Approximation Algorithms for Capacitated Perishable Inventory Systems with Positive Lead Times

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chao, Xiuli; Gong, Xiting; Shi, Cong; Yang, Chaolin; Zhang, Huanan; Zhou, Sean X.
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; Chinese University of Hong Kong; Chinese University of Hong Kong; Shanghai University of Finance & Economics; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2886
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 5038-5061
• 关键词: APPROXIMATION ALGORITHM; perishable inventory; finite capacity; positive lead time; correlated demand; worst-case performance guarantee

摘要

Managing perishable inventory systems with positive lead times and finite ordering capacities is important but notoriously difficult in both theory and computation. The optimal control policy is extremely complicated, and no effective heuristic policy has been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we develop an easy-to-compute approximation algorithm for this class of problems and prove that it admits a theoretical worst-case performance guarantee under independent and many commonly used positively correlated demand processes. Our worst-case analysis departs significantly from those in the previous studies, requiring several novel ideas. In particular, we introduce a transient unit-matching rule to dynamically match the supply and demand units, and the notion of associated demand processes that provides the right future demand information to establish the desired results. Our numerical study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.