
onoft
hesuppl
ychai
nwher
edemanduncer
tai
ntyi
srel
ati
vel
y
smal
l
 Pr
oduct
ionanddi
str
ibut
iondeci
sionsar
ebasedonl
ongt
ermf
orecast
s

 Basedonpastor
der
srecei
vedf
rom r
etai
l
er'
swar
ehouse(
mayl
eadt
obul
l
whi
p
ef
fect
)

 I
nabi
l
ityt
omeetchangi
ngdemandpat
ter
ns

 Lar
geandv
ari
abl
epr
oduct
ionbat
ches

 Unaccept
abl
eser
vicel
evel
s

 Excessi
vei
nvent
ori
esduet
otheneedf
orl
argesaf
etyst
ocks

 Lessexpendi
tur
eonadv
ert
isi
ngt
hanpul
lst
rat
egy
I
namar keti pul
ng  l 
system,t
heconsumerrequeststheproductand"
pul
ls"itthr
oughthe
del
i
ver
ychannel.Anexampl eofthi
sist
hecarmanuf act
uri
ngcompany FordAustr
alia.
For
dAustral
iaonl
yproducescar
swhentheyhav ebeenorderedbycust
omer s.

 Appl
i
edt
othatpor
ti
onoft
hesuppl
ychai
nwher
edemanduncer
tai
ntyi
shi
gh

 Pr
oduct
ionanddi
str
ibut
ionar
edemanddr
iven

 Noi
nvent
ory
,responset
ospeci
fi
cor
der
s

 Poi
ntofsal
e (
POS)dat
acomesi
shel
pful
whenshar
edwi
thsuppl
ychai
npar
tner
s

 Decr
easei
n l
eadt
ime

 Di
ff
icul
ttoimplement
Useofpull
,push,
andhy br
idpush-
pul
lst
rat
egy
[edi
t]
Har
ri
sonsummar
izedwhent
ouseeachoneoft
het
hreesuppl
ychai
nst
rat
egi
es:

 A pushbasedsuppl ychainstr
ategyisusuall
ysuggestedforproduct
swi t
hlow
demand uncert
ainty
,ast heforecastwil
lprovi
deagood i ndi
cati
onofwhatt o
produceandkeepi ninv
entor
y,andal so f
orproduct
swi t
hhighi mport
anceof
economiesofscaleinr
educi
ngcosts.

 A pullbased suppl
ychain str
ategy,usuall
ysuggested f
orpr oducts wi
th hi
gh
demanduncertai
ntyandwithl
owi mportanceofeconomiesofscales,whi
chmeans,
aggregat
iondoesnotreducecost,andhence,thefi
rm wouldbewi ll
i
ngtomanage
thesuppl
ychainbasedonreal
izeddemand.

 Ahy br
idpush–pullstr
ategy
,usual
l
ysuggest edforproductswhichuncertaint
yin
demandishigh,whil
eeconomiesofscaleareimport
antinreduci
ngproductionand
del
iv
ery cost
s.An exampl e ofthis str
ategy i
st he fur
nit
ureindustr
y,wher e
 productionst r
ategyhast of ol
low apull
-basedst rat
egy,si
ncei
ti simpossibleto
makepr oducti
ondeci si
onsbasedonl ong-termforecast
s.However
,thedist
ri
but i
on
strategyneeds t ot ake advantage ofeconomi es ofscalein ordertor educe
[
6]
tr
anspor tati
oncost,usingapush-basedstrategy
.
Exampl esin push 
and pull
[edi
t]
HoppandSpearmanconsi
dersomeoft hemostcommonsy
stemsf
oundi
nindust
ry
andt
heli
ter
atur
eandcl
assi
fythem asei
therpushorpul
l

 Mater
ialr
equi
rementspl
anning (
MRP)isapushsyst
em becauserel
easesar
emade
accor
dingtoamasterproduct
ionschedul
ewit
houtr
egardtosyst
em stat
us.Hence,
noaprior
iWIPli
mitexi
sts.

 Cl
assi
ckanban 
i
sapul
lsy
stem.Thenumberof
 kanban 
car
dsest
abl
i
shesaf
ixed
l
imi
tonWIP.

