The single-item newsboy problem with dual performance measures and quantity discounts

This paper considers models for the single-item newsboy problem with quantity discount and the following dual performance measure: “maximize the expected profit subject to a constraint that the probability of achieving a target profit level is no less than a predetermined risk level.” We also consider two types of quantity discount: all-unit and incremental. For our models with zero shortage cost, a closed-form solution for determining the optimal order quantity is derived. However, models with positive shortage cost can only be solved numerically.     

Fuzzy inventory problems for perishable commodities

This paper considers an inventory control model for a single perishable product with a fuzzy shortage cost and a fuzzy outdating cost. This model is a single-period horizon model. Due to fuzziness of shortage and outdating costs, an expected profit function is represented with a fuzzy set. The purpose of this paper is to find the solution maximizing the expected profit function. After defining a nondominated ordering quantity based on fuzzy max order, we seek some of them and investigate an effect of the fuzziness on the obtained solutions.     

离散模糊需求报童问题的可能性模型研究

基于可能性分布函数质心特征值,本文建立了确定离散模糊需求报童问题订货量的利润模型,并分析了成本模型和利润模型的关系。研究结果表明:1)基于可能性分布函数质心的模糊可能性成本和利润模型确定的订货量不一致;2)对应不同订货量,模糊可能性成本与利润之和不为固定常数。数值计算表明:该方法不可取。     

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 Note on the Newsboy Problem with an Emergency Supply Option

In this note, we solve a newsboy problem with an emergency supply option. We solve the new problem with the objectives of maximizing expected profit and maximizing the probability of achieving a target profit. The new optimal order quantity is smaller than the optimal order quantity without emergency supply.     

The multi-period newsboy problem

We will try to generalize the so-called newsboy model so that we can deal with unsatisfied demand or unsold quantity. Consider the time interval that consists of multiple ordering cycles. Assume that the probability density function of demand is given for each cycle. Then our problem is to make the ordering plan with which we can maximize the expected profit. In the classical newsboy model ordering quantity is always equal to the (planned) initial inventory level. But if we take account of unsatisfied demand and unsold quantity, the (desired) ordering quantity must be determined by a proper stochastic rule. Then, in stead of determining the ordering quantity of each cycle, we must plan the initial inventory level so that the expected profit may be maximized. If unsold exists in present cycle, the ordering quantity of next cycle becomes smaller than the planned inventory level. And if unsatisfied demand exists in the present cycle, the ordering quantity of next cycle becomes larger than the planned inventory level.     

Inventory control problem with freight cost and stochastic demand

This paper generalizes the standard newsboy model to the case including freight cost, in which the capacity of one container is the limit and the freight cost is proportional to the number of the containers used. We show that the optimal ordering quantity is either the newsboy solution or some multiple of the container’s capacity. We also propose an algorithm to compute the optimal policy. Furthermore, we generalize these results to the case in which the inventory and the price are determined jointly with emergency purchase.     

An optimal ordering and issuing policy for a two-stage inventory system for perishable products

This paper considers the problem of ordering and issuing policies arising in controlling finite-life-time fresh-meat-carcass inventories in supermarkets. A supermarket orders a product, which constitutes a set of sub-products of fixed proportion, from a vendor at the beginning of each time cycle. After it is received from the vendor, the product is stored in the cool-room, before being issued to the display shelves. The sub-products then satisfy random customer demand. After passing the life-time, sub-products are salvaged. In this system, the sub-products are issued to the display shelves according to theorder-up-to level policies at the beginning of every period. The decisions to be taken to solve this problem are the product-ordering quantity from the outside vendor and the order-up-to issuing quantities for each sub-product. The objective function to be maximized is the expected profit per unit time, consisting of revenue from sales and salvage, and the cost of ordering, processing (or issuing), inventory holding, emergency issuing, and shortage. In this paper we first develop a mathematical model describing actual operations and then simplify the sub-product runout period so that optimal ordering and issuing policies are easily established. We then carry out extensive numerical experiments for a case of two sub-products in order to ascertain the properties and the behavior of the optimal solutions.     

可追加订购的报童问题

研究带有追加 (两次 )订购的报童模型 ,分析了此模型与经典 (一次订购 )报童模型的收益关系 ,服务水平评价 ,订购量与需求均值、方差、价格等的灵敏度及发现了在适当的条件下 ,最大追加订购量 M的最优解存在 ,且给出了求解的方法 .     

