Management tools of the demand chain empirical analysis of practice of Hungarian companies

Abstract

The paper aims to analyse the supply chain - and particularly its distribution part, the demand chain - management practice of Hungarian companies. During the survey I was focusing on the practices the companies use for managing the distribution processes, such as information and materials management, and the related cost and performance. I classified the distribution chain management tools into the latter three categories (tools of information management, materials management and the management of related costs and performance). I have run an on-line survey which resulted in 79 valuable responses. Research findings show that we can differentiate a group of companies which adopts distribution chain management tools on a middling-advanced level, and another group which is very underdeveloped. Analyses show significant difference between the two clusters not only in the adaptation of demand chain management tools but between the customer service performance, as well.