Contract analysis: A performance measures and profit evaluation within two-echelon supply chains

Coordination is regarded as key in managing dependencies between distinctive members of a supply chain through the benefits of coordination mechanisms. Such coordination mechanisms are contracts, implemented to increase total supply chain profit, reduce costs and share risk among supply chain members. However, by contract implementation the retailer is constrained in his purchase by bearing the entire risk of holding the inventory (wholesale price contract) or by limited risk allocated to the supplier (buyback, revenue sharing and quantity flexibility contracts). By implementing an advanced purchase system the risk of inventory is fairly divided between the supplier and the retailer. In order to observe inventory implications on the supply chain bottom line, this article is directed towards the evaluation of performance measures and supply chain profit behavior under buyback, revenue sharing, quantity flexibility and advanced purchase discount contracts versus no coordination and wholesale price systems.     

基于期权与现货市场的供应链契约式协调的研究

通过期权机制,建立了电子市场与传统契约市场共存下的供应链中各决策主体的决策模型,求得协调状况下供应商的最优价格政策、产能决策和零售商的最优购买决策,数值实例对各决策模型中的影响因素进行了敏感性分析,进一步验证了结论的有效性．     

Supply chain coordination under budget constraints

Budget constraints are commonly considered in real decision frameworks; however, the literature has rarely addressed the design of contracts for supply chains with budget-constrained members and in which capital costs are considered. In this article, we study supply chain coordination of budget-constrained members when a financial market is unavailable. We propose a revenue-sharing-and-buy-back (RSBB) contract that combines revenue-sharing (RS) and buy-back (BB) contracts. We compare the performance of RS, BB, and RSBB contracts under a coordinated two-stage supply chain in which members experience budget constraints. Results show that the RS and BB contracts are not feasible under certain budget scenarios, whereas the RSBB contract can always be used to coordinate the supply chain and arbitrarily divide profits. We propose a profit allocation approach to address information symmetry created by undisclosed budget thresholds. Our analytical and numerical results provide insight into how managers select an appropriate contract based on their budget scenarios and capital costs.     

Supply chain coordination using time-based temporary price discounts

In this paper, the issue of supply chain coordination (SCC) in a buyer–seller supply chain (SC) with an order size constraint is investigated. The buyer keeps safety stock to cope with lead time demand uncertainties from customers’ side. Unsatisfied demand will be lost. Therefore the whole SC sales volume depends on the service level provided by the buyer. By proposing a time-based temporary price discount in each replenishment cycle, the seller intends to convince the buyer to optimize its safety stock globally. Maximum and minimum discounts, which are acceptable for both parties, are determined and an appropriate discount schedule is derived. A set of numerical experiments are conducted to show performance of the proposed model. The results show that the safety stock coordination is profitable; the proposed model is capable of coordinating supply chain. In addition, the model can share extra benefits between SC members fairly.     

A hybrid approach to select the best sourcing policy using stochastic programming

Supply contracts are known as the communication link among supply chain members. As sourcing of required goods is a challenging issue for supply chain members, different sourcing types for different market conditions have been presented in the literature. However, the uncertain price condition has not been much focused in the previous studies, and in the limited works on this issue the correlation between the periods has been ignored. In this paper, sourcing policies are analyzed in a multi-period system in which price and demand follow a Geometric Brownian Motion with drift. Wholesale contract, option contract, and purchase from the spot market are considered as the sourcing alternatives for the buyer. This paper applies the stochastic programming approach to model these three types of sourcing based upon price and demand uncertainties. Afterwards, a hybrid supply model of these sourcing types is developed. By a numerical example, the simulation results of the developed models reveal that each individual sourcing alternative can be selected as the best one in each price and demand behavior. The results also suggest that the proposed hybrid model dominates each of the individual sourcing types. Finally, the paper reports the effects of cost parameter alterations on the solution of the hybrid model through sensitivity analysis.     

A multiple-vendor single-buyer integrated inventory model with a variable number of vendors

Supply chain management is concerned with the coordination of material and information flows in multi-stage production systems. A closer look at the literature reveals that previous research on the coordination of multi-stage production systems has predominantly focused on the sales side of the supply chain, whereas problems that arise on the supply side have often been neglected. This article closes this gap by studying the coordination of a supplier network in an integrated inventory model. Specifically, we consider a buyer sourcing a product from heterogeneous suppliers and tackle both the supplier selection and lot size decision with the objective to minimise total system costs. First, we provide mathematical formulations for the problem under study, and then suggest a two-stage solution procedure to derive a solution. Numerical studies indicate that our solution procedure reduces the total number of supplier combinations that have to be tested for optimality, and that it may support initiatives which aim on increasing the efficiency of the supply chain as a heuristic planning tool.     

