Contracting Under Vendor Managed Inventory Systems Using Holding Cost Subsidies

Vendor managed inventory systems are becoming increasingly popular. An important issue in implementing a vendor managed inventory scheme is the contracting terms that dictate the ownership of the inventory and the responsibility of inventory replenishment decisions. Thus the performance of a vendor managed system crucially depends on these terms and on how inventory‐related costs are shared in a supply chain. We consider a system where a manufacturer supplies a single product to a retailer who faces random demand in a competitive market. The retailer incurs a fixed cost per order, inventory holding cost, and a penalty cost for a stockout (unsatisfied demand is back‐ordered). Further, the manufacturer incurs a penalty cost when there is a stockout at the retailer and a fixed replenishment cost. We assume that the players are rational and act noncooperatively. We compare the performance of retailer managed inventory systems, where the retailer places orders and makes replenishment decisions, with vendor managed inventory systems, wherein the vendor or manufacturer makes inventory and replenishment decisions. Specifically, in the vendor managed inventory system, we propose and evaluate holding cost subsidy‐type contracts on inventories offered by the retailer to improve system performance. We evaluate this contract in the context of three widely used inventory systems—deterministic economic order quantity, continuous review (Q, r) policies, and periodic review policies—and show when such contracts may improve channel performance.     

Order Progress Information: Improved Dynamic Emergency Ordering Policies

Technologies such as radio‐frequency identification and global positioning systems can provide improved real‐time tracking information for products and replenishment orders along the supply chain. We call this type of visibility order progress information. In this paper, we investigate how order progress information can be used to improve inventory replenishment decisions. To this end, we examine a retailer facing a stochastic lead time for order fulfillment. We characterize a replenishment policy that is based on the classical (Q, R) policy and that allows for releasing emergency orders in response to the order progress information. We show that the optimal structure of this policy is given by a sequence of threshold values dependent on order progress information. In a numerical study we evaluate the cost savings due to this improved replenishment policy.     

Value of Sharing Production Yield Information in a Serial Supply Chain

New developments in corporate information technology such as enterprise resource planning systems have significantly increased the flow of information among members of supply chains. However, the benefits of sharing information can vary depending on the supply chain structure and its operational characteristics. Most of the existing research has studied the impact of sharing downstream information (e.g., a manufacturer sharing information with its suppliers). We evaluate the benefits of sharing upstream yield information (e.g., a supplier sharing information with the manufacturer) in a two‐stage serial supply chain in which the supplier has multiple internal processes and is faced with uncertain output due to yield losses. We are interested in determining when the sharing of the supplier's information is most beneficial to the manufacturer. After proposing an order‐up‐to type heuristic policy, we perform a detailed computational study and observe that this information is most beneficial when the supplier's yield variance is high and when end‐customer demand variance is low. We also find that the manufacturer's backorder‐to‐holding cost ratio has little, if any, impact on the usefulness of information.     

基于EOQ模型的存货质押融资业务模式选择研究

委托监管模式、物流银行模式和统一授信融资模式是存货质押融资的几种主要模式,本文采用EOQ模型研究了这三种融资模式下供应链成员的决策和收益情况,并分析了这三种融资模式中制造商与物流企业参与融资的条件。通过对融资模式进行比较分析,论文指出了融资模式对供应链成员收益的影响。主要研究结论指出,在质押率和融资利率的特定区域内,物流企业和制造商同时愿意参与质押融资。由于在统一授信模式中,银行的日常的运营成本比委托监管模式低,银行获得比委托监管模式更多的利润。在选择融资模式时,银行更偏好于统一授信模式。对于物流企业来说,若统一授信模式中物流企业的沉淀资金收益率大于银行的利率,它的利润要比委托监管模式更多,否则要少于委托监管模式。本文的研究结论为存货质押融资业务的模式选择提供了一些的理论参考。     

通货膨胀下的联合库存选址模型研究

研究了通货膨胀对涉及一个供应商、多个候选配送中心和零售商的三级分销网络设计的影响.不同于传统的联合库存选址模型,所研究的模型考虑了整个系统的相关成本的时间价值,其目标是使在一定的通货膨胀率下总的选址、运输和库存成本之和的现值最小.为此,建立了一个非线性的整数规划模型,该模型为无容量约束问题的扩展模型,属于NP-hard问题.提出了3种基于不同编码形式的遗传算法用于求解该模型,并通过不同规模的算例对3种算法进行了有效性的分析和对比.最后,通过对各算例的计算结果的分析,发现随着通货膨胀率的增长,为了使这个分析网络的总成本现值最小,需要增加建立的DC的数量.     

集成化物流管理中库存路径问题研究综述

综合国内外多种参考文献,介绍了IRP的基本概念及其主要特征,从常见模型、求解策略及算法2个维度综述了当前国内外关于IRP的主要研究进展,最后指出了该研究领域在未来研究中应予以重视的几个研究方向,为进一步的研究奠定了基础.     

服务水平约束下的建筑安装行业多仓库联合库存系统模型研究

本文针对建筑安装行业库存管理的特点,对其不同地点的多个仓库的库存方式进行综合分析,建立了服务水平约束下的建筑安装行业多仓库联合库存系统模型,给出了相应的数学模型与算法。通过算例验证表明,服务水平约束下的建筑安装行业多仓库联合库存系统模型可以有效降低建设项目的库存成本,对增加企业利润有着十分重要的现实意义。     

'信息割据'下的沟通失效与公共论坛重建————发现互联网时代新的公共论坛原则

传统公共论坛原则关注宪法上公民言论自由权利的平等保护,却无法解决互联网时代的沟通无效问题。互联网带来了信息传播工具和主体的变革,但由于“信息割据”造成的沟通失效,网络发展对政治和社会稳定产生了不容忽视的副作用。这种副作用主要表现在“观念市场”的失灵、“群体极化”、标签化倾向以及由此带来的社会群体之间的矛盾。一种新的公共论坛原则对解决这种无效沟通问题提供了可能方案,这种以公共性、兼容性、有效性为核心的新公共论坛原则试图在充分保障言论自由的同时消减网络传媒的副作用,也为主流媒体如何成为真正的主流、发挥稳定社会的作用提供了启示。     

价格随机波动下银行的存货质押融资定价模型

质押物价格的波动增加了银行存货质押融资业务的风险.通过价格随机波动的存货,构建了下侧风险规避的银行存货质押融资模型.研究表明：银行的期望利润、存货质押率与质押物期初价格和企业违约率成负相关,融资利率与质押物期末价格无关且等于人民银行规定利率上限值.同时,分析了质押存货的期末价格分别服从正态分布、对数正态分布时银行的定价决策,可为中小企业的融资提供一定的理论依据.