We consider a multistage inventory system composed of a single warehouse that receives a single product from a single supplier and replenishes the inventory of n retailers through direct shipments. Ordering costs are dominated by the shipping costs associated with full truckload transportation with cargo capacity constraints. All costs are stationary. Demands for the n retailers over a planning...

When demand exceeds supply, retailers hedge against shortages by placing multiple orders with multiple suppliers. This artificial growth in orders can severely affect suppliers, creating excess capacity, excess inventory, low capacity utilization, financial and reputation losses. This paper contributes to the understanding of order amplification caused by shortages, by providing a comprehensive...

This paper considers a two-echelon distribution system which consists of a single warehouse serving N (possibly non-identical) retailers that face discrete stochastic demand of the customers. The warehouse orders from an exogenous supplier with ample stock. Orders arrive at the warehouse after a fixed leadtime. The warehouse satisfies, if possible, the replenishment requests from the retailers....

we consider a system consisting of a manufacturer serving several retailers. The manufacturer produces a standard product in a make-to-stock fashion in anticipation of orders emanating from n retailers. Orders from the retailers arrive in batches which sizes follow a discrete distribution. The production time is assumed to follow a k0Erlang distribution. Order inter-arrival time for class l dem...

Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) is one of the inventory management strategies that reduce costs, increase responsiveness and improve collaboration between the members of supply chain. Although the VMI can reduce response time and deterioration in perishable supply chain (PSC), but there is a few reports on using VMI for PSC. In this paper VMI strategy is used for managing the inventory of perish...

Consider a supplier selling to multiple retailers. Demand varies across periods, but the supplier’s capacity and wholesale price are fixed. If demand is high, the retailers’ needs exceed capacity, and the supplier must implement an allocation mechanism to dole out production. We examine how the choice of mechanism impacts retailer actions and supply chain performance. In particular, we analyze ...

This study considers a reliable location – inventory problem for a supply chain system comprising one supplier, multiple distribution centers (DCs), and multiple retailers in which we determine DCs location, inventory replenishment decisions and assignment retailers to DCs, simultaneously. Each DC is managed through a continuous review (S, Q) inventory policy. For tackling real world conditions...

Customers with positive demand lead times place orders in advance of their needs. A portfolio of customers with different demand lead times gives rise to what we call advance demand information. We develop effective inventory policies for a distribution system to account for this information. In particular, we study a centralized system with one warehouse serving multiple retailers under advanc...

This paper derives the impacts of early order commitments on the performance of many inventory policies used by retailers in a supply chain. Model parameters and operating conditions are emulated from a local business, supplying a standard product to its retailers. The purpose of this research work is to justify the two renowned heuristic models (Wagner Whitin algorithm and Silver–Meal heuristi...

The proliferation of both online and bricks and mortar outlet stores underscores the observation that secondary markets are readily accessible to retailers of short-life-cycle products. These secondary markets provide recourse channels for retailers to sell excess inventory of outof-favor items at reduced prices when overstocking occurs in a primary market. We study the problem of determining w...