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Approximate dynamic programming for lateral transshipment problems in multi-location inventory systems

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  • Meissner, Joern
  • Senicheva, Olga V.

Abstract

Companies commonly allocate their inventories across multiple locations based on their historical sales rates. However, random fluctuations in customer purchases, such as those caused by weather conditions and other external factors, might cause significant deviations from expected demand, leading to excess stock in some locations and stockouts in others. To fix this mismatch, companies often turn to lateral transshipments, e.g., the movement of stock between locations of the same echelon.

Suggested Citation

  • Meissner, Joern & Senicheva, Olga V., 2018. "Approximate dynamic programming for lateral transshipment problems in multi-location inventory systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 265(1), pages 49-64.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:265:y:2018:i:1:p:49-64
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2017.06.049
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    5. Hao Guo & Congdong Li & Ying Zhang & Chunnan Zhang & Mengmeng Lu, 2018. "A Location-Inventory Problem in a Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Secondary Market Consideration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Bhatnagar, Rohit & Lin, Bing, 2019. "The joint transshipment and production control policies for multi-location production/inventory systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(3), pages 957-970.
    7. Dehghani, Maryam & Abbasi, Babak & Oliveira, Fabricio, 2021. "Proactive transshipment in the blood supply chain: A stochastic programming approach," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    8. Somarin, Aghil Rezaei & Sharma, Pankaj & Tiwari, Sunil & Chen, Songlin, 2023. "Stock reallocation policy for repairable service parts in case of supply disruptions due to extreme weather events," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dynamic programming; Multi-location inventory; Proactive transshipments; Lost sales; Concave piecewise-linear approximation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis

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