Planning and Inventory Management: New Technology for Real-Time Changes - BrightPearl

Relevance

One of the key points from the articles in this week's reading was uncertainty and fluctuation in demand cause producers/suppliers to take defensive inventory measures against stock-outs via buffer supplies and to use a multitude of forecasting tools to predict consumer behavior. Considering the various channels consumers currently have to purchase products (e.g., Amazon, eBay), inventory management becomes even more complex. Many companies have grown from this business need and offer technology solution packages to resolve complications from inventory management. The one company featured in this post is BrightPearl.

http://www.brightpearl.com/features/inventory-management-software

Significance
BrightPearl recently reached a working agreement with eBay for its technology solutions to make the lives of sellers using the eBay channel easier.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/brightpearl-launches-real-time-inventory-and-listings-management-to-ebay-sellers-1821342.htm

Question
The improvements in technology and forecasting tools will only be greater in the future. Companies like BrightPearl offer "real-time" updates so that sellers can better determine and optimize the size of their backup buffer supply in case of a stock-out through a central hub. But in regards to the bullwhip effect and the cascade of changes that follow from a minor consumer change, what type of solution is needed to mitigate the reverberations in the supply chain path?