Predictive control of periodic-review production inventory systems with deteriorating items

In this paper a predictive control strategy is applied to a periodic-review dynamic inventory system with deteriorating items. Given the current inventory level, we determine the optimal production rates to be implemented at the beginning of each of the following periods over the control horizon. The effectiveness of this approach is the use of future information of the inventory target level and the desired production rate, which are available, along the fixed horizon. The deterioration coefficient may be known or unknown and both cases are considered. In the case where it is unknown, the self-tuning predictive control is applied. The proposed control algorithms are illustrated by simulations.     

A two-warehouse production model for deteriorating inventory items with time-dependent demands

A two-warehouse inventory model for deteriorating items with time-dependent demand has been developed. Compared with previous models, the model involves a free form time-dependent demand and a finite replenishment rate within a finite planning horizon. Rather than the heuristic approach of equal production cycle times adopted by Lee and Ma, an approach which permits variation in production cycle times is adopted to determine the number of production cycles and the times for replenishment during a finite planning horizon. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the application of the model and the results indicate that the performance of the proposed approach is superior to that of the heuristic approach of Lee and Ma.     

Special products and uncertainty in production/inventory systems

Research into production/inventory systems has mainly consisted of deterministic, single item and simulation studies. To model these systems satisfactorily, both the stochastic nature of the real world and the interaction between products and capacity must be taken into account. This paper proposes a method for analysing one-stage systems including both these factors using queuing theory, and deals with questions raised by made-to-order products, such as: Which products should be stocked? What special business should be accepted? What is the effect on the stock system? and How can this effect be buffered?     

Quality and pricing decisions in production/inventory systems

In this article, we consider the impact of finite production capacity on the optimal quality and pricing decisions of a make-to-stock manufacturer. Products are differentiated along a quality index; depending on the price and quality levels of the products offered, customers decide to either buy a given product, or not to buy at all. We show that, assuming fixed exogenous lead times and normally distributed product demands, the optimal solution has a simple structure (this is referred to as the load-independent system). Using numerical experiments, we show that with limited production capacity (which implies load-dependent lead times) the manufacturer may have an incentive to limit the quality offered to customers, and to decrease market coverage, especially in settings where higher product quality leads to higher congestion in production. Our findings reveal that the simple solution assuming load-independent lead times is suboptimal, resulting in a profit loss; yet, this profit loss can be mitigated by constraining the system utilization when deciding on quality and price levels. Our results highlight the importance of the relationship between marketing decisions and load-dependent production lead times.     

Variational approach to serial multilevel production/inventory systems

We discuss stochastic, continuous-time models of serial multilevel production/inventory systems using quasi-variational inequalities. The value functions are characterized as maximum solutions of suitable equivalent problems. Then, we show how to construct optimal centralized policies and, if possible, decentralized policies. Finally, we present some numerical examples for the deterministic case.The work of the second author was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMS-87-02236.     

A deterministic inventory/production model with general inventory cost rate function and piecewise linear concave production costs

We present a thorough analysis of the economic production quantity model with shortages under a general inventory cost rate function and piecewise linear concave production costs. Consequently, an effective solution procedure, particularly useful for an approximation scheme, is proposed. A computational study is appended to illustrate the performance of the proposed solution procedure.     

A two warehouse inventory model for deteriorating items with a linear trend in demand and shortages

In this paper, we develop a deterministic inventory model with two warehouses (one is the existing storage known as own warehouse (OW) and the other is hired on rental basis known as rented warehouse (RW). The model allows different levels of item deterioration in both warehouses. The demand rate is supposed to be a linear (increasing) function of time and the replenishment rate is infinite. The stock is transferred from RW to OW in continuous release pattern and the associated transportation cost is taken into account. Shortages in OW are allowed and excess demand is backlogged. For the general model, we give the equations for the optimal policy and cost function and we discuss some special cases. A numerical example is given to illustrate the solution procedure of the model. Finally, based on this example, we conduct a sensitivity analysis of the model.     

On the optimality of inventory models with deteriorating items for demand and on-hand inventory dependent production rate

In this paper we present two flexible production lot size inventorymodels for deteriorating items in which the production rateat any instant depends on the demand and the on-hand inventorylevel at that instant. Each of demand and deterioration rateare general continuous functions of time. For one model, shortagesare allowed but are partially backordered. Also, all cost componentsare affected by inflation and the time value of money. For eachmodel, a closed form of the per unit time total relevant costis derived and sufficient conditions that minimize this totalcost are built. Then, mathematical methods are used to showthat, under certain conditions, each of the underlying inventorysystem can attain a unique global optimal solution.     

A production lot size inventory model for deteriorating items and arbitrary production and demand rates

In this paper, we present a method for finding the optimal replenishment schedule for the production lot size model with deteriorating items, where demand and production are allowed to vary with time in an arbitrary way and in which shortages are allowed. The method is illustrated by a numerical example.     

