Coordinating replenishment and pricing policies for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with price-sensitive demand

This article will formulate and solve an inventory system with non-instantaneous deteriorating items and price-sensitive demand. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal selling price and the length of replenishment cycle such that the total profit per unit time has a maximum value for the retailer. We first establish a proper model for a mathematical formulation. Then we develop several theoretical results and provide the decision-maker with an algorithm to find the optimal solution. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the solution procedure, and a sensitivity analysis of the optimal solution with respect to major parameters is carried out.     

Joint location,inventory, and preservation decisions for non-instantaneous deterioration items under delay in payments

This study models a joint location, inventory and preservation decision-making problem for non-instantaneous deteriorating items under delay in payments. An outside supplier provides a credit period to the wholesaler which has a distribution system with distribution centres (DCs). The non-instantaneous deteriorating means no deterioration occurs in the earlier stage, which is very useful for items such as fresh food and fruits. This paper also considers that the deteriorating rate will decrease and the reservation cost will increase as the preservation effort increases. Therefore, how much preservation effort should be made is a crucial decision. The objective of this paper is to determine the optimal locations and number of DCs, the optimal replenishment cycle time at DCs, and the optimal preservation effort simultaneously such that the total network profit is maximised. The problem is formulated as piecewise nonlinear functions and has three different cases. Algorithms based on piecewise nonlinear optimisation are provided to solve the joint location and inventory problem for all cases. Computational analysis illustrates the solution procedures and the impacts of the related parameters on decisions and profits. The results of this study can serve as references for business managers or administrators.     

A two-warehouse inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with interval-valued inventory costs and stock-dependent demand under inflationary conditions

Neural Computing and Applications - This research work develops a two-warehouse inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with interval-valued inventory costs and stock-dependent...     

Analysing the effectiveness of vendor-managed inventory in a single-warehouse,multiple-retailer system

This paper considers a two-stage supply chain, consisting of a single warehouse and multiple retailers facing deterministic demands, under a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) policy. It presents a two-phase optimisation approach for coordinating the shipments in this VMI system. The first phase uses direct shipping from the supplier to all retailers to minimise the overall inventory costs. Then, in the second phase, the retailers are clustered using a construction heuristic in order to optimise the transportation costs while satisfying some additional restrictions. The improvement of the system's performance through coordinated VMI replenishments against the system with direct shipping only is shown and discussed in the comparative analysis section.     

需求依赖于变质时间的非立即变质品联合补货优化

基于产品非立即变质的特征,构建需求依赖于变质时间的多品种联合补货库存模型,目标是使单位时间内的总成本最小.由于联合补货问题是NP难题,且考虑变质使问题变得更加复杂,针对这一难点,采用一种截断泰勒级数的方法对目标函数的指数项进行简化,提出一种基于定界的启发式算法求解模型,并通过数值案例验证算法的有效性和实用性.最后对主要参数的敏感性进行分析,为非立即变质品的零售商在实施联合补货时提供有益的管理建议.     

Joint pricing and replenishment policies for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with imprecise deterioration free time and credibility constraint

This study develops an inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with imprecise deterioration free time and credibility constraint. The model assumes price sensitive demand when the product has no deterioration and price and time dependent demand when the product has deterioration. Under these considerations, the study attempts to offer best policy for selling price and replenishment cycle for the retailer that aims at maximizing the total profit per unit time. Making use of nearest interval approximation and interval arithmetic, the single objective problem is transformed to multi objective problem. Employing Weighted Sum Method, an analytical approach along with simple algorithm is developed to identify Pareto optimal solution. Finally, the behavior of the model with varied parameters is illustrated in numerical examples.     

A complete proof on the solution procedure for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with permissible delay in payment

Ouyang et al. [Ouyang, L. Y., Wu, K. S., & Yang C. T. (2006). A study on an inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with permissible delay in payments. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 51, 637–651] present an inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with permissible delay in payments. They develop some theorems to characterize the optimal solutions and provide an easy-to-use method to find the optimal replenishment cycle time. Although, their inventory models are correct and interesting, processes of arguments to derive those theorems and the easy-to-use method to search for the optimal replenishment cycle time are not complete. So, the main purpose of this paper is to overcome those shortcomings and present complete proofs for Ouyang et al. (2006).     

