We study a new class of problems – recurrent projects with random material delays, at the interface between project and supply chain management. Recurrent projects are those similar in schedule and material requirements. We present the model of project-driven supply chain (PDSC) to jointly optimize the safety-stock decisions in material supply chains and the crashing decisions in projects. We p...

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...

Foreknowledge of demand is useful in the control of a production-inventory system. Knowing the customer orders in advance makes it possible to anticipate properly. It is an important condition to produce and deliver the right quantity of the right product “just-in-time”. It reduces the need of safety stock and spare capacity. But the question of the effectiveness of foreknowledge is not an easy...

This paper studies an inventory policy for a retailer who orders his products from a supplier whose deliveries only partially satisfy the quality requirements. We model this situation by an infinite-horizon periodic-review model with binomial random yield and positive lead time. We propose an orderup-to policy based on approximating the inventory model with unreliable supplier by a model with a...

The profession has been longing for closed-form solutions to consumption functions under uncertainty and borrowing constraints. This paper proposes an analytical approach to solving general-equilibrium bu¤er-stock saving models with both idiosyncratic and aggregate uncertainties as well as liquidity constraints. It is shown analytically that an individual’s optimal consumption plan follows the ...

Labour as a Buffer: Do Temporary Workers Suffer? In this paper, we investigate whether or not there is an equal opportunities dimension to regulating equal pay and conditions for temporary work. We develop a “buffer stock” model of temporary work that suggests a number of reasons why ethnic minorities and women may be more likely to be on fixed-term contracts than comparable white males. Using ...

In this paper we investigate whether or not there is an equal opportunities dimension to regulating equal pay and conditions for temporary work. We develop a “buffer stock” model of temporary work that suggests a number of reasons why ethnic minorities and women may be more likely to be on fixed-term contracts than comparable white males. Using three different British datasets (a random represe...

This paper tests a straightforward implication of the basic Life Cycle model of consumption: that current consumption depends on expected lifetime income. The paper projects future income for a panel of households and finds that consumption is closely related to current income, but unrelated to predictable changes in income. However, future income uncertainty has an important effect: consumers ...

Inventory systems with uncertainty go hand in hand with the determination of a safety stock level. The decision on the safety stock level is based on a performance measure, for example the expected shortage per replenishment period or the probability of a stock-out per replenishment period. The performance measure assumes complete knowledge of the probability distribution during lead time, whic...

Most logistics managers face uncertainty in demand which forces them to hold safety stock to provide high levels of service to their customers. The level of safety stock depends on what the company’s targets are on some performance characteristics of an inventory management decision problem like the expected number of units short or the stock-out probability. In the case only incomplete informa...