Although many people are claimed to be the ‘Father of Supply Chain Management’, Jay Wright Forrester’s research into Systems Dynamics lends weight to the argument for his claim to the moniker.

Forrester grew up on his family cattle ranch in Nebraska where he first demonstrated a gifting for electrical engineering when he developed a wind-driven system to provide the ranch with its first-ever electrical feed. Realising that he preferred engineering to raising cattle, Forester went on to study electrical engineering at the local university.

Forrester went on to further study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the tutelage of Gordon Brown (no, not that one!) where he was put to work developing various devices for military deployment during World War II. Forrester continued work with the military developing a number of computerised systems after the end of the War, but eventually left engineering in favour of management.

Whilst lecturing at the MIT School of Management, Forrester began research into the interactions between objects in dynamics systems, leading to the modern concept of supply chain management. The work undertaken by Forrester and his team in the late 1950s have formed the foundations for all major supply chain management systems.

Systems Dynamics seeks to analyse and understand the behaviour of a complex system, particularly each of the internal processes which have the potential to affect the entire system. Systems Dynamics concentrate on trying to explain how simple systems are able to behave in previously unpredicted ways, using feedback loops and stocks and flows.

Put into the context of a business, Systems Dynamics help to explain how the delayed availability of a small component can cause major problems further down the construction process. By seeking to understand such effects, Systems Dynamics help to prevent these same problems.

Systems Dynamics are directly related to Supply Chain Management, and Forrester led the field in understanding them. Forrester’s claim to paternity is therefore substantial.