Coordinating a three-level supply chain with delay in payments and a discounted interest rate

Both researchers and practitioners recognize the importance of the interactions between financial and inventory decisions in the development of cost effective supply chains. Moreover, achieving effective coordination among the supply chain players has become a pertinent research issue. This paper considers a three-level supply chain, consisting of a capital-constrained supplier, a retailer, and a financial intermediary (bank), coordinating their decisions to minimize the total supply chain costs. Specifically, we consider a retailer managing its cash through the supplier’s bank, in return for permissible delay in payments from the supplier. The bank, benefiting from increasing its cash holdings with the retailer’s cash deposits, offers the supplier a discount on its borrowing rate. We show that the proposed coordination mechanism achieves significant cost reduction, by up to 26.2%, when compared to the non-coordinated model. We also find that, with coordination, the retailer orders in larger quantities than its economic order quantity, and that a higher return on cash for the retailer leads to a higher order quantity. Furthermore, we empirically validate our proposed coordination mechanism, by showing that banks, retailers, and suppliers have much to gain through collaboration. Thus, using COMPUSTAT datasets for the years 1950 through 2012, we determine the most important factors that affect the behavior of the retailers and suppliers in granting and receiving trade credit. Our results indicate that engaging into such a coordination mechanism is a win–win situation to all parties involved.     

Supply chain model with price- and trade credit-sensitive demand under two-level permissible delay in payments

This article develops a single-manufacturer and single-retailer supply chain model under two-level permissible delay in payments when the manufacturer follows a lot-for-lot policy in response to the retailer's demand. The manufacturer offers a trade credit period to the retailer with the contract that the retailer must share a fraction of the profit earned during the trade credit period. On the other hand, the retailer provides his customer a partial trade credit which is less than that of the manufacturer. The demand at the retailer is assumed to be dependent on the selling price and the trade credit period offered to the customers. The average net profit of the supply chain is derived and an algorithm for finding the optimal solution is developed. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the coordination policy of the supply chain and examine the sensitivity of key model-parameters.     

Two-echelon trade credit financing for perishable items in a supply chain when demand depends on both selling price and credit period

A profitable decision policy between a supplier and the retailers can be characterized by an agreement on the trade credit scenario such as permissible delay in payments. In real life business, we observe that the demand is a function of both the selling price and credit period rather than the constant demand. Incorporating this demand function to the retailer of a supply chain, we develop an EPQ – based model for perishable items under two-echelon trade financing. The purpose of this paper is to maximize the profit by determining the optimal selling price, credit period and replenishment time. It is shown that the model developed by Jaggi et al. [Jaggi, J. K., Goyal, S. K., & Goel, S. K., 2008. Retailer’s optimal replenishment decisions with creditlinked demand under permissible delay in payments. European Journal of Operational Research, 190, 130–135] can be treated as a special case of this paper. Finally, through numerical examples, sensitivity analysis shows the influence of key model parameters.     

赊销背景下的供应链收入共享契约

在供应商向存在资金约束的销售商提供赊销的背景下,分别探讨了批发价格契约和收入共享契约对二级供应链的协调问题.研究发现,批发价格契约无法协调存在赊销的供应链,当销售商的初始资金满足一定条件时,赊销背景下的收入共享契约能够实现存在资金约束供应链的自愿协调.收入共享契约下,共享比例随销售商初始资金的增大而增大,批发价格则随之增大而减小.最后通过数值算例对结论进行了验证.     

