In this paper, we revisit and clarify the celebrated machine maintenance and sale age model of Kamien and Schwartz (KS) involving a machine subject to failure. KS formulate and solve the problem as a deterministic optimal control problem with the probability of the machine failure as the state...

This paper considers an optimal control problem for the dynamics of an exhaustible natural resource model, the optimal control being the price over time to maximize the total present value of a parameterized social welfare function under the assumption that a substitute become available at a...

As the competition in the software development business grows fiercer, the features provided in the software become more and more important. With the growing popularity of open source software and the advent of new software delivery models, such as software-as-a-service, the traditional software...

We develop an optimal control model to maximize the net value provided by a software system over its useful life. The model determines the initial number of features in the system, the level of dynamic enhancement effort, and the lifetime of the system. The various factors affecting these...

Previous studies discuss the role of a government’s subsidy offered to consumers in reaching her green product adoption target. However, subsidies do not last forever and will terminate. Accounting for the subsidy termination and the interplay among subsidy, learning-by-doing and competition,...

In this paper, we deal with the problem of sequencing parts and robot moves in a robotic cell where the robot is used to feed machines in the cell. The robotic cell, which produces a set of parts of the same or different types, is a flow-line manufacturing system. Our objective is to maximize...

Flexible transfer lines or mixed-model assembly lines are capable of diversified small-lot production due to negligible switch-over costs. With these lines, it is possible to implement just-in-time (JIT) production, which involves producing only the necessary parts in the necessary quantities at...

This paper is concerned with a generalization of classical inventory models (with fixed ordering costs) that exhibit (s, S) policies. In our model, the distribution of demands in successive periods is dependent on a Markov chain. The model includes the case of cyclic or seasonal demand. The...

In this paper, we use quasi-variational inequalities to provide rigorous proof of the familiar square root formula for the economic order quantity (EOQ) in the classical deterministic average cost inventory model

A number of real world processes can be modelled as exponential decay processes. Examples are: machine replacement, oil well extraction, advertising goodwill, repair and cleaning activities, etc.. In this paper we analyze a series of discounted or undiscounted, deterministic or stochastic...