集成供应链管理的多目标规划研究

目前,供应链管理已经成为学术研究的一个热点问题,也是企业战略管理的一项重要内容。为此首先使用多目标规划的方法描述了供应链及其成员的运作性能、供应链的协调运作、供应链成员的利润等,建立了由一个制造商和一个供应商构成的多产品、多阶段集成供应链管理绩效决策模型;其次通过应用算例的研究验证了模型的有效性和可行性;最后,针对各种参数的变化,对模型进行了灵敏度分析,并与分散供应链管理绩效决策模型进行了对照研究,为优化供应链绩效、拓展市场需求、开发原材料供应渠道提供了决策参考。     

Supply chain network equilibrium with revenue sharing contract under demand disruptions

Contract is a common and effective mechanism for supply chain coordination, which has been studied extensively in recent years. For a supply chain network model, contracts can be used to coordinate it because it is too ideal to obtain the network equilibrium state in practical market competition. In order to achieve equilibrium, we introduce revenue sharing contract into a supply chain network equilibrium model with random demand in this paper. Then, we investigate the influence on this network equilibrium state from demand disruptions caused by unexpected emergencies. When demand disruptions happen, the supply chain network equilibrium state will be broken and change to a new one, so the decision makers need to adjust the contract parameters to achieve the new coordinated state through bargaining. Finally, a numerical example with a sudden demand increase as a result of emergent event is provided for illustrative purposes.     

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.     

考虑权力结构与股权合作的低碳闭环供应链生产决策及协调

低碳时代传统制造业的成本构成以及盈利模式已被彻底颠覆,考虑再制造及碳减排的闭环供应链生产决策及协调优化值得关注.在3种渠道权力结构下,构建零售商持股制造商减排投资的闭环供应链决策模型,分析权力结构与股权合作对闭环供应链生产决策及企业利润的影响,探讨股权合作与两部定价契约的协调效果.研究发现,不同权力结构的闭环供应链需选择合适的持股比例,零售商主导下更高的持股比例产生更高的回收率、碳减排量及市场需求,而Nash博弈下则相反.有主导者的权力结构中,零售商持股比例的增加能够提高主导企业的利润;无主导者的权力结构中,企业利润的增减受持股比例与消费者低碳偏好的共同影响.无论何种权力结构,股权合作仅能实现闭环供应链的部分协调,通过两部定价契约可实现完美协调.     

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.     

Optimal models for single-period supply chain problems with fuzzy demand

The aim of this paper is to develop an optimal technique for dealing with the fuzziness aspect of demand uncertainties. Triangular fuzzy numbers are used to model external demand, and decision models in both non-coordination and coordination situations are constructed. It is shown that in the decision models there exists a unique solution that can be expressed analytically. Based on the closed form solutions for both models, the behaviors and relationships of both the manufacturer and the retailer are quantitatively analyzed, and a cooperative policy for the optimization of the whole supply chain is put forward.     

考虑电商平台信用支付促销的供应链协调研究

考虑到我国越来越多的电商平台为消费者提供基于互联网的信用支付策略作为重要的促销手段,构建了二级供应链中促销努力水平影响消费者需求的函数,研究其定价和促销努力水平协调问题。利用Stackelberg博弈分析供应链主体间的最优决策,并与集中模式下进行对比分析,为了促使电商平台提高促销努力水平,构建了“成本共担-收益共享”契约达到供应链协调的目的。通过数值分析证明：“成本共担-收益共享”契约对电商平台的促销努力水平具有显著的提升作用;促销努力水平弹性系数对于促销努力水平具有一定的影响,在一定区间内,增加促销努力水平弹性系数将使供应链各企业的利润增加,一旦促销努力弹性系数超过一个临界值就会使得供应链各主体的利益受损。     

基于WTP差异化的再制造闭环供应链利益协调机制

考虑到消费者对新产品和再制造产品支付意愿的差异, 分别建立了分散决策和集中决策下多周期再制造闭环供应链的决策模型, 得出了各供应链成员的最优决策, 通过shapley值法来确定利益协调机制, 并利用数值仿真对模型进行求解和分析。研究结果表明, 分散决策存在效益缺失, 中间商的减少可有效提高供应链系统的效益; 可通过shapley值对再制造闭环供应链的利益进行合理有效的分配。     