贸易信用下考虑零售商违约风险的供应链协调问题研究

本文研究延迟支付和提前支付同时存在下的供应链协调问题。考虑由一个供应商和一个零售商构成的二级供应链,市场需求随机,延迟支付下零售商会增加订购数量,但由于其违约风险的存在,供应商会降低其交付量,最终导致供应商交付量小于零售商订购量,降低供应链收益。要求零售商提前支付部分货款则可以有效避免零售商的违约问题,通过建立延迟支付和提前支付同时存在下的零售商收益模型和供应商的收益模型,给出了零售商的最优订购量决策和供应商的最优交付量决策,通过调整延迟支付期限和提前支付比例,使得二者相等,并等于供应链整体收益最大化下的生产数量,实现供应链协调。最后通过数值算例分析了相关参数的敏感性等问题。     

带有订单转保理的供应链金融的收益共享博弈模型

当作为供应商的中小企业出现了严重的财务困境问题时,急需有效融资工具和创新管理模式加以解决.订单转保理可以令资质良好的零售商为资金短缺的供应商提供融资担保,有效解决供应商的订单减少和融资难的问题.然而,分散决策的订单转保理融资模式,使得做担保的零售商的收益降低,不能明显改善供应链效率.针对此问题,研究订单转保理模式下的供应链协调模型,并重点研究由供应商与零售商组成的二级供应链的订单转保理收益共享模型.研究发现:收益共享决策模型供应链总收益小于集中决策供应链总收益,大于分散决策的供应链总收益,表明供应链成员相互合作程度越高,越有利于供应链发展,从而表明协调在供应链中发挥重要作用.然而,集中决策模型只能得到供应链最优总收益,无法得到供应商和零售商的最优收益.收益共享模型不仅能够提高产品订货量,降低产品批发价格,增加供应商和零售商的收益,而且通过最优的收益共享系数可以得到供应商和零售商的最优收益.收益共享机制能够为供应商和零售商共赢协调发展提供新的运作管理模式.     

Two-period supply chain with flexible trade credit contract

This paper studies a two-period supply chain that consists of a retailer and a supplier. A newsvendor-like retailer is capital constrained and orders products using a supplier's trade credits to satisfy uncertain market demand. Most existing studies show that the retailer always postpones payment until the due date. To recall the loans earlier, we present a case in which the supplier, as a Stackelberg leader, offers an incentive of a discounted wholesale price in the second order to entice the retailer to choose flexible early payment. The proposed incentive is related to the retailer's early payment time in the first period. In the presence of bankruptcy risks for both the retailer and supplier, we propose a continuous newsvendor model of a two-period supply chain to analyze the decisions involved in the flexible trade credit contract. The analytic forms confirm that such an incentive can improve the decentralized supply chain efficiency and decreases the supplier's trade credit risk. The retailer always prefers early payment to payment around the due date to increase revenues. Furthermore, the action of paying early might help the retailer adjust cash flow between the two periods. We also find that a revenue sharing contract significantly affects the retailer's payment behavior and supplier's wholesale price. The numerical simulations support our results.     

需求价格敏感下具有损失厌恶零售商的闭环供应链定价与协调

基于零售商回收模式,运用前景理论探讨了价格敏感随机需求下具有损失厌恶零售商参与的两级闭环供应链定价与协调问题。首先针对分散式决策,在两种批发价模式下推导和比较制造商和零售商的最优行为,分析损失厌恶程度对零售商定价和订货联合决策的影响;然后通过与集中式决策的对比验证了分散式供应链存在效率损失,进而设计收益共享契约对分散式供应链进行协调;最后通过算例验证了以上结论,并将回收率对最优决策和成员效用的影响进行了灵敏度分析。     

具有损失厌恶偏好零售商的供应链弹性数量契约

研究由风险中性供应商和具有损失厌恶偏好零售商组成的供应链在弹性数量契约条件下的协调问题.揭示了契约参数和零售商损失厌恶特性对零售商最优订货量的影响,发现调整弹性度这一契约参数可使供应链得到协调;同时,当弹性度满足一定条件时,调整批发价格也可实现供应链协调.最后通过数值分析,验证了弹性数量契约在协调供应链中的有效性,并探讨了其中原因.     

