This paper considers the dynamic lot sizing problem of H. M. Wagner and T. M. Whitin with the assumption that the total cost of n setups is a concave nondecreasing function of n. Such setup costs could arise from the worker learning in setups and/or technological improvements in setup methods....

We are concerned with a discrete-time undiscounted dynamic lot size model m which demand and cost parameters are constant for an initial few periods. As our main result, we obtain an upper bound on the number of these periods which guarantees the optimality of the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ)...

We derive a sharp upper bound on the minimal forecast horizon in the discounted dynamic lot size model with constant initial demand. This bound is given by m(m 1), where m is the EOQ's worth, i.e., the number of periods for which the total demand equals Economic Order Quantity. Our results do...

Supply chain coordination and associated contracts have been active research topics in supply chain management. Yet, little has been done in addressing the robustness of the design, evaluation, and implementation of such contracts. We develop a consistency framework for supply chain contracts...

Linear optimal control problems with state inequality constraints is an important class of large systems. This paper shows that a generalized programming formulation of these problems does not result in a decomposition over time or a maximum principle as it does for problems without the state...

We propose a new class of knapsack problems by assiuning that the sizes of the items to be put into a knapsack are known to be elements 0f a given subset S of the positive integers Z'^. The set S is treated as a parameter. We show that the family of knapsack problems obtained by varying the...

We consider a production-inventory planning problem with time-varying demands, convex production costs and a warehouse capacity constraint. It is solved by use of the Lagrangian form of the maximum principle. The possible existence of strong decision and forecast horizons is demonstrated. When...

This paper describes a maximum principle for distributed parameter systems, i.e. systems characterized by partial differential equations. The maximum principle is applied to solve the problem of a cattle rancher who must decide the number of cattle in different age groups to be bought and sold...