The purpose of this paper is to develop a model which allows for the study and optimization of arbitrarily complex supply networks, including order policies and money flows. We propose a mathematical description that captures the dynamic behavior of the system by a coupled system of ordinary...

We develop a methodology to investigate optimal dynamic policies for a large class of supply networks. The basic underlying model is a fluid dynamic model for continuous product flows in continuous time. Discrete as well as continuous controls are implemented.

The flow of parts through a production network is usually pre-planned by a central control system. Such central control fails in presence of highly fluctuating demand and/or unforeseen disturbances. To manage such dynamic networks according to low work-in-progress and short throughput times, an...

The buffer allocation problem consists of a dynamical description of the underlying production process combined with stochastic processing times. The aim is to find optimal buffer sizes averaged over several samples. Starting from a time-discrete recursion we derive a time-continuous model...