A vendor managed inventory model under contractual storage agreement

Vendor managed inventory (VMI) is a supply chain partnership strategy that allows a supplier to place orders on behalf of its customers. This paper considers a supply chain composed of a single vendor and multiple retailers operating under a VMI contract that specifies limits on retailers' stock levels. We address the problem of synchronizing the vendor's cycle time with the buyers' unequal ordering cycles by developing a mixed integer non-linear program that minimizes the joint relevant inventory costs under storage restrictions. We also propose a cost efficient heuristic to solve the developed optimization problem. We conducted computational experiments to assess the reduction in the total supply chain costs resulting from relaxing the restriction of equal ordering cycles. It is found that the heuristic generates greater cost savings in cases of increased variability in retailers' demand and cost parameters.     

水产品供应商管理库存(VMI)模型的设计

供应商管理库存VMI（vendor managed inventory）技术是供应链管理理论出现以后提出来的一种新的库存管理模式，其主要目的是将供应链上的整体存货水平降到置低限度。结合水产品及其库存管理的特点，本文分析了水产品供应商管理库存（VMI）的基本特征，在此基础上构建了一个适用于水产品的VMI模型。     

Finite horizon EOQ model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with price and advertisement dependent demand and partial backlogging under inflation

This paper deals with an economic order quantity (EOQ) model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with price and advertisement dependent demand pattern under the effect of inflation and time value of money over a finite planning horizon. In this model, shortages are allowed and partially backlogged. The backlogging rate is dependent on the waiting time for the next replenishment. This paper aids the retailer in minimising the total inventory cost by finding the optimal interval and the optimal order quantity. An algorithm is designed to find the optimum solution of the proposed model. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the results. Also, the effect of changes in the different parameters on the optimal total cost is graphically presented and the implications are discussed in detail.     

Study on the inventory control of deteriorating items under VMI model based on bi-level programming

We studied the inventory control of deteriorating items for suppliers under VMI model. The cost structure and the optional strategies for this model were first discussed. Bi-level programming models of integrated delivery strategies were established. We introduced the genetic algorithm to solve the problem. Finally the merit and demerit of each model and the adaptability were analyzed.     

Joint optimization of preventive maintenance and inventory policies for multi-unit systems subject to deteriorating spare part inventory

The interconnection of maintenance and spare part inventory management often puzzles managers and researchers. The deterioration of the inventory affects decision-making and increases losses. Block replacement and periodic review inventory policies were here used to evaluate a joint optimization problem for multi-unit systems in the presence of inventory deterioration. The deterministic deteriorating inventory (DDI) model was used to describe deteriorating inventory when deteriorating inventory data were available and the stochastic deteriorating inventory (SDI) model was used when they were not. Analytical joint optimization models were established, and the preventive replacement interval and the maximum inventory level served as decision variables to minimize the expected system total cost rate. This work proved the existence of the optimal maximum inventory level and gave the uniqueness condition under the DDI model. Numerical experiments based on the electric locomotives in Slovenian Railways were performed to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed models. Results showed the total cost rate to be sensitive to the maximum inventory level, which indicates that the research of this work is necessary. Further, the optimal preventive replacement interval was reduced and the optimal maximum inventory level was increased to balance the influence of deteriorating inventory. Monte Carlo experiments were used to show that the proposed policy is better than policies that do not take deteriorating inventory into account.     

