Improving delivery performance for asymmetric Laplace distributed delivery time in a two-stage supply chain

This paper investigates strategies for improving supply chain delivery timeliness when the delivery time follows an asymmetric Laplace distribution. Delivery performance is measured using a cost-based analytical model which evaluates the expected cost for early and late delivery. This paper presents a set of propositions that define the effect of changes to the parameters of the delivery time distribution on the expected penalty cost for untimely delivery when a supplier uses an optimally positioned delivery window to minimise the expected cost of untimely delivery. The scale parameter increases the expected penalty cost, skewness decreases the cost and the location parameter has no effect on the expected penalty cost. The effects are illustrated in a numerical example with real-world supplier data. The results can be used in developing strategies for improving delivery performance from a supplier’s perspective and define how the delivery time distribution parameters can be modified to decrease the expected penalty cost of untimely delivery. The paper proposes a general approach to modelling delivery performance improvement and can be applied to other delivery time distribution forms. The approach can serve as guidance for practitioners undertaking a programme to improve delivery performance.