This study considers a supply chain consisting of a commodity supplier and a final product manufacturer with uncertain demand. In addition to purchasing from the supplier through a forward contract, the manufacturer can adjust their inventory by trading the commodity in an online spot market...

Faced with challenges of patient no-show behavior in the advanced scheduling system and the demand variability effect in the open-access system, outpatient clinics may use a combination of both policies. When this happens, the typical decision rule is the "carve-out scheduling" (COS) policy. The...