Browsing by Subject "inventory"
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Item Coordination of supply chain inventory systems with private information(Texas A&M University, 2007-04-25) Chu, Chi-LeungThis dissertation considers the problems of coordinating different supply chain inventory systems with private information under deterministic settings. These systems studied are characterized by the following properties: (a) each facility in the system has self decision-making authority, (b) cost parameters of each facility are regarded as private information that no other facilities in the system have access to, and (c) partial information is shared among the facilities. Because of the above properties, the existing approaches for systems with global information may not be applicable. Thus, new approaches for coordinating supply chain inventory systems with private information are needed. This dissertation first studies two two-echelon distribution inventory systems. Heuristics for finding the replenishment policy of each facility are developed under global information environment. In turn, the heuristics are modified to solve the problems with private information. An important characteristic of the heuristics developed for the private information environment is that they provide the same solutions as their global information counterpart. Then, more complex multi-echelon serial and assembly supply chain inventory systems with private information are studied. The solution approach decomposes the problem into separate subproblems such that the private information is divided as required. Global optimality is sought with an iterative procedure in which the subproblems negotiate the material flows between facilities. At the core of the solution procedure is a node-model that represents a facility and its corresponding private information. Using the node-model as a building block, other supply chains can be formed by linking the node-models according to the product and information flows. By computational experiments, the effect of the private information on the performance of the supply chain is tested by comparing the proposed approach against existing heuristics that utilize global information. Experimental results show that the proposed approach provides comparable results as those of the existing heuristics with global information.Item The transporter's impact on channel coordination and contractual agreements(Texas A&M University, 2006-10-30) Mutlu, FatihThis dissertation focuses on the recent supply chain initiatives, such as Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Third-Party Logistics (3PL), enabling the coordination of supply chain entities; e.g., suppliers, buyers, and transporters. With these initiatives, substantial savings are realizable by carefully coordinating inventory, transportation, and pricing decisions. The impact is particularly tangible when the transporter's role and the transportation costs are explicitly incorporated into decision mechanisms that aim to coordinate the supply channel. Furthermore, expanding the perspective of channel coordination by introducing the transporter as an individual party in the channel provides tangible benefits for each member of the channel. Recognizing the need for further analytical research in the field of multi-echelon inventory and channel coordination, we developed and solved a class of integrated inventory and transportation models with explicit shipment consolidation considerations. Moreover, we examined transporter-buyer and supplier-transporter-buyer channels and solved centralized and decentralized models for these channels with the aim of investigating the impact of transporters on channel performance. In this dissertation, we also developed efficient coordination mechanisms between the transporter and the other parties in the channel.Item Time-to-Produce, Inventory, and Asset Prices(2012-10-19) Chen, ZhanhuiIn a production-based general equilibrium model, I study the impact of time-to-build and time-to-produce technology constraints and inventory on asset prices and macroeconomic quantity dynamics. A time-to-build constraint captures the delay in transforming new investment into productive capital; a time-to-produce constraint captures the delay in transforming productive capital into final products. Empirically, I find that the U.S. economy in aggregate exhibits approximately a three-quarter time-to-build and a four-quarter time-to-produce constraint. These delays in the production process introduce short-run risks in the economy where inventory accumulation facilitates consumption smoothing over time. Using this structure for time-to-build and time-to-produce constraints, I numerically calibrate a production-based general equilibrium model where the representative investor has recursive preferences over consumption and inventory. The model delivers first and second moments of macroeconomic quantities and asset prices consistent with the data. A small elasticity of intertemporal substitution is necessary to positively price the short-run risks induced by the production constraints. Inventories help fit the volatilities of asset returns, while the time-to-produce feature ensures nontrivial inventory holdings. In addition, the model is able to match empirical lead-lag patterns between asset prices and macroeconomic quantities as well as observed equity return predictability.