We address the value of information (VOI) sharing in the context of a two–echelon, serial supply chain with one retailer and one supplier that provides a single perishable product to consumers. We evaluate information sharing under two supply chain structures where the retailer shares it inventory level and replenishment policy with the supplier. In the first structure, referred to as Decentral...

Members of supply chain carry inventory for different purposes. To effectively reduce the cost of inventory, information sharing mechanism is the key. The inventory can be managed in two ways in supply chain systems. The first one is the centralized inventory management system, in which, the information of inventory is highly exchanged among supply chain members. The other is the decentralized ...

In a decentralized supply chain, with long-term competition between independent retailers facing random demands and buying from a common supplier, how should wholesale and retail prices be specified, in an attempt to maximize supply-chain wide profits? We show what types of coordination mechanisms allow the decentralized supply chain to generate aggregate expected profits equal to the optimal p...

T his article studies the impact of modular assembly on supply chain efficiency. In the modular assembly approach, a manufacturer acquires pre-assembled modules from its suppliers, rather than the individual components, as in the traditional assembly approach. We analyze the competitive behavior of a two-stage modular assembly system consisting of a manufacturer, and a supplier who pre-assemble...

A reverse supply chain, as a post-consumption activity, aims at extracting value from products at end of their life cycle (Mafakher and Nasiri, Journal of Cleaner Production 59: 185–196, 2013). As well, company’s awareness is attracting increasing attention toward sustainable business practices. Open-innovation is a typical example of coordinative activity that a manufacturer should share a pro...

in today's globalization, an effective integration of production and distribution plans into a unified framework is crucial for attaining competitive advantage. this paper addresses an integrated multi-product and multi-time period production/distribution planning problem for a two-echelon supply chain subject to the real-world variables and constraints. it is assumed that all transportations a...

In the framework of our research project, the entities of a supply web are designed as software agents and are enabled to simulate autonomous decisions of production planning and logistics. Those are based on specifically designed protocols to coordinate the intra-organizational and inter-organizational trade of goods and services. The focus of this paper is the design of a mechanism that helps...

We consider a two-stage supply chain under centralized control. The downstream facility faces discrete stochastic demand and passes supply requests to the upstream facility. The upstream facility always meets the supply requests from downstream. If the upstream facility cannot meet the supply requests from inventory on hand, the shortage must be filled by expediting, which will incur per unit a...

Abstract: Based on two substitute products, we study the inventory and contract coordination strategy of a three-echelon supply chain, which consists of two suppliers, a manufacturer and a retailer, under supply disruption and stochastic demand. We investigate the channel gross profit model of the centralized supply chain and obtain a unique optimal order quantity. Under a decentralized decisio...