Stochastic inventory problem with piecewise quadratic holding cost function containing a cost-free interval

In this paper, we consider a periodic-review stochastic inventory model with an asymmetric or piecewise-quadratic holding cost function and nonnegative production levels. It is assumed that the cost of deviating from an ideal production level or existing capacity is symmetric quadratic. It is shown that the optimal order policy is similar to the (s, S) policies found in the literature, except that the order-up-to quantity is a nonlinear function of the entering inventory level. Dynamic programming is used to derive the optimal policy. We provide numerical examples and a sensitivity analysis on the problem parameters.This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada under Grant No. A5872. The authors wish to thank an anonymous referee for very helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.