In multi-echelon distribution systems it is usually assumed that demand is only satisfied from the lowest echelon. In this paper we will consider the case where demand can be satisfied from any level in the system. However, then the problem arises of how to allocate orders from customers to the...

In this paper we discuss a general framework for single item inventory control models. This framework is based on the regenerative structure of these models. Using results from the theory of regenerative processes a unified presentation of those models is presented. Although most of the results...

During the last two decades, many heuristic procedures for the joint replenishment problem have appeared in the literature. The only available optimal solution procedure was based on an enumerative approach and was computationally prohibitive. In this paper we present an alternative optimal...

The present paper discusses an approach to solve the joint replenishment problem in a production environment with concave production cost functions. Under this environment, the model leads to a global optimization problem, which is investigated by using some standard results from convex...

In most multi-item inventory systems, the ordering costs consist of a major cost and a minor cost for each item included. Applying for every individual item a cyclic inventory policy, where the cycle length is a multiple of some basic cycle time, reduces the major ordering costs. An efficient...

In this paper we analyse the effect of satisfying in a different way customers with an order larger than a prespecified cutoff transaction size, in a simple newsboy setting. For compound Poisson demand with discrete order sizes, we show how to determine the expected costs and the optimal cutoff...

The present paper discusses an approach to solve the joint replenishment problem in a production environment with concave production cost functions. Under this environment, the model leads to a global optimization problem, which is investigated by using some standard results from convex...

This paper examines the algorithms proposed in the literature for finding good critical level policies in the (S-1,S) lost sales inventory model with multiple demand classes. Our main result is that we establish guaranteed optimality for two of these algorithms. This result is extended to...

We analyze a newsboy problem with resalable returns. A single order is placed before the selling season starts. Purchased products may be returned by the customer for a full refund within a certain time interval. Returned products are resalable, provided they arrive back before the end of the...

In this paper obsolescence of service parts is analyzed in a practical environment. Based on the analysis, we propose a method that can be used to estimate the risk of obsolescence of service parts. The method distinguishes groups of service parts. For these groups, the risk of obsolescence is...