Inventory policy for an item with inflation induced purchasing price,selling price and demand with immediate part payment

In this paper, an inventory policy for an item is presented with inflation and selling price dependent demand under deterministic and random planning horizons allowing and not allowing shortages. In addition, there is a provision for (i) an immediate part payment (variable) to the wholesaler, (ii) borrowing some money from money lending source for the immediate part payment, (iii) earning a discount on purchasing price and relaxation on credit period from the wholesaler against the advance payment and (iv) delay in payment for the rest allowed by wholesaler. The payment to the source is made at the end of the business period with some interest charged. Against the above conjectures, inventory models under the finite (crisp) and random planning horizons have been formulated with respect to the retailer’s point of view for maximum profit. The nonlinear optimization method – Generalized Reduced Gradient (GRG) method is used to find the optimal solutions and the corresponding maximum profits for the different sets of given numerical data. Some sensitivity analyses are made and presented graphically. As particular cases, the results of the crisp models and the case without shortages are obtained from those of the stochastic model and the case with shortages respectively.     

具有Weibull生存死亡特征的冷链品库存补货定价策略研究

建立了无限期内冷链品具有Weibull生存死亡特征、随机需求且受售价影响的库存补货定价模型,其中售价是连续变化的,需求率是售价的指数函数,变质率服从的三参数Weibull分布,提前期固定。系统以利润最大化为目标函数,在(r,Q)库存策略下,建立库存模型,采用直接法,对模型近似求解,得到最优补货定价策略。利用Matlab进行算例模拟和灵敏度分析发现:补货提前期和单位仓储成本对补货定价策略影响较大,二者增大会导致系统利润降低;单位处理成本的增加,在一定程度上使得系统降低最优补货量,使系统利润增加;保鲜期固定的前提下,受冷链品的流动环境因子和存储环境因子影响的变质率对补货定价策略影响较大,它的增大会使系统利润降低。这些发现能够帮助优化系统模型,对现实问题具有一定的指导意义。     

需求依赖销售努力库存系统的随机比较

研究需求依赖销售努力库存系统中需求不确定性对系统最优订货量、利润和销售努力的影响.对一般需求模型给出期望利润关于订货量和努力水平为联合凹的充分条件,证明期望利润函数的超模性质.对加乘需求模型证明系统最优利润和最优努力水平都可由一类与需求分布有关的广义TTT变换来表示.通过引入定义在不同支撑分布集合上一阶、二阶和三阶随机占优,得到广义TTT变换之差与二阶和三阶随机占优之间的关系式,建立了比较库存系统最优利润或努力水平的理论基础.在一阶和二阶随机占优意义下对加乘需求模型得到比较系统最优利润和努力水平的充分条件或充分必要条件.进一步,证明存在一类需求分布当系统关键比(或市场价格)足够大时系统最优利润和努力水平随需求可变性的增加而增加.最后给出几个数值例子验证了研究结果.     

The stochastic EOQ model with random sales price

The article deals with a stochastic economic order quantity (EOQ) model over a finite time horizon where uniform demand over the replenishment period is price dependent. The selling price is assumed to be a random variable that follows a probability density function. As demand is probabilistic, stock out situation may occur. Based on the partial backlogging and lost sale cases during stock out period, the author develops the criterion for the optimal solution for the replenishment size such that the integrated expected profit is maximized. Moreover, the article suggests a new function regarding price dependent demand. Finally, numerical examples and its sensitivity analysis of key parameters are given to illustrate the proposed model.     

Optimal pricing and quantity of products with two offerings

This paper analyzes the decision of a firm offering two versions of a product, a deluxe and a regular. While both products satisfy the same market, the deluxe version is sold at a high price relative to its cost and is aimed at the high end of the demand curve. The regular version is sold at a low price relative to its cost and is targeted to customers at the low end of the demand curve. This two-offering strategy is especially popular with book publishers where a paperback book is introduced some time after the hardbound version is introduced. The time between the introduction of the two versions of the product is accompanied by a downward shift in the demand curve due to customers losing interest in the product or satisfying their demand from a secondary used market. We solve a profit maximization model for a firm using a two-offering strategy. The model is solved for linear and exponential deterioration in demand, which is assumed to be deterministic. Also, a model with linear deterioration in demand, which is assumed to be stochastic, is solved. The results indicate that substantial improvements in profit can be obtained by using the two-offering strategy. Numerical sensitivity analysis and examples are used to illustrate the results.     

