Supply chain coordination under discrete information asymmetries and quantity discounts

We consider a two node supply chain with a rational manufacturer–retailer pair, in which the retailer has private information that affects the nodes׳ reservation levels. Quantity discounts offered by the manufacturer is the mechanism we propose in order to achieve reduced costs for both supply chain nodes. We derive analytical expressions of the quantity discounts that minimize the manufacturer׳s costs, while enabling the establishment of the business. Furthermore, we show that perfect coordination is possible even under asymmetric information. Sensitivity analysis and numerical examples offer evidence of the robustness of the results and of the potential of the approach for applications to real-life business ventures.     

碳交易政策下多式联运路径选择问题的鲁棒优化研究

针对碳交易政策下的多式联运路径选择问题,考虑运输时间和单位运费率不确定且其概率分布未知的情况,引入鲁棒优化建模方法对其进行研究。首先利用box不确定集合刻画分布未知的运输时间和运费率,然后在碳交易政策下确定模型的基础上,构建鲁棒性可调节的多式联运路径选择模型,并通过对偶转化得到相对易求解的鲁棒等价模型。实例分析表明,鲁棒模型能较好地处理参数概率分布未知的多式联运路径选择问题,方便决策者根据偏好调整不确定预算水平进行决策。运输时间和单位运费率的不确定性都会影响多式联运路径决策,但是作用机理有所不同。将上述碳交易政策下的模型拓展到其他低碳政策,结果表明多种低碳政策的组合能更好实现多式联运减排。     

有限需求信息下基于回购契约的供应链鲁棒协调策略

研究了仅知需求均值和区间信息条件下,基于最小最大后悔值准则的供应链回购契约协调问题。针对未知需求具体分布形式的两级供应链系统,在回购契约框架下,建立了以鲁棒决策和最优决策下的供应链及其成员绩效之差为目标函数的供应链协调模型。在仅知需求区间和均值信息条件下,采用鲁棒优化方法求解了最小最大后悔值准则下的集成供应链鲁棒订货策略和分散供应链鲁棒契约协调策略及其绩效偏差。分析了不同服务水平和契约参数条件下,由于信息缺失而未能实现最优运作的供应链及其成员绩效损失情况。最后,进行了数值计算,验证了通过鲁棒优化方法得到的供应链回购契约协调策略的鲁棒性和有效性。结果表明,基于回购契约的供应链鲁棒协调策略能够有效抑制需求不确定性对系统及其成员运作绩效的影响,同仅知需求区间信息相比,额外获得需求均值信息能够有效改进供应链运作绩效。     

供应链鲁棒性问题的研究进展

供应链鲁棒性问题的研究,对于全球化物流供应链、供应链风险运作及对国内企业安全等问题有理论价值和应用价值。分析了供应链系统的外部联接、突发事件和内部运作不确定性的2种表现形式;讨论了供应链鲁棒运作管理,特别考虑了供应链中供应、产品、需求和信息管理的鲁棒性;探讨了供应链鲁棒优化策略以及供应链鲁棒性研究的若干前瞻性问题。     

A joint optimal pricing and order quantity model under parameter uncertainty and its practical implementation

We consider a robust optimization model of determining a joint optimal bundle of price and order quantity for a retailer in a two-stage supply chain under uncertainty of parameters in demand and purchase cost functions. Demand is modeled as a decreasing power function of product price, and unit purchase cost is modeled as a decreasing power function of order quantity and demand. While the general form of the power functions are given, it is assumed that parameters defining the two power functions involve a certain degree of uncertainty and their possible values can be characterized by ellipsoids. We show that the robust optimization problem can be transformed into an equivalent convex optimization which can be solved efficiently and effectively using interior-point methods. In addition, we propose a practical implementation of the model, where the stochastic characteristics of parameters are obtained from regression analysis on past sales and production data, and ellipsoidal representations of the parameter uncertainties are obtained based on a combined use of genetic algorithm and Monte Carlo simulation. An illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the model and its implementation.     

