A style goods item has a finite selling period during which the sales rate varies in a seasonal and, to some extent, predictable fashion. There are only a limited number of opportunities to purchase or manufacture the style goods item, and the cost, in general, will depend on the time at which...

This note provides the methodology to construct a set of indifference curves that permit the exact determination of the optimal inventory level in a system where items are restocked one at a time and unsatisfied demand is lost. An illustrative set of curves is shown.

We consider the situation of a single item having a deterministic, time-varying demand pattern. Production lot sizes, so as to minimize the total of setup and carrying costs, are to be determined subject to production capacity restrictions that can vary with time. Two important theorems...

In this article a challenge is provided to the operations management community to broaden our perspective from the traditional, functional one to the cross-functional (interdisciplinary) view of process management. At the same time, the challenge is to de-emphasize mathematical optimization and...

This paper considers a periodic-review, two-echelon inventory system with one central warehouse and several retailers facing stochastic demand. The retailers replenish their stock from the warehouse, which in turn places orders at an outside supplier with infinite capacity. Transportation times...

In this paper, we consider a periodic review order-up-to-level (or base stock) inventory control system under normally distributed demand. For such circumstances, an expression for the exact fill rate (fraction of demand satisfied without backordering) has been available in the literature, but...

Through literature sources, personal trial and error experiences, and observations of students and other colleagues, the author has developed a collection of ideas regarding enhancing research productivity. These are laid out in this article, including a number of examples and relevant quotes...

The periodic review inventory system is not only pervasive, but also has an extensive literature dealing with various aspects, from its theoretical underpinnings through to its performance. However, the selection of the best review period and its behaviour with respect to basic inventory...