Abstract. In this paper we consider the problem of efficient control of inventory systems with perishable goods. In the analyzed setting the deteriorating stock at a distribution center used to fulfill unknown, time-varying demand is replenished with delay from a supply source. The challenging issue is to achieve the high service level with minimum costs when the replenishment orders are procur...

Salmonella sp. are important causes of foodborne illness, with restaurants and catered functions being commonly reported settings for outbreaks. In June 2005 an investigation commenced following reports of gastrointestinal illness in attendees at luncheons catered by an Adelaide café, as well as persons eating at the café itself. The investigation sought to determine the existence of an outbrea...

Demand fluctuations that cause variations in output levels will affect a firm’s technical inefficiency. To assess this demand effect, a demand-truncated production function is developed and an “effectiveness” measure is proposed. Often a firm can adjust some input resources influencing the output level in an attempt to match demand. We proposes a short-run capacity planning method, termed proac...

We examine a special class of dynamic pricing and advertising models for the sale of perishable goods, including marginal unit costs and inventory holding costs. The time horizon is assumed to be finite and we allow several model parameters to be dependent on time. For the stochastic version of the model, we derive closed-form expressions of the value function as well as of the optimal pricing ...

We explore the effects of a temporary cut in VAT, identifying three possible effects: an income effect as people benefit from a lower cost of living during the period of the reduction, a substitution effect as people bring their consumption forward and an arbitrage effect as people buy non-perishable goods before the end of the period of low VAT for consumption after the VAT rate as been raised...

In this paper, we introduce a physical Internet architecture for fresh food distribution networks with the goal of meeting the key challenges of maximizing the freshness of the delivered product and minimizing waste. The physical Internet (PI) architecture is based on the fundamental assumptions of infrastructure sharing among various parties, standardized addressing of all entities and modular...

In industries with perishable goods dynamic pricing schemes are often used and many models have been proposed to maximize seller’s revenues. These models are based on a range of assumptions about how customers make buying decisions. Some assume that customers are myopic and are not forward looking while others assume that customers are strategic and anticipate future prices. In the second strea...