This paper considers a multistage serial inventory system with Markov-modulated demand. Random demand arises at Stage 1, Stage 1 orders from Stage 2, etc., and Stage N orders from an outside supplier with unlimited stock. The demand distribution in each period is determined by the current state of an exogenous Markov chain. Excess demand is backlogged. Linear holding costs are incurred at every...

We consider a supply chain consisting of one manufacturer (capacitated supplier) and two retailers. We characterize the manufacturer’s optimal production policy under selective-information sharing, in which the manufacturer receives demand and inventory information from only one of the two retailers. We show that the manufacturer’s optimal production policy is a state-dependent base-stock polic...

Errors in order forecasts are a salient source of inefficiencies in retail supply chains. Many operational decisions made by suppliers hinge on order forecasts, which typically are based solely on either order or point-of-sale (POS) history. Using a discrete-time formulation, this research demonstrates that if a supplier knows that a retailer is using a base stock policy, it should use that kno...

This paper considers a one-warehouse multi-retailer inventory system that faces discrete stochastic demand of the customers. Under the so-called balance assumption (also known as the allocation assumption), base stock policies are optimal. Our main contribution is to show that the optimal base stock levels satisfy newsvendor characterizations, which are in terms of inequalities, and to extend t...

Generally, only a fraction of the mineral ingested by an animal is effectively absorbed, while most are bound to other components such as fibre and then excreted. In this study, faecal mineral composition differentials were used as indicators of mineral uptake by pullets supplemented varying levels of plantain ash in their daily rations for nine weeks. Plantain stalk and root base samples were ...

We make a novel connection between an energy-efficient wireless transmission scheduling problem and a multi-period, multi-item inventory control problem with stochastic convex ordering costs, deterministic demands, and a joint budget constraint. In the special case of a single item, we show that a state-dependent modified base-stock policy is optimal when the stochastic ordering costs are linea...