On the Effect of Product Variety in Production–Inventory Systems

In this paper, we examine the effect of product variety on inventory costs in a production–inventory system with finite capacity where products are made to stock and share the same manufacturing facility. The facility incurs a setup time whenever it switches from producing one product type to another. The production facility has a finite production rate and stochastic production times. In order to mitigate the effect of setups, products are produced in batches. In contrast to inventory systems with exogenous lead times, we show that inventory costs increase almost linearly in the number of products. More importantly, we show that the rate of increase is sensitive to system parameters including demand and process variability, demand and capacity levels, and setup times. The effect of these parameters can be counterintuitive. For example, we show that the relative increase in cost due to higher product variety is decreasing in demand and process variability. We also show that it is decreasing in expected production time. On the other hand, we find that the relative cost is increasing in expected setup time, setup time variability and aggregate demand rate. Furthermore, we show that the effect of product variety on optimal base stock levels is not monotonic. We use the model to draw several managerial insights regarding the value of variety-reducing strategies such as product consolidation and delayed differentiation.     

基于产品生命周期的闭环供应链定价和协调策略研究

研究产品生命周期条件下一个制造商、一个零售商组成的闭环供应链的定价和协调策略:制造商第一周期只生产新品,从第二周期开始生产再制造品,并负责回收。建立了两周期、多周期和无限周期下的分散决策模型和多周期下的集中决策模型,得到最优定价和生产策略。结果表明:两周期中,制造商和零售商应根据不同的成本节约额制定不同的批发价、零售价和生产量。多周期中,当成本节约额比较小时,除第一和最后一个周期外,制造商和零售商应采取相同的定价和生产策略;当成本节约额比较大时,除第一和最后两个周期外,制造商和零售商应采取相同的定价和生产策略。无限周期中,除第一周期以外,制造商和零售商都应该采取相同的定价和生产策略。在有限周期情况下,制造商和零售商应通过在前期制定比较低的批发价和零售价,以提高生产量和销售量,使得后期的回收量增大,达到降低成本的目的。通过引入收益共享契约制定合适的批发价和销售收入及再制造收益共享比率可以协调整个闭环供应链。算例验证了上述结论。     

供应链互补产品广告投入和捆绑销售联合决策研究

以一个制造商和一个零售商的供应链为研究对象,制造商生产两种互补产品,零售商可选择分开或捆绑两种销售策略。考虑互补品的负交叉弹性和广告外部性的特点,构建基于溢出效应的需求模型,运用博弈论的方法,求解零售商采取分开和捆绑两种销售策略时的均衡结果。通过比较不同销售策略下的均衡结果及利润关系,探讨在分散式和集中式两种情况下,零售商的最优广告投入和捆绑销售的联合决策问题。最后,通过数值算例,讨论产品互补程度和广告成本系数对决策结果的影响。研究结果表明,无论是在分散式还是集中式决策下,当产品互补程度较高或广告成本系数低时,分开销售是占优策略而广告费用较高;当产品互补程度较低且广告成本系数高时,捆绑销售是占优策略且广告费用较低。     

Modelling the benefits of information sharing-based partnerships in a two-level supply chain

This paper presents a study aimed at quantifying the benefits of information sharing-based supply chain partnerships. We derive the optimal inventory policies for the manufacturer and the retailer in a two-level decentralized supply chain under different information sharing scenarios. We show that increasing information sharing among the members in a decentralized supply chain will lead to Pareto improvement in the performance of the entire chain. Specifically, the manufacturer can obtain benefits in terms of reductions in inventory levels and cost savings.     

Dynamic pricing of remanufacturable products under demand substitution: a product life cycle model

We consider a manufacturer who sells both the new and remanufactured versions of a product over its life cycle. The manufacturer’s profit depends crucially on her ability to synchronize product returns with the sales of the remanufactured product. This gives rise to a challenging dynamic optimization problem where the size of both the market and the user pool are dynamic and their current values depend on the entire history. We provide an analytical characterization of the manufacturer’s optimal pricing, production, and inventory policies which lead to a practical threshold policy with a small optimality gap. In addition, our analysis offers a number of interesting insights. First, the timing of remanufacturing activity and its co-occurrence with new product manufacturing critically depends on remanufacturing cost benefits, attractiveness of the remanufactured product and product return rate. Second, there is a small upward jump in the price of the new product when remanufacturing is introduced. Third, the manufacturer keeps the new product longer on the market as the cost of remanufacturing decreases. Fourth, partially satisfying demand for the remanufactured item is never optimal, i.e., it is satisfied either fully or not at all. Finally, user pool and inventory of returned products are substitutes in ensuring the supply for future remanufacturing.     