总量控制和交易环境下考虑随机需求的企业决策分析

总量控制和交易(Cap-and-Trade, C&T)给排放企业运营决策带来了新的挑战。本文提出一个非线性优化模型分析C&T环境下的企业最优产量,并在绿色改进和碳权交易之间有效权衡。模型不仅考虑了随机需求和碳价波动,还考虑了绿色改进的边际递减效果和实施绿色生产的风险。理论分析证明了最优解的存在性,并给出了排放企业的最优决策及C&T环境下企业新的生产条件。解析分析表明:与非C&T环境相比,新的最优产量更低,实际排放下降;碳配额虽然影响企业利润和碳权交易量,但不影响最优产量和最优改进投资;碳价和绿色改进系数越大,越有利于促进企业实施绿色改进减少排放;企业利润随绿色改进系数和碳配额的增加而上升,随单位产品碳排放的增加而下降。数值分析验证了理论模型及其分析结果;蒙特卡洛模拟揭示利润波动受需求风险、绿色改进风险和碳价波动的影响,但需求风险对利润波动的影响更为显著。     

The effect of demand uncertainty in a price-setting newsvendor model

We study the effects of demand uncertainty on optimal decisions and the expected profit of a price-setting newsvendor who faces either additive or multiplicative stochastic demand. Our key findings are as follows. (1) A stochastically larger demand may even lead to a smaller order size and a lower profit when price is endogenous. (2) A stochastically larger demand will lead to a higher selling price in general for the additive demand case but to a lower selling price under certain mild conditions for the multiplicative demand case. Moreover, if the larger demand can be represented by a transformation of the lower one, it will lead to a higher expected profit for both demand cases. However, except for the setting with a zero shortage cost, a larger demand may not necessarily result in a higher expected profit in general. (3) Under mild conditions, a less variable demand will lead to a higher and lower selling price for the additive and multiplicative demand case, respectively, and a higher expected profit for both cases.     

A collaborative inventory system with permissible delay in payment for deteriorating items

A collaborative inventory system of single vendor and single buyer is developed to maximize the total profit of the whole system. However, the optimal solution for the whole system is not always beneficial to both players. To ensure mutual benefit, a negotiation factor is incorporated to share the profit between the two players according to their contributions. The permissible delay in payment is a win–win strategy for sharing profit in the collaborative system. A deteriorating inventory model with finite replenishment rate and price sensitive demand is assumed to occur in a high-tech, short life cycle and perishable electronic product. A numerical example is provided to illustrate our models. The sensitivity analysis of the demand rate, replenishment rate, deterioration factor, and other related parameters shows that the percentage extra total profit is significant when both the collaboration strategy and the deterioration factor are considered.     

A study on the effect of yield uncertainty in price-setting newsvendor models with additive-multiplicative demand

Random yield and uncertain demand usually both exist in many industries, such as the semiconductor industry. In this paper, the price-setting newsvendor model is studied which involves a single manufacturer and a single retailer with random yield and uncertain demand respectively. Under the condition of additive-multiplicative demand, we investigate the varying effects of random yield on the optimal price, order quantity, and expected profit in two situations with different cost structures. The first case is an in-house production case where the firm pays for the raw material quantity it has ordered, and the second one is a procurement case where the firm pays for the real product quantity it receives only. By using the theory of stochastic comparisons, we find that a less variable and a stochastically larger yield rate both lead to a lower optimal price and a higher expected profit for the in-house production case. Moreover, a less variable yield rate also results in a lower optimal price and a higher profit for the procurement case, but this is not true for a stochastically larger yield rate. Numerical examples illustrate that the effect of yield randomness on the optimal order quantity is not general.     

