A Continuous Replenishment Program (CRP) is a supply chain strategy where a supplier is responsible for maintaining a customer's inventory levels. This is achieved by the customer electronically transmitting real-time data, such as point-of-sale (POS) information or current stock levels, directly to the supplier. Using this information, the supplier proactively ships goods to replenish the customer's stock to pre-agreed levels, streamlining the inventory management process and improving efficiency. This model directly matches the scenario described in the question.

A. Add-on program: This is a generic term that is not specific to supply chain or inventory management; it lacks the precision to describe this collaborative process.

C. Front office program: This term refers to customer-facing business functions and their supporting software (e.g., sales, marketing), not the operational inventory replenishment process.

1. Chopra

S.

& Meindl

P. (2016). Supply Chain Management: Strategy

Planning

and Operation (6th ed.). Pearson. In Chapter 11

the authors describe continuous replenishment as a practice where the "supplier receives Point-of-Sale (POS) data from the retailer [customer] and uses this information to...prepare shipments."

2. Raman

A.

De-Groote

X.

& Fisher

M. L. (2001). Continuous Replenishment. In S. C. Graves & A. G. de Kok (Eds.)

Handbooks in Operations Research and Management Science

Vol. 11: Supply Chain Management: Design

Coordination and Operation (pp. 393-433). Elsevier. The chapter defines CRP as a system where the supplier makes replenishment decisions based on inventory and sales data received from the customer.

3. MIT OpenCourseWare. (2016). 15.762J Supply Chain Planning

Lecture 10: Bullwhip Effect & VMI. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The lecture notes describe Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI)

a form of CRP

as a system where the "customer shares data (inventory

demand) with the supplier." Available at: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/15-762j-supply-chain-planning-spring-2016/resources/mit15762s16lec10/