Price discount based on early order commitment in a single manufacturer–multiple retailer supply chain

Early order commitment (EOC) is a strategy for supply chain coordination, wherein the retailer commits to purchasing from a manufacturer a fixed order quantity a few periods in advance of the regular delivery lead time. In this paper, we formulate and analyze the EOC strategy for a decentralized, two-level supply chain consisting of a single manufacturer and multiple retailers, who face external demands that follow an autocorrelated AR(1) process over time. We characterize the special structure of the optimal solutions for the retailers’ EOC periods to minimize the total supply chain cost and discuss the impact of demand parameters and cost parameters. We then develop and compare three solution approaches to solving the optimal solution. Using this optimal cost as the benchmark, we investigate the effectiveness of using the wholesale price-discount scheme for the manufacturer to coordinate this decentralized system. We give numerical examples to show the benefits of EOC to the whole supply chain, examine the efficiency of the discount scheme in general situation, and provide the special conditions when the full coordination is achieved.     

Optimal production plans and shipment schedules in a supply-chain system with multiple suppliers and multiple buyers

This research addresses an optimal policy for production and procurement in a supply-chain system with multiple non-competing suppliers, a manufacturer and multiple non-identical buyers. The manufacturer procures raw materials from suppliers, converts them to finished products and ships the products to each buyer at a fixed-interval of time over a finite planning horizon. The demand of finished product is given by buyers and the shipment size to each buyer is fixed. The problem is to determine the production start time, the initial and ending inventory, the cycle beginning and ending time, the number of orders of raw materials in each cycle, and the number of cycles for a finite planning horizon so as to minimize the system cost. A surrogate network representation of the problem developed to obtain an efficient, optimal solution to determine the production cycle and cycle costs with predetermined shipment schedules in the planning horizon. This research prescribes optimal policies for a multi-stage production and procurements for all shipments scheduled over the planning horizon. Numerical examples are also provided to illustrate the system.     

Manufacturer cooperation in supplier development under risk

Supplier development involves efforts undertaken by manufacturing firms to improve their suppliers’ capabilities and performance. These improvement efforts can be targeted at a variety of areas such as quality management, product development, and cost reduction. Since supplier development requires investments on the part of the manufacturer, it is important to optimally allocate investment dollars among multiple suppliers to minimize risk while maintaining an acceptable level of return. This paper presents a set of optimization models that address this issue. We consider two scenarios: single-manufacturer and multiple suppliers (SMMS) and two-manufacturer and multiple suppliers (TMMS). In the SMMS case, we suggest optimal investments in various suppliers by effectively considering risk and return. The TMMS case investigates whether manufacturers with differing capabilities could gain risk reduction benefits from cooperating with each other in supplier development. Through illustrative applications, we identify conditions in which both cooperation and non-cooperation are beneficial for manufacturers. Under conditions of cooperation, we propose optimal investments for manufacturers to achieve high levels of risk reduction benefits.     

Shortening cycle times in multi-product,capacitated production environments through quality level improvements and setup reduction

This paper addresses the issue of investing in reduced setup times and defect rates for a manufacturer of several products operating in a JIT environment. Production cycle times can be shortened by investing in setup time and defect rate reductions, respectively. The objective is to determine optimal levels of setup time and defect rate reductions along with the corresponding optimal levels of investments respectively, and the optimal production cycle time for each product. The problem is constrained by demand requirements, process improvement budget limitations, and manufacturing and warehousing capacity constraints. We consider the cases of product-specific quality improvements and joint-product quality improvements. A general nonlinear optimization models of these problems are formulated. A convex geometric programming approximation of these models is developed respectively, in order to solve them. The approximation can be made to any desired degree of accuracy. Our empirical findings provide insights into a number of managerial issues surrounding investment decisions in product-specific quality improvements and setup reductions due to a product redesign as well as in joint-product improvements due to a process redesign.     

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.     

