This work contributes to the practice of healthcare system modelling, by presenting an urgent issue: the growing process of integrated healthcare supply networks in reducing public healthcare systems’ annual expenses and improving performance. Various critical aspects affect the strategic...

This paper describes an innovative and integrated approach to component management optimization within a production/assembly system. In a mixed-models assembly process the handling of parts and components for each work station represents a substantial variable that can greatly affect job...

A growing number of manufacturers are adopting the so-called supermarket strategy to supply components to the production system. Supermarkets are decentralized storage areas used as intermediate warehouses for parts required by the production system (typically assembly lines). Such a feeding...

Transportation costs are becoming increasingly important in inventory replenishment decisions and, in practice, lot sizing decisions are strongly affected by material handling equipment, transportation flow paths, vehicle capacities and technical constraints. Companies within a global sourcing...

Traditional inventory models involve different decisions that attempt to optimize material lot sizes by minimizing total annual supply chain costs. However, the increasing concern on environmental issues stresses the need to treat inventory management decisions as a whole, by integrating...

Determining the economic lot size has always represented one of the most important issues in production planning. This problem has long attracted the attention of researchers, and several models have been developed to meet requirements at minimum cost. In this paper we explore and discuss the...

In the automotive industry, a supermarket is a decentralized in-house logistics area for intermediately storing parts in direct vicinity of the assembly line consuming these parts. In a supermarket, tow trains—consisting of a small towing vehicle and a few waggons—are loaded with parts,...