具有遗憾值约束的鲁棒供应链网络设计模型研究

考虑不确定性环境,研究战略层次的供应链网络鲁棒设计问题,目标是设计参数发生摄动时,供应链性能能够保持稳健性。基于鲁棒解的定义,建立从上游供应商选择到下游设施选址-需求分配的供应链网络设计鲁棒优化模型;提出确定遗憾值限定系数上限和下限的方法,允许决策者调节鲁棒水平,选择多种供应链网络结构;通过模型分解与协调,设计了供应链节点配置的禁忌搜索算法。算例的计算结果表明了禁忌搜索算法具有良好的收敛特性,以及在处理大规模问题上的优越性;同时也反映了利用鲁棒优化模型进行供应链网络设计,可以有效规避投资风险。     

Evaluation of multi-objective optimization approaches for solving green supply chain design problems

This paper evaluates the applicability of different multi-objective optimization methods for environmentally conscious supply chain design. We analyze a case study with three objectives: costs, CO₂ and fine dust (also known as PM – Particulate Matters) emissions. We approximate the Pareto front using the weighted sum and epsilon constraint scalarization methods with pre-defined or adaptively selected parameters, two popular evolutionary algorithms, SPEA2 and NSGA-II, with different selection strategies, and their interactive counterparts that incorporate Decision Maker׳s (DM׳s) indirect preferences into the search process. Within this case study, the CO₂ emissions could be lowered significantly by accepting a marginal increase of costs over their global minimum. NSGA-II and SPEA2 enabled faster estimation of the Pareto front, but produced significantly worse solutions than the exact optimization methods. The interactive methods outperformed their a posteriori counterparts, and could discover solutions corresponding better to the DM preferences. In addition, by adjusting appropriately the elicitation interval and starting generation of the elicitation, the number of pairwise comparisons needed by the interactive evolutionary methods to construct a satisfactory solution could be decreased.     

A shelf-space optimization model when demand is stochastic and space-elastic

The more customer demand is impulse-driven, the more it is space-dependent and the more it is subject to variation. We investigate the corresponding problem of retail shelf-space planning when demand is stochastic and sensitive to the number and position of facings. We develop a model to maximize a retailer׳s profit by selecting the number of facings and their shelf position under the assumption of limited space. The model is particularly applicable to promotional or temporary products.We develop the first optimization model and solution approach that takes stochastic demand into account, since the current literature applies deterministic models for shelf-space planning. By the means of an innovative modeling approach for the case with space- and positioning effects and the conversion of our problem into a mixed-integer problem, we obtain optimal results within very short run times for large-scale instances relevant in practice. Furthermore, we develop a solution approach to account for cross-space elasticity, and solve it using an own heuristic, which efficiently yields near-optimal results. We demonstrate that correctly considering space elasticity and demand variation is essential. The corresponding impacts on profits and solution structures become even more significant when space elasticity and stochastic demand interact, resulting in up to 5% higher profits and up to 80% differences in solution structures, if both effects are correctly accounted for. We develop an efficient modeling approach, compare the model results with approaches applied in practice and derive rules-of-thumb for planners.     

Joint product assortment,inventory and price optimization to attract loyal and non-loyal customers

In this paper, we analyze the emerging retail practice of carrying a combined product assortment consisting of both regular “standard” products and more fashionable and short-lived “special” products. The purpose of this practice is to increase store traffic by attracting heterogeneous classes of customers, which drives up sales of standard products due to the potential cross-selling effect. Customers who are primarily attracted by special products will also buy some standard products. In this context, we analyze three decisions that are crucial for a retailer׳s commercial success: the product assortment, the inventory levels and the pricing. We propose an optimization model and an iterative heuristic to analyze the trade-offs between the combined product assortment, the inventory level and the price per product when there is limited shelf space. Using numerical experiments, we show that our heuristic can be trusted and that its accuracy improves when the number of products increases. Our findings indicate that to attract more customers for standard products, a retailer may benefit from carrying low priced special products which, if considered in isolation, would be non-profitable. As the cross-selling effect decreases, a retailer should focus more on the standard assortment by increasing its size and decreasing the prices. However, introducing special products and ignoring the cross-selling effect may decrease a retailer׳s profitability. We show that the introduction of special products involves more than just choosing the right specials for non-loyal customers but impacts the global assortment planning, the standard products and the products pricing.     

交叉销售下基于支持向量聚类的数据驱动多产品库存鲁棒优化模型

针对单周期环境下考虑交叉销售的多产品库存决策问题,在市场需求不确定条件下,建立了带有预算约束的交叉销售多产品库存鲁棒优化模型。针对不确定市场需求,采用支持向量聚类(SVC)方法构建了满足一定置信水平的数据驱动不确定集。进一步,运用拉格朗日对偶方法将所建模型等价转化为易于求解的线性规划问题。最后,通过数值计算对比分析了SVC不确定集下及传统不确定集下的零售商利润绩效,并评估了SVC数据驱动鲁棒优化方法导致的绩效损失,进而分析了预算及交叉销售系数对零售商利润绩效的影响。结果表明,SVC数据驱动鲁棒优化方法具有良好的鲁棒性,能够有效抑制需求不确定性对从事多产品销售的零售商利润绩效的影响。特别地,需求分布信息的缺失虽然会给零售商带来一定的绩效损失,但损失值很小,表明文中提出的基于SVC的数据驱动鲁棒优化方法可以为管理者在需求不确定性环境下制定库存策略提供有效决策借鉴。     

