Spatial pricing and product allocation in online retailing

Spatial pricing means a retailer price discriminates its customers based on their geographic locations. In this article, we study how an online retailer should jointly allocate multiple products and facilitate spatial price discrimination to maximize profits. When deciding between a centralized product allocation ((i.e., different products are allocated to the same fulfillment center) and decentralized product allocation (ie, different products are allocated to different fulfillment centers), the retailer faces the tradeoff between shipment pooling (ie, shipping multiple products in one package), and demand localization (ie, stocking products to satisfy local demand) based on its understanding of customers' product valuations. In our basic model, we consider two widely used spatial pricing policies: free on board (FOB) pricing that charges each customer the exact amount of shipping cost, and uniform delivered (UD) pricing that provides free shipping. We propose a stylized model and find that centralized product allocation is preferred when demand localization effect is relatively low or shipment pooling benefit is relatively high under both spatial pricing policies. Moreover, centralized product allocation is more preferred under the FOB pricing which encourages the purchase of virtual bundles of multiple products. Furthermore, we respectively extend the UD and FOB pricing policies to flat rate shipping (ie, the firm charges a constant shipping fee for each purchase), and linear rate shipping (ie, the firm sets the shipping fee as a fixed proportion of firm's actual fulfillment costs). While similar observations from the basic model still hold, we find the firm can improve its profit by sharing the fulfillment cost with its customers via the flat rate or linear rate shipping fee structure.     

面向多平台多目标协同跟踪的指派问题

针对多平台多目标协同跟踪中要求多个无人地面平台尽可能均匀地协同跟踪多个目标的特点,提出了改进的离散粒子群优化算法。首先采用连续型粒子群优化算法中的速度和位置迭代公式,然后对粒子位置进行离散编码,使粒子编码对应于可行的指派方案;其次,在优化算法中引入局部搜索,提高算法寻优性能。最后将所提算法应用于多平台多目标协同跟踪中的指派问题,并与未加入局部搜索的粒子群优化算法比较,仿真结果表明,加入局部搜索后的离散粒子群优化算法具有较好的寻优性能。     

并联系统可靠性分配的模糊层次分析法

综合考虑影响系统可靠性分配的定性因素和定量因素、影响因素的模糊性以及系统的结构组成.利用层次分析法可集定性与定量分析于一体,从而确定出各影响因素对可靠性分配的权重向量;模糊数学理论进而确定出分系统之间可靠性水平的相对比重;进行模糊变换最终进行并联系统的可靠性分配.结合实例分析,对并联系统运用模糊理论和层次分析法相结合的方法进行可靠性分配科学、合理,便于工程应用.     

自适应调制的MIMO OFDM系统的性能分析

分析了MIMO OFDM的系统模型,研究了MIMO OFDM系统的自适应调制技术,给出了完整的自适应算法,探讨了自适应MIMO OFDM系统的频谱效率。仿真结果表明,自适应调制提高了MIMO OFDM的误比特率性能。     

Pricing and capacity allocation strategies: Implications for manufacturers with product sharing

Emerging sharing modes, like the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sharing of Uber and the business-to-consumer (B2C) sharing of GoFun, have considerably affected the retailing markets of traditional manufacturers, who are motivated to consider product sharing when making pricing and capacity decisions, particularly electric car manufacturers with limited capacity. In this paper, we examine the equilibrium pricing for a capacity-constrained manufacturer under various sharing modes and further analyze the impact of capacity constraint on the manufacturer's sharing mode selection as well as equilibrium outcomes. We find that manufacturers with low-cost products prefer B2C sharing while those with high-cost products prefer C2C sharing except when the sharing price is moderate. However, limited capacity motivates manufacturers to enter into the B2C sharing under a relatively low sharing price, and raise the total usage level by sharing high-cost products. We also show that the equilibrium capacity allocated to the sharing market with low-cost products first increases and then decreases. Finally, we find that sharing low-cost products with a high limited capacity leads to a lower retail price under B2C sharing, which creates a win-win situation for both the manufacturer and consumers. However, sharing high-cost products with a low limited capacity creates a win-lose situation for them.     