Optimal production control of a dynamic two-product manufacturing system with setup costs and setup times

This paper deals with the optimal control of a one-machine two-product manufacturing system with setup changes, operating in a continuous time dynamic environment. The system is deterministic. When production is switched from one product to the other, a known constant setup time and a setup cost are incurred. Each product has specified constant processing time and constant demand rate, as well as an infinite supply of raw material. The problem is formulated as a feedback control problem. The objective is to minimize the total backlog, inventory and setup costs incurred over a finite horizon. The optimal solution provides the optimal production rate and setup switching epochs as a function of the state of the system (backlog and inventory levels). For the steady state, the optimal cyclic schedule is determined. To solve the transient case, the system's state space is partitioned into mutually exclusive regions such that with each region, the optimal control policy is determined analytically.     

Coordination of cooperative cost-reduction efforts in a supply chain partnership

We study cooperative cost reduction in a decentralized supply chain with a single manufacturer and multiple suppliers. The manufacturer assembles components that are procured from the suppliers to produce a final product. Both the manufacturer and the suppliers invest in reducing the unit production costs of the components. We see that neither of the two well-known conventional contracts, the wholesale price contract and the cost-plus pricing contract, generally coordinates the supply chain, i.e., under both of these types of contract, the individual optimal cost-reduction efforts of players deviate from the centralized system-optimal solution. However, this result is not surprising because these contracts encourage either only the manufacturer or only the suppliers alone to invest in cost reduction.     

考虑消费者低碳偏好的供应链企业减排成本分摊比较研究

在低碳环境下,研究了单一制造商和单一零售商组成的两级低碳供应链成本分摊决策问题。考虑消费者具有环保意识,因此在购买产品时会考虑产品的碳排放。分别讨论了零售商参与减排成本分摊契约和双方Nash讨价还价成本分摊契约两种形式对碳减排、产品定价和整个供应链及其成员收益的影响。研究发现,在两种契约形式中,零售商都可以实现与制造商共同降低碳排放的目标,从而促进制造商提高碳减排率,提高供应链利润。但是基于Nash讨价还价方式的减排成本分摊契约的供应链绩效高于零售商成本分摊契约下的供应链绩效。同时消费者低碳偏好增加可以激励零售商更多地分摊减排成本,在此基础上,利用Nash讨价还价模型确定了零售商为制造商提供减排成本分摊的比例范围及其最优解。最后,通过数值分析验证了减排因子对不同决策结构的定价、零售商减排分摊比例、供应链利润等决策的影响。     

Stochastic inventory system with lead time flexibility: offered by a manufacturer/transporter

This paper studies lead time flexibility in a two-stage continuous review supply chain in which the retailer uses the (R, Q) inventory system: when his inventory position reaches R, the retailer places orders with size Q to the manufacturer, who uses a transportation provider to deliver them with different lead time options. According to the contract, the manufacturer is able to expedite or postpone the delivery if the retailer makes such a request. Hence, the retailer has the flexibility to modify the lead time by using the most up-to-date demand information. The optimal lead time policy is found to be a threshold-type policy. The sensitivity analysis also shows that R is much more sensitive to the change of lead time than Q, and thus, the paper is primarily focused on finding optimal R. We also provide a cost approximation which yields unimodal cost in R. Furthermore, we analyze the order crossing problem and derive an upper bound for the probability of order crossing. Finally, we conduct an extensive sensitivity analysis to illustrate the effects of lead time flexibility on supply chain performance and discuss the managerial insights.     

Evaluating focused factory benefits with queuing theory

In this paper, we study the benefits of a focused factory using lead-time as a performance measure. Specifically, we model a production process, using multi-class (multiple product types), general interarrival and processing time distributions with multiple machines (GI/G/c) queuing models for deriving each product’s mean lead-time. We also perform simulations for estimating the standard deviation of lead times. There are two product types: a standard and a customized product. The customized product has a more variable demand pattern than the standard product, and also requires additional processing time (setup and run time) in its production process. We assume that management is willing to sacrifice the lead-time performance of the customized product in favor of improved performance for the standard product. The paper shows that focusing the factory is more attractive for plants operating at higher utilization, and manufacturing products that have higher processing time and demand variability differentials between product types.     

