This paper presents the derivation of decision rules for determining the amount of each item to produce and hold in inventory in a multi-product factory. Under certain conditions the rules are good approximations to optimal minimum cost solutions. The model assumes that production is determined...

Investments in operating assets with identical expected discounted return and identical risk characteristics (i.e., variances and higher moments) when measured at the outset may have significantly different patterns of uncertainty resolution over their lives. The concept of uncertainty...

This paper considers the theory and application of an alternative measure of stock-out cost in inventory control. Instead of recording the number of units of a product which are backordered, in certain situations it is appropriate to focus on the number or percentage of customer line items...

We consider the problem of managing two assets, cash and an earning asset, when net cash flows are stochastic and when there are transfer costs for transferring assets from one form to the other. Previous work on the stochastic cash-balance problem has assumed holding costs for holding excess...

Improved priority scheduling rules are presented for a repair shop supporting a multi-item repairable inventory system with a hierarchical product structure. A variety of scheduling rules are evaluated using a simulation of a representative shop and product structure. The results indicate that...

We consider the problem of production planning for a seasonal good which is produced in a multistage manner (e.g., when one or more components must be produced or purchased with a lead time that is long compared to the sales season). During the selling season, lost Bales occur if demand cannot...

A number of alternative data-generating processes are explored for mail-order demands for seasonal style-goods. Weekly demands for 126 items over an 18-week selling season provide the empirical data. Arguments are presented which result in the following candidates for data-generating processes:...

A sequential decision problem is partitioned into two parts: a stochastic model describing the transition probability density function of the state variable, and a separate framework of decision choices and payoffs. If a particular sequential decision problem is a recurring one, then there may...

A series of probabilistic models are formulated for the credit granting policy of a firm. First, a single-period analysis is presented for the two-action problem, "give credit or do not give credit." Then a multi-period analysis for the same problem is presented, showing that the single-period...

A general mathematical model is formulated for the problem of scheduling production quantities for a group of products with seasonal stochastic demand through a common production facility. It is assumed that revised forecasts of total demand over the season for each product become available as...