Integrated inventory models considering the two-level trade credit policy and a price-negotiation scheme

This paper develops the integrated inventory models with permissible delay in payment, in which customers’ demand is sensitive to the buyer’s price. The models consider the two-level trade credit policy in the vendor–buyer and buyer–customer relationships in supply chain management. A simple recursive solution procedure is proposed for the integrated models to determine the buyer’s optimal pricing and production/order strategy. Although the total profit from the buyer and vendor increases together, the buyer’s share lessens. To compensate the buyer’s loss due to the cooperative relationship, a negotiation system is presented in order to allocate the profit increase to the vendor and buyer to determine the pricing and production/order strategy. A numerical example and sensitivity analysis are provided to illustrate the proposed model. The results indicate that the total profit from the buyer and vendor together can increase, although a price discount is given to the buyer in the proposed models.     

装配系统中的供应商融资:银行贷款vs买方预付款

由多个供应商和一个装配商组成的装配系统中,装配商组装的最终产品需要由供应商提供零部件,不同供应商提供的零部件是互补的。供应商与装配商之间采用批发价格合同,由供应商决定批发价格而装配商决定订货量。供应商的资金是有限的,可能影响其供货能力以及装配系统的效率。供应商可以向银行借款或者由下游装配商提供预付款以缓解其资金约束的不利影响。针对银行贷款的情形,分析了装配系统的均衡订货量与批发价格,并通过图示直观地描述了资金约束对均衡订货量的影响。在装配商提供预付款时,若预付比例为外生变量,则供应商之间的博弈存在存策略纳什均衡,装配系统的绩效与预付比例以及供应商的资金有关;若预付比例是供应商的决策变量,则预付款可有效解决供应商的资金约束,相比于银行贷款,预付款的融资模式可使装配商和装配系统取得更高的利润。     

Optimal ordering and transfer policy for an inventory with stock dependent demand

This paper deals with an ordering-transfer inventory model to determine the retailer’s optimal order quantity and the number of transfers per order from the warehouse to the display area. It is assumed that the amount of display space is limited and the demand rate depends on the display stock level. The objective is to maximize the average profit per unit time yielded by the retailer. The proposed models and algorithms are developed to find the optimal strategy by retailer. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the models developed and the sensitivity analysis is also reported.     

A modified (S − 1, S) inventory system for deteriorating items with Poisson demand and non-zero lead time

An inventory system is considered for continuous decaying items with non-zero lead time and stochastic demand when shortages are allowed and all unsatisfied demands are backlogged. In this research we consider orders as separate packages where replenishment is one-for-one and a modified base stock policy is applied. In this paper, a penalty cost is introduced for stochastic inventory models with decaying items when less than one unit of the product is delivered to the customers. The objective of the warehouse is to maximize his average profit. Since the concavity analysis of the model is extremely complicated, an upper bound is introduced and an algorithm is presented for finding the optimal solution. Finally, a numerical example is presented and sensitivity analysis is carried out for a number of important parameters.     

Newsvendor with multiple options of expediting

We consider a manufacturer facing single period inventory planning problem with uncertain demand and multiple options of expediting. The demand comes at a certain time in the future. The manufacturer may order the product in advance with a relatively low cost. She can order additional amount by expediting after the demand is realized. There are a number of expediting options, each of which corresponds to a certain delivery lead time and a unit procurement price. The unit procurement price is decreasing over delivery lead time. The selling price is also decreasing over time. In this paper, we assume that the manufacturer must deliver all products to the customer in a single shipment. The problem can be formulated as a profit maximization problem. We develop structural properties and show how the optimal solution can be identified efficiently. In addition, we compare our model with the classical newsvendor model and obtain a number of managerial insights.     

Construction of a model towards EOQ and pricing strategy for gradually obsolescent products

Due to the rapid advance of technology, manufacturers’ marketing models and quickly changing consumer tastes, products such as apparel, clothing accessories and consumer electronics are likely to face the problem of short product life cycles. This study deals with the problem of determining order quantity and multi-discount selling prices for these types of gradually obsolescent products, in which two novel proposals are presented as follows: (1) without considering any exogenous factors that could affect demand, we develop a time-dependent demand model that appropriately portrays an integrated demand behavior associated with the characteristic of obsolescence; (2) we then treat the selling price as an exogenous factor influencing demand and, referring to the linear demand D = α − βp, the effect that “the increase of demand due to price change is linearly correlated with the difference between two consecutive selling prices” is incorporated, so as to make the demand model be a function of both time and selling price. Afterwards, optimization models are hereby formulated to predetermine pricing strategy with a limited number of price changes by maximizing retailer’s profit. As a result, numerical examples illustrate that the multi-discount model indeed provides higher total profit than a single discount one. This is presented along with the result analysis conducted to gain some managerial insights.     

