We consider a periodic-review, serial inventory system, in which each stage replenishes inventory according to an echelon-stock (r, nQ, T ) policy – a standard echelon-stock (r, nQ) policy executed every T periods. Demands are independent, identically distributed in different periods and occur at the most downstream stage. Two types of fixed costs are considered: setup cost and replenishment co...

We analyze a multi-echelon inventory system with inventory stages arranged in series. In addition to traditional forward material flows, used products are returned to a recovery facility, where they can be stored, disposed, or remanufactured and shipped to one of the stages to reenter the forward flow of material. This system combines the key elements of two simpler systems: the series system s...

A two-echelon push control system with one central warehouse and m branch warehouses is considered. The system is replenished once every cycle from an outside supplier and each cycle is divided into two different phases. While retaining the safety stock at the central warehouse, the bulk of inventories is directly shipped to the branch warehouses at the bel~inning of the first phase, and at the...

Model Predictive Control (MPC) is shown to provide a robust, flexible framework to stabilize inventories yet still meet customer demand with minimal safety stock. The translation of available information in the supply chain problem into MPC variables is demonstrated with a two-node supply chain example. A six-node, two-product, threeechelon demand network simulation proposed by Intel Corp. is w...

high congestion of returned product at remanufacturing facility causes substantial delays and consequently remarketing value losses for time-sensitive and high-tech products with short life cycles, such as electronic equipments. at the remanufacturing site the returned product are inspected and classified according to their quality and processing time in one of the two classes: class 1 being ad...

Collaboration has been recognized as a significant process that holds the value creation opportunity in supply chain management. Evaluating the value of collaboration is thus necessary for developing the effective collaboration mechanisms. This paper presents the evaluation approach specifically focusing on the supply-side collaboration on inventory decisions between a supplier and a distributo...

Demand signal processing contributes significantly to the bullwhip effect and inventory instability in supply chains. Most previous studies have been attempting to evaluate the impact of available traditional forecasting methods on the bullwhip effect. Recently, some researchers have employed SPC control charts for developing forecasting and inventory control systems that can regulate the react...

This paper deals with an i * Corresponding author Email address:   nventory system with one central warehouse and a number of identical retailers. We consider perishable-on-the-shelf items; that is, all items have a fixed shelf life and start to age on their arrival at the retailers. Each retailer faces Poisson demand and employs (1, T) inventory policy. Although demand not met at a retai...

An optimization-based control framework that simultaneously determines the optimal inventory and product pricing policies is developed for multi-product, multi-echelon supply chain networks. The optimization problem aims at adjusting the available manufacturing resources, product transportation, inventories and prices for the entire supply chain network to satisfy demand while maximizing networ...