Accession Number:

ADA073453

Title:

Designing a Multi-Product Multi-Echelon Inventory System,

Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIV WASHINGTON D C PROGRAM IN LOGISTICS

Personal Author(s):

• Gross,Donald
• Pinkus,Charles E.
• Soland,Richard M.

Report Date:

1979-06-22

Pagination or Media Count:

67.0

Abstract:

Large scale inventory distribution systems typically require a hierarchy of retail stores and warehouses to satisfy the demands of their customers. This paper presents a 0-1 nonlinear programming model for finding the best design of such systems. To use this model, it is necessary to know the optimal inventory policies for multi-echelon system. Therefore, part of this paper is devoted to describing how a dynamic programming approach, first suggested by Andrew Clark, can be used to obtained these policies. The paper presents examples of the use of the nonlinear programming model to find the design of an inventory distribution system. Finally, we present a reformulation of the nonlinear programming model as a 0-1 linear programming model, incorporate capacity constraints at the retail stores and warehouses, and illustrate the use of the new model. Author

Descriptors:

• *INVENTORY CONTROL
• *NONLINEAR PROGRAMMING
• MATHEMATICAL MODELS
• ALGORITHMS
• DISTRIBUTION
• SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
• DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING
• WAREHOUSES

Subject Categories:

• Theoretical Mathematics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE