For serial multi-echelon systems subject to production capacity limits at every stage, we consider a class of modified echelon base stock (MEBS) policies. To evaluate information requirements of such systems, we consider two separate inventory management mechanisms operated in a decentralized...

We consider a decentralized supply chain where a supplier sells goods to a retailer facing a general random demand over an infinite horizon. The retailer satisfies the demand to the extent of the inventory on hand. The retailer has private information about his inventory in each period and the...

This paper constructs a model of a supply chain to examine how demand volatility is passed upstream through the chain. In particular, we seek to determine how likely it is that the chain experiences a bullwhip effect, where the variance of the upstream firms’ production exceeds the variance of...

This paper constructs a model of a supply chain to examine how demand volatility is passed upstream through the chain. In particular, we seek to determine how likely it is that the chain experiences a bullwhip effect, where the variance of the upstream firm's production exceeds the variance of...

Marketplace platforms such as Amazon or Farfetch provide a convenient meeting point between customers and suppliers and have become an important element of e-commerce. This sales channel is particularly interesting for suppliers that sell seasonal goods under a tight time frame, because they...

In many industries, product design and manufacturing lead-times are sufficiently long that both the quality level of a product and the amount of inventory produced must be determined before a firm knows what the actual demand will be. In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis of such a...

Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) contracts are anchored on a fill rate at which the vendor is expected to meet the end-customer demands. Violations of this contracted fill rate due to excess and insufficient inventory are both penalized, often in a linear, but asymmetric manner. To minimize these...

This paper discusses how a manufacturer and its retailers interact with each other to optimize their product marketing strategies, platform product configuration and inventory policies in a VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) supply chain. The manufacturer procures raw materials from multiple...

This paper investigates a decentralized assembly system that consists of one manufacturer and multiple suppliers who produce the complementary components. In a single selling season, the manufacturer initially sets a vendor inventory liability period (VILP) to control the suppliers' delivery...

The classical newsvendor problem seeks to minimize the expected inventory cost or maximize the expected profit. But optimizing an expected value alone does not fully capture the stochastic nature of the newsvendor problem. Inspired by the higher-moment analyses explored in finance literature, we...