Controlling multi-level production in a rolling-schedule environment

We consider the multi-level lot-sizing problem in a rolling-schedule environment as it occurs in Material Requirements Planning systems, with no capacity constraints and a time-invariant cost structure. We show that the performance of fixed-horizon methods can be improved drastically in a rolling-schedule environment. We consider several improvement methods, such as the use of discounted costs and implementing a make-to-stock policy for the basic components.