随机模糊需求报童问题

考虑到需求的随机模糊性,建立了随机模糊需求报童的利润模型。利用可信性测度理论给出了其期望利润模型,并揭示了期望利润函数的凹性,证明了最优订货量的存在性和唯一性。结合随机模糊模拟技术和随机扰动近似算法设计了求解最优订货量的混合算法。最后,通过数值算例说明了算法的有效性。     

A marketing-oriented inventory model with three-component demand rate dependent on displayed stock level (DSL)

This paper investigates a deterministic inventory system for single item with three-component demand rate. This rate is dependent on selling price, frequency of advertisement and displayed stock level (DSL) in a showroom/shop. Shortages, if any, are allowed and backlogged partially. The storage capacity of the showroom/shop is assumed to be limited (finite). Different scenarios and subscenarios of the system have been mentioned and developed. Some numerical examples are given to illustrate the model. A sensitivity analysis is performed graphically to investigate the effect of changes of the system parameters on the optimal average profit.     

Stochastic multi-site supply chain planning in textile and apparel industry under demand and price uncertainties with risk aversion

A multi-product, multi-period, multi-site supply chain production and transportation planning problem, in the textile and apparel industry, under demand and price uncertainties is considered in this paper. The problem is formulated using a two-stage stochastic programming model taking into account the production amount, the inventory and backorder levels as well as the amounts of products to be transported between the different plants and customers in each period. Risk management is addressed by incorporating a risk measure into the stochastic programming model as a second objective function, which leads to a multi-objective optimization model. The objectives aim to simultaneously maximize the expected net profit and minimize the financial risk measured. Two risk measures are compared: the conditional-value-at-risk and the downside risk. As the considered objective functions conflict with each other’s, the problem solution is a front of Pareto optimal robust alternatives, which represents the trade-off among the different objective functions. A case study using real data from textile and apparel industry in Tunisia is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model and the robustness of the obtained solutions.     

Optimal production stopping time for perishable products with ramp-type quadratic demand dependent production and setup cost

A single item economic production quantity (EPQ) model is discussed to analyse the behaviour of the inventory level after it’s introduction to the market. It is assumed that demand is time dependent accelerated growth-effect of accelerated growth-steady type. Unlike the conventional EPQ models, which are restricted to general production cycle over the finite or infinite time horizon, we consider the production sale scenario of the very first production cycle for newly introduced perishable product. Shortage is not allowed. Set up cost of an order cycle depends on the total amount of inventory produced. The finite production rate is proportional to demand rate. Optimal production stopping time is determined to maximize total unit profit of the system. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the development of the model. Sensitivity analysis of the model is carried out.     

Optimal lot size model for deteriorating items with demand rate dependent on displayed stock level (DSL) and partial backordering

In this paper, we consider the problem of determining the lot size of a single deteriorating item with the demand rate dependent on displayed stock level, selling price of an item and frequency of advertisement in the popular electronic and print media, also through the sales representatives. Shortages, if any, are allowed and partially backlogged with a variable rate which depends on the duration of waiting time upto the arrival of next lot. Here, the transportation cost for replenishing the goods is considered explicitly and the storage capacity of the showroom/shop is assumed to be limited (finite). According to the relative size of the stock level dependency demand parameters and the storage capacity of the showroom/shop, different scenarios with sub scenarios have been mentioned and solved with the help of GRG (generalised reduced gradient) method and the computational procedure. The convexity analysis is done by showing the average profit function in each case as pseudo concave. To illustrate the results and its significant features, a numerical example is given. Finally, to study the effect of changes of demand parameters, deterioration, backlogging parameters and mark-up rate on the maximum initial stock level, shortage level, frequency of advertisement per cycle along with the maximum average profit are presented numerically.