基于博弈论和VMI的收益共享机制协调模型

以供应商和零售商组成的二阶段供应商管理库存（ＶＭＩ）供应链系统为研究对象,考虑随机需求下的ＶＭＩ系统中可能存在的滞销成本或缺货惩罚,建立了传统、Ｓｔａｃｋｅｌｂｅｒｇ博弈、Ｎａｓｈ协商的３种收益共享机制的协调模型,并得出Ｎａｓｈ协商能完美协调分散式ＶＭＩ供应链的结论．最后,通过数值算例对相关结论进行了验证和分析．     

VMI for single-vendor multi-retailer supply chains under stochastic demand

This paper discusses how a vendor and multiple retailers interact in a vendor managed inventory (VMI) system under stochastic demand. It is assumed that the vendor replenishes all the retailers at the same time. The vendor replenishment cycle is taken to be an integer multiple of the retailer replenishment cycle. In case of a shortage at the vendor, the available stock is allocated to the retailers on the basis of equal stock out probability. Approximate expressions for minimizing the expected total cost for the VMI system have been developed. Various levers affecting the performance of the system have been analyzed. The validity of the approximate model has been tested through simulation.     

VMI下供应链库存模型研究

分别建立了供应链在实行VMI模式前后的供应链整体、供应商及下游企业的定价、成本及利润模型,通过前后的比较分析了VMI模式的实施前期和实施一段时间后对供应链整体、供应商及其下游企业成本、利润、购买价格、订购量的影响。     

部分短缺量拖后且考虑费用时值的VMI模型

针对一般的供应商管理库存（VMI）模型通常忽略系统的费用时值问题,基于需求为常数和无短缺量拖后或短缺量完全拖后的VMI模型,进一步考虑系统的费用时值和缺货期间出现短缺量部分拖后的情况,建立了包括一个供应商和一个订货商、从原材料到产成品的VMI模型,通过数值仿真和灵敏度分析表明,最优解存在且费用贴现率、丢单系数与服务水平对供应链各成员的单项和集成总成本均有不同程度的影响,为VMI系统的管理决策提供了理论依据。     

An effective heuristic for solving a combined cargo and inventory routing problem in tramp shipping

In this paper a vendor managed inventory (VMI) service in tramp shipping is considered. VMI takes advantage of introducing flexibility in delivery time and cargo quantities by transferring inventory management and ordering responsibilities to the vendor which in this case is a shipping company. A two-phase heuristic is proposed to determine routes and schedules for the shipping company. The heuristic first converts inventories into cargoes, thus turning the problem into a classic ship routing and scheduling problem. It then uses adaptive large neighborhood search to solve the resulting cargo routing and scheduling problem. The heuristic iteratively changes the cargoes generated to handle the customer’s inventories, based on the information obtained from an initial solution. Computational results are presented, discussed and compared with exact solutions on large realistic instances. The results reveal the potential savings from converting traditional contracts of affreightment to an integrated VMI service. The factors that influence the benefits obtainable through VMI are also analyzed.     

供应商管理库存对牛鞭效应的影响

采用基于z变换的离散传递函数和测量牛鞭效应的控制工程方法,计算了一个由一个供应商和一个用户组成的、使用指数平滑预测的供应商管理库存供应链和传统供应链的牛鞭效应,并比较了这两种供应链对牛鞭效应的影响.通过仿真证实,应用供应商管理库存策略对供应链的物理过程进行再造是一种有效的减少牛鞭效应的方法.     

VMI下价格补贴机制协调模型研究

以零售商和供应商组成的供应商管理库存(VMI)供应链系统为研究对象,考虑随机需求下VMI系统中可能存在滞销成本和缺货惩罚,建立传统、Stackelberg博弈、相同权力Nash协商、不同权力Nash协商的4种价格补贴机制的协调模型。通过数值分析得出:价格补贴机制下传统的VMI协调的不合理性;Stackelberg博弈的VMI协调达不到集成供应链整体收益,但可使零售商和供应商收益得到改善;相同权力和不同权力的Nash协商均能完美协调分散式VMI,零售商与供应商各自增加的收益在协商权力相同时是相等的,在协商权力不同时与自身协商权力正相关。     

基于供应链信息集成的VMI系统构建及其绩效研究

探讨了企业如何构建有效的VMI信息系统，介绍了采纳VMI战略对各方所造成的利益变动情况。分析结果可作为实施VMI战略时企业间如何进行利益协调的参考。