非对称需求信息下两阶段供应链协调

针对由一个供应商和一个零售商组成的供应链，其成员之间的市场需求信息不对称问题，建立了非对称信息下批发价与订货量的stackelberg博弈模型，给出了零售商和供应商分别拥有需求信息下的博弈均衡．效值实例分析了非对称信息对价格和订货量及利润的影响，同时给出了信息不对称下的供应链协调机制。     

Applying fuzzy mathematical programming approach to optimize a multiple supply network in uncertain condition with comparative analysis

Supply chain design problems have recently raised a lot of interest since the opportunity of an integrated management of the supply chain can reduce the propagation of undesirable events through the network and can affect decisively the profitability of the members. Often uncertainties may be associated with demand and relevant costs. In most of the existing models uncertainties are treated as randomness and are handled by appealing to probability theory. Here, we propose a fuzzy mathematical programming model for a supply chain which considers multiple depots, multiple vehicles, multiple products, multiple customers, and different time periods. In this work not only demand and cost but also decision variables are considered to be fuzzy. We apply two ranking functions for solving the model. The aim of the fuzzy mathematical program is to select the appropriate depots among candidate depots, the allocation of orders to depots and vehicles, also the allocation of the returning vehicles to depots, to minimize the total costs. To validate the model some numerical experiments are worked out and a comparative analysis is investigated. Also, a regression model is considered to analyze the applied fuzzy ranking methods.     

考虑企业社会责任的物流服务供应链定价与协调

为了分析承担社会责任对物流服务供应链定价决策的影响, 考虑企业社会责任, 分别构建集中和分散决策下的定价博弈模型, 求得供应链最优定价策略和双方所承担的企业社会责任成本. 对比发现, 分散决策下供应链存在效率损失, 进而基于收益共享契约对其进行协调. 研究表明, 考虑企业社会责任和集中决策时, 物流服务供应链总利润更大, 且双方利润都与其社会责任效用因子正相关, 收益共享契约能有效地对物流服务供应链进行协调. 最后通过算例验证了结论的正确性.     

Coordinating a two-level supply chain with delay in payments and profit sharing

Achieving effective coordination among suppliers and retailers has become a pertinent research issue in supply chain management. Channel coordination is a joint decision policy achieved by a supplier(s) and a retailer(s) characterized by an agreement on the order quantity and the trade credit scenario (e.g., quantity discounts, delay in payments). This paper proposes a centralized model where players in a two-level (supplier–retailer) supply chain coordinate their orders to minimize their local costs and that of the chain. In the proposed supply chain model the permissible delay in payments is considered as a decision variable and it is adopted as a trade credit scenario to coordinate the order quantity between the two-levels. Computational results indicate that with coordination, the retailer orders in larger quantities than its economic order quantity, with savings to either both players, or to one in the supply chain. Moreover, a profit-sharing scenario for the distribution of generated net savings among the players in the supply chain is presented. Analytical and experimental results are presented and discussed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model.     

基于系统动力学的大型客机供应链质量管控契约优化

研究再制造视角下我国大型客机供应链质量控制问题.根据大型客机制造三级供应链中供应商、主制造商及销售商的运作特点,刻画三者内在的动力学参数特征;构建基于质量奖惩和成本分摊的供应链控制契约,建立主制造商质量控制契约协调优化规则;设计大型客机供应链质量控制仿真的系统动力学模型;以液压系统为例仿真分析管控策略,并通过对比分析得出管控策略的有效性.     

A revised sales rebate contract with effort‐dependent demand: a channel coordination approach

In this paper, simultaneous coordination of order quantity and sales effort (SE) decisions in a supplier/retailer system with stochastic effort‐dependent demand is investigated. The main aim of the proposed model is to attain an optimal balance that results in a Pareto‐efficient solution for both channel members. A revised sales rebate (RSR) contract is developed to achieve channel coordination. In addition to the usual incentive approach of sales rebate schemes, a punitive approach is designed for the new proposed contract as a stockout penalty. Furthermore, some numerical experiments are examined to analyze the performance of the presented model under three decision‐making scenarios (i.e., decentralized, centralized, and RSR). Additionally, some in‐depth sensitivity analyses are conducted to examine the behavior of the supply chain performance under alteration of different parameters. The results show that the proposed RSR contract leads to channel coordination, while both channel members experience a Pareto improving situation. Moreover, it is proved that the RSR contract has significant potential on neutralizing adverse impacts of demand fluctuations on channel performance indicators.