Ordering and returns handling decisions and coordination in a supply chain with demand uncertainty

We develop a newsvendor model to study the retailer's order quantity, the manufacturer's returns handling strategy, and channel coordination. The manufacturer chooses one of two returns handling strategies: manufacturer handling or retailer handling under the coordinated and decentralized scenarios, respectively. Under the coordinated scenario, we find that when consumer's returns handling cost under manufacturer handling or the manufacturer's returns handling cost is small, consumer returns should be handled by the manufacturer. Under the decentralized scenario, when the retailer's returns handling cost or the consumer's returns handling cost under retailer handling is low, the manufacturer will choose manufacturer handling; both the manufacturer and the retailer may be better off using manufacturer handling (a win–win situation). The impact of the returns handling strategy on the retailer's ordering quantity largely depends on its effect on the consumer's returns handling cost. Finally, we also design buyback contracts to coordinate the supply chain and find that both wholesale price and buyback price under manufacturer handling are higher than those under retailer handling.     

Financing decisions in supply chains with a capital‐constrained manufacturer: competition and risk

Supply chain finance is a crucial topic. In this paper, we consider that a capital‐constrained manufacturer can borrow money from either a bank (bank credit financing) or a retailer (trade credit financing). Our analysis compares supply chain performance under these two financing schemes. Furthermore, we extend our model to evaluate the impacts of retail competition and supply chain member's risk aversion on supply chains, which consist of one capital‐constrained manufacturer and two competing retailers. We consider three financing schemes: only bank credit financing, dual trade credit financing, and bank and trade credit mix financing. We find that without retail competition, the retailer is always willing to use the trade credit financing; whereas with retail competition, if one retailer provides the trade credit but the other does not, the credit provider could receive the superior profit. Thus, providing an appropriate trade credit financing scheme is critically important for retailers. Moreover, we find that without retail competition, when a trade interest rate is relatively low, both the retailer and manufacturer could reach a win‐win situation in the trade credit financing. However, with retail competition, supply chain members (i.e., two retailers and one manufacturer) will not have an all‐win situation no matter which specific financing scheme is adopted and only a win‐win‐lose situation exists when using the credit mix financing scheme or the dual trade credit financing in supply chains. Last but not least, regardless of risk neutrality or aversion of supply chain members, their pricing decisions among three financing schemes are similar. This implies that the impacts of supply chain members’ risk aversion are limited in supply chain financing scheme selection. More managerial insights are discussed.     

联合促销和风险规避下应对突发事件的供应链协调策略

针对联合促销和风险规避下考虑突发事件的供应链协调问题,应用条件风险值度量制造商和零售商的风险价值,引入回购契约协调供应链,分别构建应对常规和非常规突发事件的供应链协调模型.研究表明,常规突发事件下,订货量、促销和契约参数具有一定的稳定性,当需求扰动较大时,供应链协调被打破,而非常规突发事件下,需求扰动打破供应链协调,通过调整契约参数能够使供应链重新达到协调状态.     

延迟支付下损失厌恶型零售商参与的供应链运作及协调

在延期支付下研究零售商为损失厌恶型的供应链运作及协调性问题。研究表明：系统存在唯一的纳什均衡;损失厌恶型零售商在订货上可能表现得更加积极;订货量随零售商损失厌恶的加深而减少;批发价格随零售商损失厌恶的加深而增加;供应商更倾向于选择损失厌恶更小的零售商,以达到提高期望利润的目的。在协调方面,通过引入回购合同在某种程度上缓解了零售商的资金约束,同时使得供应链达到协调,而这种协调经证明是具有柔性的。     

A comprehensive note on “Lot‐sizing decisions for deteriorating items with two warehouses under an order‐size‐dependent trade credit”

To reduce inventory and increase sales, the supplier frequently offers the retailer a permissible delay in payments if the retailer orders more than or equal to a predetermined quantity. In 2012, Liao et al. proposed an economic order quantity model for a retailer with two warehouses when the supplier offers a permissible delay linked to order quantity. In this paper, we attempt to overcome some shortcomings of their mathematical model. Then, we apply some existing theoretical results in fractional convex programs to prove that the annual total variable cost is pseudoconvex. Hence, the optimal solution exists uniquely, which simplifies the search for the global minimum solution to a local minimum solution. Finally, we run a couple of numerical examples to illustrate the problem and compare the optimal solutions between theirs and ours.     

