The issue of vendor choice has traditionally not been considered in determining the optimal set of products to produce. That is, component purchase has typically been considered only at the MRP explosion stage, well after the set of products to produce and their production quantities has been...

The study focuses attention on a grouping procedure for the purpose of joint inventory replenishments from a single supplier. The grouping procedure exploits the group discounts available on the total purchase value of a group of index and the economies of scale of order placing costs. In...

Natural and man-made disasters imply a great deal of uncertainty in terms of potential damage, though it is certain that there would be a huge spike in the demand for relief supplies causing shortages and/or delays in providing aid. Ruptures in the infrastructure (roads, utility, and...

Early mobile phones only provided voice transmission, for a fee. They have now evolved into voice and online data portals for providing additional services through 3rd party vendors. These service providers (vendors) are given access to a customer base "owned" by the mobile phone companies, for...

The recent worldwide devastations have reemphasized the importance of rapid response for saving life. Relief supplies must arrive on time and in adequate quantities. Coordination in a relief chain is complex because of the uncertainties associated with disaster intensity, strike probability,...