Recent models comparing inventory costs under just‐in‐time (JIT) purchasing plans and economic order quantity (EOQ) purchasing plans have tended to favor EOQ purchasing in situations where annual demand of inventory is moderately large. Contends that these cost models are lacking dynamic...

Analyses the operational implications of marketing strategies that try to distinguish between high‐ and low‐priority customers. For a high‐priority customer, the distributor is willing to expedite an order from any emergency source. For a low‐priority customer, on the other hand,...

Suggests that frequent review of product sales performance is essential to the planning and control process. Investigates those products which have reached maturity or saturation stage of their product life cycle and reviews these in order to decide on their future product strategy. Evaluates...

Describes the problems that major brand suppliers face in the context of the growing attractiveness of private brands to the retailer and the consumer. Discusses the factors contributing to this growth. Describes the roles that private brands perform for the retailer. Offers model for the...

Links the concept of market‐driven business strategies with the design of production systems. It draws upon the case of a firm which, during the last decade, changed its strategy from being “technology led” to “market driven”. The research, based on interdisciplinary fieldwork...

Distribution requirements planning (DRP) is one of the scheduling methods used in logistics systems. A generalised version is presented of a DRP system designed to enhance scheduling flexibility of currently used DRP systems and to deal with multi‐sourcing trans‐shipment problems in a...

The dynamic vehicle scheduling problem for a shipper involves managing transport of freight originating at various locations to minimise transport costs. The job involves dynamic assignment of vehicles contracted from carriers to loads available at multiple locations on a real time basis. A...

Warehousing is “transportation at zero kilometres per hour”; distribution moves goods from source to end‐user in a early continuous flow. The article outlines the changes in methods, procedures and management systems that can change a warehouse into a distribution centre without any major...

Customer service is often described as consisting of a set of measurable elements. Similarly, market response to customer service may be viewed as consisting of a set of components which are measurable. Most published empirical studies of the relationship between customer service and market...