Evergreening and operational risk under price competition

“Evergreening” is a strategy wherein an innovative pharmaceutical firm introduces an upgrade of its current product when the patent on this product expires. The upgrade is introduced with a new patent and is designed to counter competition from generic manufacturers that seek to imitate the firm's existing product. However, this process is fraught with uncertainty because the upgrade is subject to stringent guidelines and faces approval risk. Thus, an incumbent firm has to make an upfront production capacity investment without clarity on whether the upgrade will reach the market. This uncertainty may also affect the capacity investment of a competing manufacturer who introduces a generic version of the incumbent's existing product but whose market demand depends on the success or failure of the upgrade. We analyze a game where capacity investment occurs before uncertainty resolution and firms compete on prices thereafter. Capacity considerations that arise due to demand uncertainty introduce new factors into the evergreening decision. Equilibrium analysis reveals that the upgrade's estimated approval probability needs to exceed a threshold for the incumbent to invest in evergreening. This threshold for evergreening increases as the intensity of competition in the generic market increases. If evergreening is optimal, the incumbent's capacity investment is either decreasing or nonmonotonic with respect to low end market competition depending on whether the level of product improvement in the upgrade is low or high. If the entrant faces a capacity constraint, then the probability threshold for evergreening is higher than the case where the entrant is not capacity constrained. Finally, by incorporating the risk‐return trade‐off that the incumbent faces in terms of the level of product improvement versus the upgrade success probability, we can characterize policy for a regulator. We show that the introduction of capacity considerations may maximize market coverage and/or social surplus at incremental levels of product improvement in the upgrade. This is contrary to the prevalent view of regulators who seek to curtail evergreening involving incremental product improvement. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 63: 71–89, 2016     

测试性增长中资源优化配置模型及求解

良好的测试性设计对系统维修性具有重要意义,测试性增长试验通过一系列测试性设计缺陷发现和纠正措施,可保证系统测试性指标达到设计要求。针对基于延缓纠正的测试性增长过程中的资源配置问题进行研究,基于增长试验目标是否明确和试验资源是否受限制问题构建资源优化配置模型,并提出一种基于拉格朗日松弛和本地搜索的快速优化算法。仿真结果表明:该模型能够有效指导测试性增长中的资源优化配置问题,所提混合优化方法能够高效、准确地求解整数规划问题。     

A bicriterion approach to common flow allowances due window assignment and scheduling with controllable processing times

We investigate a single‐machine scheduling problem for which both the job processing times and due windows are decision variables to be determined by the decision maker. The job processing times are controllable as a linear or convex function of the amount of a common continuously divisible resource allocated to the jobs, where the resource allocated to the jobs can be used in discrete or continuous quantities. We use the common flow allowances due window assignment method to assign due windows to the jobs. We consider two performance criteria: (i) the total weighted number of early and tardy jobs plus the weighted due window assignment cost, and (ii) the resource consumption cost. For each resource consumption function, the objective is to minimize the first criterion, while keeping the value of the second criterion no greater than a given limit. We analyze the computational complexity, devise pseudo‐polynomial dynamic programming solution algorithms, and provide fully polynomial‐time approximation schemes and an enhanced volume algorithm to find high‐quality solutions quickly for the considered problems. We conduct extensive numerical studies to assess the performance of the algorithms. The computational results show that the proposed algorithms are very efficient in finding optimal or near‐optimal solutions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 64: 41–63, 2017     

子弹均匀散布子母弹最有利火力分配方法

在将子弹均匀散布的椭圆区域等效转换为矩形区域的基础上,建立了适宽射向射击子母弹对矩形目标毁伤全概率计算的数学模型。通过函数转换和泛函分析给出了子弹均匀散布子母弹理想射击密度,得到了理想射击密度下对目标的毁伤概率计算公式。讨论了最有利火力分配方式的确定方法,给出了最优射向间隔和表尺差的计算公式,为便于实际应用,给出了最优火力分配计算中所需的3个参数的近似计算公式,最后给出了应用算例。     

大学自习教室优化设置研究

针对目前大学自习教室资源浪费普遍存在的现象,将学生上自习与否视为独立同分布随机变量,从自习教室的管理与维护成本、电费成本以及学生的满意度3个方面出发,建立了双目标随机规划模型,并在模型基础上提出了大学自习教室设置的一般方法。通过实例分析,对模型的正确性和有效性进行了论证。结果表明:在各种情况下,该模型都能很好地解决自习教室设置这一问题,并且能在学生满意度较高的条件下,节约能源13%以上。该模型可以有效地对自习教室进行优化设置,不仅提高了资源利用水平,而且节约了能源。