 The cl
assi
cbasest ocksystem i
sapushsy st
em becausethereisnol
imi
tonthe
amountofwor kinprocessinthesy
stem.Thisisbecausebackor
der
scani
ncr
ease
beyondthebasestockl
evel.

 I
nstal
lat
ionst
ock 
i
sal soapushsyst
em asareechel
onstocksy
stemsbecause
nei
theri
mposesali
mitont
henumberofor
der
sint
hesystem.

 CONWI P 
isapul lsyst
em becausei tli
mit
sWI Pviacardssimilart o kanban.An
i
mportantdiff
erencefrom kanban 
fr
om animplementat
ionstandpointi st hatthe
car
dsar el
inespecif
icratherthanpar
tnumberspeci
fi
c.Howev er,f
rom apush- pul
l
per
specti
ve,CONWI Pcardsli
mi tWI
Pinthesamemanneras kanban cards.

 (K,S)sy
stems(pr
oposedbyLiber
opoul
osandDal
l
ery
)ar
epul
lsy
stemsi
fK<∞ and
arepushsyst
emsother
wise.

 POLCA syst
ems pr
oposed by Sur
iar
e pul
lsy
stems because,l
i kanban 
ke  and
CONWIP,WIPisl
i
mit
edbycards.

 PACsystemsproposedbyBuzacot
tandShant
hikumararepul
lsystemswhent
he
numberofpr
ocesstags(
whi
chservetol
i
mitWIP)islesst
hani
nfi
nit
y.
[
7]
 MRPwi
thaWI
Pconst
rai
nt(
assuggest
edbyAxsät
erandRosl
i
ng)i
sapul
lsy
stem.

Mar
ket
ing[
edi
t]
Anadv ert
isi
ngpushst r
ategyreferst oasituati
onwhenav endoradver
ti
sesitsproduct
togainaudienceawar eness,whilet hepul
lstrat
egyi mpli
est heaimstoreachaudiences
whichhaveshownexi stingint
eresti ntheproductorinformat i
onabouti
t.Thedif
ference
between"push"and" pul l
"market i
ngcanal sobei denti
fi
edbyt hemannerinwhicht he
companyappr oachest helead.I f,forexampl e,thecompanywer et osendasal es
brochure,
thatwoul dbeconsider edpushingt heopportunit
yt owardt
helead.I
f,i
nst ead,
thecompanyprov i
dedasubj ectmatt
erexper
tasaspeakerf oranindust
ryevent
att
endedbyt
argetedleads,t
hatcoul
dbeonetact
icusedaspar
tofastr
ategytopul
lin
aleadbyencouragingthatl
eadtoseekouttheexperti
namomentofneedf ort
hat
exper
ti
se.

Hot
eldi
str
ibut
ion[
edi
t]
Theonl
i
newor
ldhasbr
oughtt
his 
pul
lpushdeci
si
on 
tot
hehot
eldi
str
ibut
ionbusi
ness

 Pushst r
ategies int hehot eldi
str
ibutionbusinessimplythathoteli
nventoryisplaced
forthedistri
but orsorr eseller
sout sidet hehot
elsyst
em i noneorsev eralextr
anets
thatbelongt ot hesedi stri
butor
s( onli
net r
avelagenci
es,t ouroperators,andbed
banks).Thei nv entorymustbet her eforeupdatedint heseextranets.Thehot el
server
sr ecei
v el ess traffi
c prevent i
ng servercrashes butbooki ng mustbe
transf
erredtot hehot elsy stem.

 Pullstr
ategies 
are based on di str
ibutorsinter
faci
ng wi t
ht he hotelpr operty
managementsy stem.Int hiscasethei nvent
oryis"pul
led"from t
hehot el(
orhot el
chai
n)sy st
em.Thi smet hodpr ovi
desamuchmor epr eci
sepictureoft her eal
avai
labi
l
ityandsav estimel oadi
ngthebooki ngsbut,r
equiresmoreI Tdevel
opment
andabiggerserver(dedicatedone).