Supply chain coordination for fuzzy random newsboy problem with imperfect quality

Facing to imperfect quality and fuzzy random market demand in the real-life inventory management, a two-echelon supply chain system with one retailer and one manufacturer for perishable products is considered. Two fuzzy random models for the newsboy problem with imperfect quality in the decentralized and centralized systems are presented. The expectation theory and signed distance are employed to transform the fuzzy random model into crisp model. The optimal policies in the two decision-making systems are derived and analyzed contrastively. The theoretical analysis shows that manufacturer’s repurchase strategy can achieve the increase in the whole supply chain profit. The influence of the fuzzy randomness of the demand and the defective rate on the optimal order quantity, the whole supply chain profit and the repurchasing price is analyzed via numerical examples.     

考虑框架协议的动态报童模型强化学习建模研究

企业为了稳定货源和供货关系,常与供应商签订一定时期的框架性协议。为了解决零售商在框架协议下采购报童产品的问题,本文运用强化学习建立库存决策模型并使用Q学习算法求取较优订货策略。通过生成样本随机数来模拟需求量,对比研究Q学习算法订货和传统方法订货的差别。通过多次数值实验,发现使用强化学习方法订货相比于传统订货方法(定量订货法、移动平均预测、指数平滑法)平均利润提高约7%~22%,且多次实验下强化学习方法订货相比于理想状态的平均利润相差约8%。这些发现验证了强化学习解决库存问题的有效性和可行性。本文还研究了相关参数变化对总利润的影响,发现利润随着贪婪率(ε)增加而降低、随着学习率(α)的增加而增加。该结论能够为解决相关库存问题提供新的思路。     

需求依赖于服务水平的易变质品库存策略研究

本文研究需求依赖于上一周期服务水平、缺货时订单部分损失的两周期易变质品库存问题。分别考虑一次订货和多次订货两种情况,以平均利润最大化为目标构建库存模型,证明了模型解的存在性和唯一性,得到了最优库存服务水平和最优补货策略。最后,通过算例给出两个模型的应用,对重要参数进行了灵敏度分析,并且将两种模型的结果进行了对比分析。结果表明:订单损失率的增加会提高服务水平,但会使得利润降低;顾客期望服务水平的提高会降低第一阶段的服务水平,同时使利润减少;单位库存持有成本或变质率的增加会降低服务水平和平均利润。通常情况,企业通过多次订货能获得更大的利润,而只有当库存持有成本极小时,一次订购才能够获得更大的利润。同时,结果也表明:服务水平对库存策略有较大的影响,因此在进行库存决策时考虑服务水平具有重要的作用。     

Fuzzy profit measures for a fuzzy economic order quantity model

Changing economic conditions make the selling price and demand quantity more and more uncertain in the market. The conventional inventory models determine the selling price and order quantity for a retailer’s maximal profit with exactly known parameters. This paper develops a solution method to derive the fuzzy profit of the inventory model when the demand quantity and unit cost are fuzzy numbers. Since the parameters contained in the inventory model are fuzzy, the profit value calculated from the model should be fuzzy as well. Based on the extension principle, the fuzzy inventory problem is transformed into a pair of two-level mathematical programs to derive the upper bound and lower bound of the fuzzy profit at possibility level α. According to the duality theorem of geometric programming, the pair of two-level mathematical programs is transformed into a pair of conventional geometric programs to solve. By enumerating different α values, the upper bound and lower bound of the fuzzy profit are collected to approximate the membership function. Since the profit of the inventory problem is expressed by the membership function rather than by a crisp value, more information is provided for making decisions.     

基于数量折扣合同和缺货损失的EOQ模型的改进

经济订购批量模型假定需求率、单位持有成本、订货成本为常数下得到总成本最低的订购批量,这些参数常数化的假设在现实中通常难以满足.假定需求和订货费为不确定的、库存成本包括年固定成本(与订货量无关)和年可变成本(与订货量有关),用三角模糊数表示年需求和订货费,通过引入数量折扣合同来量化单位产品进价,分别在不允许缺货和考虑缺货损失两种情况下得到最佳订货量.最后的算例表明了模型的合理性.     