On discrete-in-time deterministic inventory systems for deteriorating items with finite replenishment bate

Three inventory systems, viz. the EOQ, the order-level and the order-level lot-size systems, are considered for deteriorating items, in which the replenishment rate is finite and uniform, demand is deterministic and the deterioration is a constant fraction of the on hand inventory. The mathematical models-of the systems are continuous in units but are discrete in time and assume instantaneous delivery. The EOQ does not allow shortages, the order-level allows shortages but assumes a prescribed scheduling period whereas the order-level lot-size does allow shortages but does consider the scheduling period as being a prescribed constant. For the EOQ an approximation the order-level lot size, a search procedure is developed for finding optimal solution. All the results are supported by numerical examples.     

An inventory model of deteriorating items with lot-size dependent replenishment cost and a linear trend in demand

This paper presents an inventory model for deteriorating items over a finite time horizon where the demand increases linearly with time. The method is developed by assuming that the successive replenishment cycle lengths are the same. Many O.R. scientists/researchers obtained an optimal replenishment schedule where the replenishment cost is constant in each cycle length over the finite time horizon. In this paper, we relax the assumption of fixed replenishment cost. The replenishment cost per replenishment is taken to be linearly dependent on the lot-size of that replenishment. Shortages are allowed and are fully backlogged. As a special case, the results for the model without shortages are derived. Finally, two numerical examples are presented to illustrate the model.     

Look-back policies for two-stage,pull-type production/inventory systems

We consider a two-stage, pull-type production/inventory system with a known service mechanism at the first stage. Set-ups and start-ups are involved in the operation of the second stage. We develop a production control policy for the second stage, within the class of (R, r) continuous-review policies, that minimizes the long run average total cost. We use a semi-Markov decision model to obtain an optimal policy for the operation of the second stage. The structure of the optimal policy suggests the use of a suboptimal look-back policy that delays the set-up at the second stage if the buffer lacks sufficient raw material. The performance of the system and the average total cost under the suboptimal policy can be obtained approximately using a decomposition algorithm. We show examples justifying the use of this suboptimal policy.This research is supported by the NSF Grant No. NSF-NCR-9110105, NSF Grant No. NSF-DDM-9014868 and by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Grant No. NATO-CRG-900580.     

OR contributions to flexibility improvement in production/inventory systems

Recently the notion of flexibility (especially with respect to Flexible Manufacturing Systems) has attracted considerable attention of OR workers. The majority of the contributions is focussed on operational aspects of production systems. A further very important issue concerns the design of production systems and investment decisions with respect to these systems.The aim of this paper is to illustrate how OR models can contribute to quantify effects of, for instance, investment in set-up time reduction or investment in supply leadtime reduction on logistic performance of production systems. Of course there are many more opportunities to improve logistic performance. The approach in this paper offers the opportunity to quantify the integral effects of these improvements and shows the direction for logistic innovation. In this way both design of production systems and quality of related investment decisions can be improved significantly.Some simple examples are worked out in order to illustrate the ideas and to give impetus for further research in this field.     

On the consistency of linear and quadratic systems

A system of linear inhomogeneous inequalities is examined. An algorithm is presented for isolating all the consistent subsystems in this system that are maximal with respect to inclusion, and justification of this algorithm is given. A criterion for the consistency of a system of quadratic inhomogeneous equations and inequalities is proposed.     

The linear quadratic minimum-time problem for a class of discrete systems

We consider a linear discrete-time systems controlled by inputs on L ²([0, t _N ], U), where (t _i )_{1?≤?i?≤?N} is a given sequence of times. The final time t _N (or N) is considered to be free. Given an initial state x ₀ and a final one x _d , we investigate the optimal control which steers the system from x ₀ to x _d with a minimal cost J(N, u) that includes the final time and energy terms. We treat this problem for both infinte and finite dimensional state space. We use a method similar to the Hilbert Uniqueness Method. A numerical simulation is given.     

A Chebyshev approximation for solving the optimal production inventory problem of deteriorating multi-item

In this paper, some realistic multi-period production–inventory models are formulated for deteriorating items with known dynamic demands for optimal productions. Here, the rates of production are time dependent (quadratic/linear) or constant expressed by a Chebyshev polynomial and considered as a control variable. The models are solved using Chebyshev spectral approximations, the El-Hawary technique and a genetic algorithm (GA). The models have been illustrated by numerical data. The optimum results for different production functions are presented in both tabular and graphical forms.     

An inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items with quadratic demand rate and shortages under trade credit policy

noindent In this paper, we propose an appropriate inventory model for non-instantaneous deteriorating items over quadratic demand rate with permissible delay in payments and time dependent deterioration rate. In this model, the completely backlogged shortages are allowed. In several existing results, the authors discussed that the deterioration rate is constant in each cycle. However, the deterioration rate of items are not constant in real world applications. Motivated by this fact, we consider that the items are deteriorated with respect to time. To minimize the total relevant inventory cost, we prove some useful theorems to illustrate the optimal solutions by finding an optimal cycle time with the necessary and enough conditions for the existence and uniqueness of the optimal solutions. Finally, we discuss the numerical instance and sensitivity of the proposed model.     

On a finite horizon production lot size inventory model for deteriorating items: An optimal solution

A generalized production lot size inventory model for deteriorating items over a finite planning horizon is considered. The demand, production, and deteriorating rates are assumed to be known and continuous functions of time. Shortages are allowed and completely backlogged. The conditions under which the system total cost attains its (unique) global minimum are derived. An example which illustrate the applicability of theoretical results is also introduced.