设施失灵风险下不确定需求应急定位-路径鲁棒优化研究

为抵御突发灾害对路网造成的破坏性和设施失灵风险,降低系统成本,并快速完成应急救援任务,本文考虑到受灾点物资需求量的不确定和风险对救援系统的影响,采用直升机进行物资运送以规避路径风险。建立了最小化应急物流系统总成本和物资到达需求点总救援时间为双目标的应急物流定位-路径鲁棒优化模型,基于相对鲁棒优化方法处理需求不确定,采用偏差鲁棒优化思想描述设施失灵风险损失,采用遗传算法进行求解。通过对三个算例进行数据仿真实验,证明了相对鲁棒优化方法在处理需求不确定和偏差鲁棒优化方法在处理设施失灵风险方面的有效性,进而为解决应急设施点的开设和救援物资的安全及时准确配送,增强应急物流系统的风险应对能力提供了有效的方法。     

An industrial application for total productivity optimization

Abstract. This paper presents four strategies for total productivity optimization of a real-life manufacturing company. These strategies are developed to attain overall growth, cost reduction, upgrading of technical efficiency and management effectiveness. Such strategies have been modelled mathematically by using a nonlinear mathematical programming approach. The model base and the data base used in implementing the strategies can serve as decision support to management for optimizing total productivity.     

改进粒子群优化算法在电源规划中的应用

电源规划是一类复杂、非线性组合优化问题.传统的方法随着规划期的延长,考虑因素的增多,难以有效的进行优化,在实际应用中作用有限.首先,对电源规划优化问题进行了建模.然后,对于粒子群(PSO)的迭代策略进行改进,在此基础上,运用遗传粒子群(GPHA)混合优化算法进行了优化尝试.考虑到电源规划中相关参数众多,在优化过程中引入了虚拟变量对电源规划中的问题进行了简化描述;GHPA算法的适应度评价函数设计中,运用了罚函数的思想,以提高算法优化的效果.最后本文使用某省实际负荷预测和系统负荷实际数据,进行了电源规划方案优化,得到了优化后的电源规划方案,并与普通的遗传算法、粒子群算法以及传统的动态规划算法得到的结果进行了比较.比较的结果显示出了本文提出的算法在优化结果和速度方面具有明显效果.     

Improving the resilience of power grids against typhoons with data-driven spatial distributionally robust optimization

In recent years, the increased frequency of natural hazards has led to more disruptions in power grids, potentially causing severe infrastructural damages and cascading failures. Therefore, it is important that the power system resilience be improved by implementing new technology and utilizing optimization methods. This paper proposes a data-driven spatial distributionally robust optimization (DS-DRO) model to provide an optimal plan to install and dispatch distributed energy resources (DERs) against the uncertain impact of natural hazards such as typhoons. We adopt an accurate spatial model to evaluate the failure probability with regard to system components based on wind speed. We construct a moment-based ambiguity set of the failure distribution based on historical typhoon data. A two-stage DS-DRO model is then formulated to obtain an optimal resilience enhancement strategy. We employ the combination of dual reformulation and a column-and-constraints generation algorithm, and showcase the effectiveness of the proposed approach with a modified IEEE 13-node reliability test system projected in the Hong Kong region.     

军队技术人才培养规划的鲁棒优化研究

本文针对军队发展带来技术人才需求的动态变化,通过将技术人才各方面素质需求的不确定性离散成三种不同情景,采用鲁棒优化方法构建了军队人才培养的鲁棒优化模型,以军队信息化建设人才需求为背景,以某部人才队伍为研究对象进行了实证求解,并比较了基于单一情景的规划结果与鲁棒优化模型的结果。研究结果表明,鲁棒优化模型对于军队人才培养规划制定具有更好的稳定性和可行性。     

Lot sizing with storage losses under demand uncertainty

We address a variant of the single item lot sizing problem affected by proportional storage (or inventory) losses and uncertainty in the product demand. The problem has applications in, among others, the energy sector, where storage losses (or storage deteriorations) are often unavoidable and, due to the need for planning ahead, the demands can be largely uncertain. We first propose a two-stage robust optimization approach with second-stage storage variables, showing how the arising robust problem can be solved as an instance of the deterministic one. We then consider a two-stage approach where not only the storage but also the production variables are determined in the second stage. After showing that, in the general case, solutions to this problem can suffer from acausality (or anticipativity), we introduce a flexible affine rule approach which, albeit restricting the solution set, allows for causal production plans. A hybrid robust-stochastic approach where the objective function is optimized in expectation, as opposed to in the worst-case, while retaining robust optimization guarantees of feasibility in the worst-case, is also discussed. We conclude with an application to heat production, in the context of which we compare the different approaches via computational experiments on real-world data.     

