The impact of controllable production rates on the performance of inventory systems: A systematic review of the literature

The lot sizing problem has attracted the attention of researchers for more than a century, and it still belongs to the most relevant decision problems in many manufacturing companies. During the evolution of research on lot sizing, the seminal economic order quantity (EOQ) model proposed by Harris [1913. How many parts to make at once. Factory, the Magazine of Management, 10 (2), 135-136.] has remained the most popular model, despite its limitations. To support lot sizing decisions in practice, researchers have frequently extended Harris’ basic EOQ model to better reflect the characteristics of real production processes. One of these extensions is the consideration of controllable (variable) production rates, which gives production planners more flexibility in managing the build-up and depletion of inventory and in controlling costs.