We study assemble-to-order (ATO) problems from the literature. ATO problems with general structure and integrality constraints are well known to be difficult to solve, and we provide new insight into these issues by establishing worst case approximation guarantees through primal-dual analyses...

Problem definition: Fulfillment flexibility, the ability of distribution centers (DCs) to fulfill demand originating from other DCs, can help e-retailers reduce lost sales and improve service quality. As the cost of full flexibility is prohibitive, we seek to understand the value of partially...

Network design problems, such as flexibility design, are ubiquitous in modern marketplaces where firms constantly innovate new ways to match supply and demand. We develop a primal-dual based approach to analyze the flexibility design problem, i.e., allocating subsets of limited resources to each...

We review the recent academic literature on Assemble-to-Order (ATO) systems, which stock inventory of components that are then assembled into final products upon receipt of customer demand. The key feature of such systems, component commonality (i.e., products may share common components),...