Some general properties for the newsboy problem with an extraordinary order

In this paper, an extension of the standard newsboy problem is presented, involving an extraordinary order and a variable mixture of backorders and lost sales. The backlogged demand ratio is given by a nonincreasing function of the quantity of shortage. Some general properties for the expected cost are derived under weak assumptions about the backorder rate function. When the backorder rate is a linear function, some sufficient conditions for the global convexity of the expected cost are derived. A sufficient condition for the local concavity of this function is also provided. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the theoretical results and a specific practical case is proposed and solved. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis of the optimal solution with respect to the parameters of the backorder rate function is included. Finally, some extensions of the proposed model are suggested as possible directions for future research.     

Optimal policy for a dynamic,non-stationary,stochastic inventory problem with capacity commitment

This paper studies a single-product, dynamic, non-stationary, stochastic inventory problem with capacity commitment, in which a buyer purchases a fixed capacity from a supplier at the beginning of a planning horizon and the buyer’s total cumulative order quantity over the planning horizon is constrained with the capacity. The objective of the buyer is to choose the capacity at the beginning of the planning horizon and the order quantity in each period to minimize the expected total cost over the planning horizon. We characterize the structure of the minimum sum of the expected ordering, storage and shortage costs in a period and thereafter and the optimal ordering policy for a given capacity. Based on the structure, we identify conditions under which a myopic ordering policy is optimal and derive an equation for the optimal capacity commitment. We then use the optimal capacity and the myopic ordering policy to evaluate the effect of the various parameters on the minimum expected total cost over the planning horizon.     

A Multi-Objective Production Inventory Model with Backorder for Fuzzy Random Demand Under Flexibility and Reliability

In this paper, an Economic Production Quantity (EPQ) model is developed with flexibility and reliability consideration of production process in an imprecise and uncertain mixed environment. The model has incorporated fuzzy random demand, an imprecise production preparation time and shortage. Here, the setup cost and the reliability of the production process along with the backorder replenishment time and production run period are the decision variables. Due to fuzzy-randomness of the demand, expected average demand is a fuzzy quantity and also imprecise preparation time is represented by fuzzy number. Therefore, both are first transformed to a corresponding interval number and then using the interval arithmetic, the single objective function for expected profit over the time cycle is changed to respective multi-objective functions. Due to highly nonlinearity of the expected profit functions it is optimized using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA). The associated profit maximization problem is illustrated by numerical examples and also its sensitivity analysis is carried out.     

A fuzzy mathematical model for the joint economic lot size problem with multiple price breaks

This paper applies fuzzy mathematical programming to solve the joint economic lot size problem with multiple price breaks. In order to entice the buyer to increase the order quantity, it is a common practice for the seller to offer quantity discounts to the buyer. From the system viewpoint, the joint cost for the seller and buyer can be minimized only when the buyer increases his economic order quantity. The problem is how to determine the number of price breaks, as well as the quantity discount and order quantity at each price break, to achieve the optimal joint cost. Fuzzy mathematical programming provides a very efficient algorithm to solve the above problem simultaneously from the perspectives of the seller and the buyer. Another common problem in joint economic lot size model is how to split the system profit between the seller and the buyer. Whereas the traditional approach to this problem is to divide the profit based on a certain ratio determined by the bargaining power of both parties, fuzzy mathematical programming can achieve the same satisfaction level to both parties based on their respective cost functions.     

带有二次订购和二次销售的报童问题

本文提出二次进货二次销售的报童模型 ,并分析了新模型与经典报童问题和带有反馈生产模型的最优订购量及收益关系 ,分析了模型的灵敏度 ,服务水平等 .     

多周期报童模型在煤炭物资库存管理中的应用

为了降低煤炭企业物资库存管理成本,本文结合郑州煤电物资供销公司的实际情况,提出了考虑供过于求时,剩余物资对库存以及订货量影响的多周期库存模型。不同于经典报童模型中以订货量为自变量,本模型以期望利润为目标函数,以初始库存为自变量,在期望利润最大的情况下,得出每个周期的初始库存水平。通过郑州煤电物资供销公司的物资库存管理实例计算,结果表明可降低库存成本50%左右,说明该模型合理可行。