Today, many Canadian firms are seeking additional profits through sales to the European Community (EC). Successful market development in Europe will first require good contacts to obtain the best distribution channels. Access to the EC can hence be complicated through lack of knowledge of...

Two lot‐sizing heuristics are proposed for deterministic time‐varying demands, a case commonly encountered in requirements planning systems. The first heuristic simplifies the stopping rule of the Silver‐Meal (SM) heuristic so that difficult cases may be solved nearly optimally. The second...

This research compares the logistics systems of Asia and Europe and categorises them into distinct levels of logistics excellence. First, the context in Asia and in Europe is summarized. Then, attributes of a world‐class logistics system are proposed. By applying cluster analysis to data from...

Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) and consignment inventory (CI) are supply-chain sourcing practices between a vendor and customer. VMI allows the vendor to initiate orders on behalf of the customer. This presumably benefits the vendor who can then make replenishment decisions according to her own...

Consider a supply chain with one vendor and multiple buyers. That vendor not only manufactures the goods demanded, but also transports them by its own fleet of trucks to buyers that are densely dispersed in a distribution zone. The buyers are sensitive to both price and delivery-time guarantee....

Increased competition in business environments requires that firms provide not only quality but also timely service with minimal cost. Offering a delivery-time guarantee may increase the demand for a product or service, or allow the firm to charge a price premium. This paper investigates the...