Author:

Keywords:

Inventory, One-way substitution, Newsvendor, Social Sciences, Science & Technology, Technology, Management, Operations Research & Management Science, Business & Economics, LATERAL TRANSSHIPMENTS, INVESTMENT STRATEGIES, MULTIPLE-PERIOD, COMMONALITY, MODELS, POLICIES, DEMAND, Inventory management, Operations Research, 40 Engineering, 46 Information and computing sciences, 49 Mathematical sciences

Abstract:

This paper presents an insightful approach to analyze two-item periodic inventory systems with one-way substitution. The objective is to minimize the expected total cost per period, which consists of expected purchasing costs, expected inventory holding costs, expected shortage costs, and expected adjustment costs. This approach helps derive the optimality conditions in both single-period and infinite horizon settings and yields useful insights into the impact of substitution on the service level, the optimality of a borderline case in which the order-up-to level of the inflexible item is reduced to zero, and the pivotal role of the purchasing cost.