Supply chain coordination with risk sensitive retailer under target sales rebate

Target sales rebate (TSR) contracts have been shown to be useful in coordinating supply chains with risk-neutral agents. However, there have been few studies on the cases with risk sensitive agents. As a result, based on the classic Markowitz portfolio theory in finance, we carry out in this paper a mean–variance (MV) analysis of supply chains under TSR contracts. We study a supply chain with a single supplier and a single risk averse retailer. We propose TSR contracts for achieving coordination. We demonstrate how TSR contracts can coordinate the supply chain which takes into consideration the degree of risk aversion of the retailer. We find that the supplier can coordinate the channel with flexible TSR contracts. In addition, we extend the supply chain model to include sales effort decision of the retailer. Conditions for TSR contracts to coordinate the supply chain with sales effort of retailer are also derived.     

The optimal integrated inventory policy with price-and-credit-linked demand under two-level trade credit

In this paper, we proposed a generalized, integrated, supplier–retailer inventory model using a trade credit policy. The trade credit policy adopted here is a two-level trade credit policy in which the supplier offers the retailer a permissible delay period M, and the retailer in turn provides customers a permissible delay period N. Cases where M > N and M ? N are explored thoroughly. In addition, the demand rate is assumed to be a function of both retail price and the customers’ credit period. Consequently, this paper deals with the problem of determining the optimal retail price, economic order quantity, and the number of shipments from the supplier to the retailer in one production run for an integrated inventory system under both two-level trade credit and price-and-credit-linked demand rate. Algorithms are developed in order to determine the joint optimal policies. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the proposed models, as well as sensitivity analysis of key parameters.     

需求随机偏差下带有主从零售商的供应链协调

研究了确定环境下带有主从零售商的供应链协调的基本模型,提出了应急环境下当需求偏差随机发生时集权和分权供应链的最优决策.证明了无论需求随机偏差存在与否都可以运用线性数量折扣合同使得供应链有效达到协调,并相应给出了最优批发单价、最优线性折扣率和转移支付的范围.最后对最优售价、最优总订货量和最优批发单价随需求偏差幅度及其概率的变化进行了仿真分析.     

限额与交易下考虑战略顾客行为的供应链决策与协调

研究由一个受限额与交易政策约束的制造商和一个面临同质战略顾客的零售商组成的两级供应链决策与协调问题. 分别研究得到了限额与交易政策下一体化(包括理性预期均衡和数量承诺两种情形) 和分散化供应链最优决策和最大期望利润, 并与不考虑限额与交易政策的情形进行对比分析, 发现限额与交易政策使得供应链最优产量降低、最优价格升高、碳排放量减少. 最后, 以数量承诺情形为基准, 基于收益分享合同设计了供应链协调策略.

     

Single supplier multiple cooperative retailers inventory model with quantity discount and permissible delay in payments

We consider in this paper an Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) problem involving a single supplier that offers quantity discounts and allows retailers to delay payments. The retailers are tempted to form coalitions in order to minimize their costs. We propose a solution approach that generates stable coalition structures for the retailers taking into account the delay in payments and the discount quantity offered by the supplier. The proposed approach includes a decision rule that generates preferred coalitions for each retailer. Our decision rule reduces considerably the number of explored coalition structures in order to determine solutions in the core.     

基于需求偏差的供应链协调问题

分析了单供应商和单零售商组成的供应链在需求预测偏差下的协调问题.当市场规模和价格敏感系数同时发生变化时,为使供应链收益最大,提出了调整生产计划和零售价格的协调机制.进一步证明了利用数量折扣机制可协调需求偏差下的分权供应链,而且该机制还实现了供应链收益在供应商和零售商间的任意分配.最后进行了实例分析.