Determination of economic packaging frequency in a multi-brand joint replenishment inventory system

The search procedure developed in this paper is typically applicable in those inventory systems where a product is packaged immediately after manufacture into a number of container sizes and the packaged items of similar sizes are sold under more than one brand name. The most common example of such items can be seen in supermarkets where grocery items of identical characteristics (produced by the same manufacture) are available under the supermarket's own brand and under the manufacturer's nationally advertised brand. An example has been solved to illustrate the method.