## 7 Conclusions  
This section is divided into theoretical, managerial, and empirical conclusions, and explains the limitations of the research as well as describing the potential research work derived. Theoretical conclusions: This research provides syndication of the need for models and systems to respond to the increasing global risks of supply that are creating major disruptions in international supply chains. Moreover, it provides a contribution via the methodology and developed system to deal with this challenge:  
* The current challenges of procurement methodologies and supply planning systems were described;
* A new methodology for assessing and improving procurement order quantities was developed;
* A system enabling the simulation of scenarios for determining the best-fit procurement order quantity depending on the supply risk pattern was developed. * Managerial conclusions:  
Figure 9: Methodological sequence for the selection of the most suitable procurement order quantity based on the supplier’s behavior (own elaboration). * The methodology can support managers in the management and distribution of functions in production and procurement planning departments;
* The system for materials requirements planning with simulation capabilities can provide managers with short-term procurement insights to deal with the pressure of managerial decision making;
* Steps for assessing, selecting, and improving the procurement strategy were described in the discussion section. Empirical conclusions: To prove the utility of the new concept a simulation of a component manufacturer's materials requirement planning was performed. In the simulation, planning data are reliable, with the exception of the procurement risk of the supplier responsible to supply a material needed to produce the final product. The simulated scenarios analyze the procurement order quantity for different supply disruption or shortages scenarios. The benefits of the simulation--and its results--are:  
* The results provide evidence that suppliers' behavior regarding supply risks is relevant for target indicators as a key factor when defining the procurement strategy of any producer;
* When suppliers' behavior, in terms of the delivery date, is reliable, the best set of target indicators are obtained for a procurement order quantity equal to the economic order quantity (EOQ);
* When suppliers' behavior, in terms of the delivery date, is not reliable the best set of target indicators are obtained for a procurement order quantity not equal to the economic order quantity (EOQ) and that will depend on the organization's goals concerning the service level to the customer and total inventory costs;
* When suppliers' behavior in terms of the delivery date is not reliable, a procurement order quantity lower than the economic order quantity (EOQ) provides higher backlogs and lower service levels with end-customers;
* When suppliers' behavior, in terms of the delivery date, is not reliable, a procurement order quantity higher than the economic order quantity (EOQ) provides lower backlogs and higher service levels with end-customers with a small increase in average inventory levels. Limitations of this research work include:  
* A product with two-component levels and with no great complexity;
* Factors as demand, replenishment times set as constant to isolate the factors in consideration in the research work;
* Lack of organizations working with this methodology;
* The tool developed does not include the connection with other related data such as demand planning or distribution management;
* The model does not consider its integration into a system landscape;
* The selection of the most appropriate procurement order quantity depends on the user, as the user decides on the different scenarios to be compared;
* The selection of the procurement order quantity does not consider other factors such as organizational strategy and other planning methods and horizons.