Supplier competition and its impact on firm׳s sourcing strategy

Most research on firms׳ sourcing strategies assumes that wholesale prices and reliability of suppliers are exogenous. It is of our interest to study suppliers׳ competition on both wholesale price and reliability and firms׳ corresponding optimal sourcing strategy under complete information. In particular, we study a problem in which a firm procures a single product from two suppliers, taking into account suppliers׳ price and reliability differences. This motivates the suppliers to compete on these two factors. We investigate the equilibria of this supplier game and the firm׳s corresponding sourcing decisions. Our study shows that suppliers׳ reliability often plays a more important role than wholesale price in supplier competition and that maintaining high reliability and a high wholesale price is the ideal strategy for suppliers if multiple options exist. The conventional wisdom implies that low supply reliability and high demand uncertainty motivate dual-sourcing. We notice that when the suppliers׳ shared market/transportation network is often disrupted and demand uncertainty is high, suppliers׳ competition on both price and reliability may render the sole-sourcing strategy to be optimal in some cases that depend on the format of suppliers׳ cost functions. Moreover, numerical study shows that when the cost or vulnerability (to market disruptions) of one supplier increases, its profit and that of the firm may not necessarily decrease under supplier competition.     

Robust Stochastic Lot‐Sizing by Means of Histograms

Traditional approaches in inventory control first estimate the demand distribution among a predefined family of distributions based on data fitting of historical demand observations, and then optimize the inventory control using the estimated distributions. These approaches often lead to fragile solutions whenever the preselected family of distributions was inadequate. In this article, we propose a minimax robust model that integrates data fitting and inventory optimization for the single‐item multi‐period periodic review stochastic lot‐sizing problem. In contrast with the standard assumption of given distributions, we assume that histograms are part of the input. The robust model generalizes the Bayesian model, and it can be interpreted as minimizing history‐dependent risk measures. We prove that the optimal inventory control policies of the robust model share the same structure as the traditional stochastic dynamic programming counterpart. In particular, we analyze the robust model based on the chi‐square goodness‐of‐fit test. If demand samples are obtained from a known distribution, the robust model converges to the stochastic model with true distribution under generous conditions. Its effectiveness is also validated by numerical experiments.     

Enhancing corporate social responsibility: Contract design under information asymmetry

We consider a two-stage supply chain in which a contract manufacturer (CM) sells products through a brand name retailer. The contract manufacturer can invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to improve customer perception about the firm and increase demand, while the retailer can influence the demand by exerting marketing efforts. We design optimal contracts for such a supply chain, which faces information asymmetry. The wholesale price contract was developed as the base model to derive insight into the value of information sharing. We examine the impact of CSR cost on CSR commitment and profits. We find that CM׳s CSR cost impacts the CM׳s and the retailer׳s profits differently. Under certain conditions, the CM׳s profit will increase with cost, while that of the retailer is uncertain. We also propose two-part tariff contracts for both the symmetric and asymmetric cases with the aim of maximizing the retailer׳s profit and improving CM׳s commitment to CSR. Finally, numerical experiments are conducted to illustrate and validate the proposed models and provide managerial insights.     

Information sharing in a supply chain with a make-to-stock manufacturer

We study ex ante information sharing in a supply chain consisting of a downstream retailer and a make-to-stock upstream manufacturer. The retailer has imperfect demand information and may choose to share it with the manufacturer. Based on the information sharing arrangement, the manufacturer makes the wholesale price and the stocking level decisions. Then the retailer decides the order quantity and the manufacturer fulfills the order up to the available stock level. We find that the retailer has an incentive to voluntarily share the information with the make-to-stock manufacturer if the magnitude of demand uncertainty is intermediate. This stands in sharp contrast with the existing studies which show that the retailer never shares information when the manufacturer is make-to-order. Our results highlight the interdependence between the retailer׳s incentive to share information and the manufacturer׳s operational and marketing decisions.