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 recent years, researchers and practitioners are paying increasing attention to the phenomenon of manufacturing strategy. However, there exists no formal theory of manufacturing strategy to explain the phenomenon. There is a real need for empirical studies for the development of such a theory....

This note considers two single-machine multi-product scheduling problems with deterministic demand that have appeared in the management science literature: the economic lot scheduling problem and the joint replenishment problem. These problems are shown to be closely related. In addition, they...

In this paper we consider a certain aggregate production planning model. This model permits regular and overtime production and allows for backordering of goods for a number of periods. Although the discussed model can be formulated as a linear programming problem a special (noniterative) method...

In this paper we present a heuristic method, based on Lagrangian relaxation, for multilevel lot-sizing when there is a single bottleneck facility. A series of Lagrangian relaxations (one for each item in the product structure) is imbedded in a branch and bound procedure. The objective is to find...

This paper presents a dynamic programming algorithm for simultaneous determination of production batch sizes in an assembly network and distribution batch sizes in a conjoined distribution ("arborescent") network. The objective is to minimize average cost per period over an infinite horizon....

Monahan (Monahan, James P. 1984. A quantity discount pricing model to increase vendor profits. Management Sci. 30 (June) 720--726.) develops a model for establishing an optimal quantity discount schedule from a vendor's viewpoint. In this note we show that this model is limited to the case where...

Previous work dealt with the problems of nervousness in Material Requirements Planning (MRP) Systems when production schedules were modified to include setups which previously had not been scheduled. In this work we further examine nervousness and its cost. By modifying the setup costs used in...

In this paper, we deal with the two-product, single-machine, static demand, infinite horizon lot scheduling problem. After a quick review of the literature, the necessary and sufficient conditions for feasibility are derived without imposing any preliminary requirements. Then, an optimal...

The impact of poor production and inventory planning can be significant in any manufacturing firm. On an aggregate level, excessive inventories can lead to poor cash flows necessitating financing to cover operational costs while stock outs can lead to customer service problems and the eventual...