考虑RFID应用的资金约束供应链订购决策研究

RFID技术的应用在有效降低商品库存损耗率的同时,也增加了供应链企业的运营成本,尤其是具有资金压力的供应链中小企业。在零售商具有资金约束的二级供应链下分析RFID技术的应用对资金约束供应链绩效的影响,通过构建贸易信贷下基于批发价合同的Stackelberg博弈模型,对比采用RFID前后资金约束供应链成员的均衡决策及期望收益,探讨了该供应链采用RFID的必要条件。结果显示当RFID标签成本低于某个阈值,或RFID库存损耗恢复率高于某个阈值时,供应链成员会选择采用RFID。此外,当RFID单位标签成本或零售商标签成本分摊系数较低,或RFID库存损耗恢复率较高时,制造商会提供比不采用RFID时更高的批发价;在采用RFID的条件下,零售商订购数量低于不采用RFID时的数量。通过设计收益分享契约实现了采用RFID时资金约束供应链的协调。     

Real-time order tracking for supply systems with multiple transportation stages

This paper presents a stochastic model that evaluates the value of real-time shipment tracking information for supply systems that consist of a retailer, a manufacturer, and multiple stages of transportation. The retailer aggregates demand for a single product from end customers and places orders on the manufacturer. Orders received by the manufacturer may take several time periods before they are fulfilled. Shipments dispatched by the manufacturer move through multiple stages before they reach the retailer, where each stage represents a physical location or a step in the replenishment process. The lead time for a new order depends on the number of unshipped orders at the manufacturer’s site and the number and location of all shipments in transportation. The analytic model uses real-time information on the number of orders unfulfilled at the manufacturer’s site, as well as the location of shipments to the retailer, to determine the ordering policy that minimizes the long-run average cost for the retailer. It is shown that the long-run average cost is lower with real-time tracking information, and that the cost savings are substantial for a number of situations. The model also provides some guidelines for operating this supply system under various scenarios. Numerical examples demonstrate that when there is a lack of information it is better for the retailer to order every time period, but with full information on the status in the supply system it is not always necessary for the retailer to order every time period to lower the long-run average cost.     

Scheduling and lot sizing models for the single-vendor multi-buyer problem under consignment stock partnership

We consider a centralized supply chain composed of a single vendor serving multiple buyers and operating under consignment stock arrangement. Solving the general problem is hard as it requires finding optimal delivery schedule to the buyers and optimal production lot sizes. We first provide a nonlinear mixed integer programming formulation for the general scheduling and lot sizing problem. We show that the problem is NP-hard in general. We reformulate the problem under the assumption of ‘zero-switch rule’. We also provide a simple sequence independent lower bound to the solution of the general model. We then propose a heuristic procedure to generate a near-optimal delivery schedule. We assess the cost performance of that heuristic by conducting sensitivity analysis on the key model parameters. The results show that the proposed heuristic promises substantial supply-chain cost savings that increase as the number of buyers increases.     

Simple heuristics for push and pull remanufacturing policies

Inventory policies for joint remanufacturing and manufacturing have recently received much attention. Most efforts, though, were related to (optimal) policy structures and numerical optimization, rather than closed form expressions for calculating near optimal policy parameters. The focus of this paper is on the latter. We analyze an inventory system with unit product returns and demands where remanufacturing is the cheaper alternative for manufacturing. Manufacturing is also needed, however, since there are less returns than demands. The cost structure consists of setup costs, holding costs, and backorder costs. Manufacturing and remanufacturing orders have non-zero lead times. To control the system we use certain extensions of the familiar (s, Q) policy, called push and pull remanufacturing policies. For all policies we present simple, closed form formulae for approximating the optimal policy parameters under a cost minimization objective. In an extensive numerical study we show that the proposed formulae lead to near-optimal policy parameters.     

碳交易规制下的制造商减排外包模式选择:定制vs订购?

研究碳交易规制下制造商减排服务外包时供应链各成员的最优决策和绩效问题,对比分析了定制和订购两种减排模式下的供应链博弈均衡和供应链成员绩效。研究发现,在碳交易规制下,定制和订购两种减排合作模式下供应链成员均存在最优决策。在定制模式下,单位产品的初始排放量和制造商的减排成本系数提高一定会降低最优产量、单位产品减排量和减排服务价格,减排服务商的减排成本系数提高会降低最优产量和单位产品减排量,但不一定会降低减排服务价格;在订购模式下单位产品初始排放量、制造商和减排服务商的成本系数对企业决策的影响不一定如此。当需求函数满足均匀分布时,无论制造商和减排服务商的减排效率如何,订购模式对减排服务商更有利,定制模式对制造商更有利,但供应链系统总利润的高低与制造商的减排成本系数有关。