Impact of reseller's and sales agent's forecasting accuracy in a multilayer supply chain

We consider a three‐layer supply chain with a manufacturer, a reseller, and a sales agent. The demand is stochastically determined by the random market condition and the sales agent's private effort level. Although the manufacturer is uninformed about the market condition, the reseller and the sales agent conduct demand forecasting and generate private demand signals. Under this framework with two levels of adverse selection intertwined with moral hazard, we study the impact of the reseller's and the sales agent's forecasting accuracy on the profitability of each member. We show that the manufacturer's profitability is convex on the reseller's forecasting accuracy. From the manufacturer's perspective, typically improving the reseller's accuracy is detrimental when the accuracy is low but is beneficial when it is high. We identify the concrete interrelation among the manufacturer‐optimal reseller's accuracy, the volatility of the market condition, and the sales agent's accuracy. Finally, the manufacturer's interest may be aligned with the reseller's when only the reseller can choose her accuracy; this alignment is never possible when both downstream players have the discretion to choose their accuracy. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 207–222, 2014     

The burglar problem with multiple options

We consider the burglar problem in which a burglar can either retire or choose among different types of burglaries, with each type having its own success probability and reward distribution. Some general structural results are established and, in the case of exponentially distributed reward distributions, a solution technique is presented. The burglar problem's relationship to a stochastic knapsack problem with a random exponentially distributed knapsack capacity is shown. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 359–364, 2014     

Return policy: Hassle‐free or your money‐back guarantee?

This article compares the profitability of two pervasively adopted return policies—money‐back guarantee and hassle‐free policies. In our model, a seller sells to consumers with heterogeneous valuations and hassle costs. Products are subject to quality risk, and product misfit can only be observed post‐purchase. While the hassle‐free policy is cost advantageous from the seller's viewpoint, a money‐back guarantee allows the seller to fine‐tune the consumer hassle on returning the product. Thus, when the two return policies lead to the same consumer behaviors, the hassle‐free policy dominates. Conversely, a money‐back guarantee can be more profitable even if on average, high‐valuation consumers experience a lower hassle cost than the low‐valuation ones. The optimal hassle cost can be higher when product quality gets improved; thus, it is not necessarily a perfect proxy or signal of the seller's quality. We further allow the seller to adopt a mixture of these policies, and identify the concrete operating regimes within which these return policies are optimal among more flexible policies. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 403–417, 2014     

Strategic outsourcing under technology spillovers

We study a supply chain in which an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a contract manufacturer (CM) compete in the finished goods market. The OEM can decide whether to outsource the intermediate good, a critical component for producing the finished good, from the CM or make in‐house production. Technology transition improves the CM's production efficiency, and it can take two different forms: a direct technology transfer from the OEM to the CM or technology spillovers through outsourcing from the OEM to the CM. We document the possibility of strategic outsourcing, that is, the CM supplies the intermediate good to the OEM when she is less efficient than the OEM's in‐house production. We find that technology spillovers can strengthen the incentive for strategic outsourcing. Furthermore, compared with direct technology transfers, outsourcing coupled with technology spillovers may generate more technology transition. Outsourcing is a particularly appropriate channel for implicit collusion when the OEM is not very efficient with the production of the intermediate good. Our results suggest that ex post competition on the finished goods can create room for ex ante collaboration and provide some implications on the OEM's outsourcing strategies when facing a competitive CM.© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 501–514, 2014     

基于蚁群算法的电子设备多值测试故障诊断策略

测试序列优化设计是故障诊断中的重要组成部分,最优测试序列能提高故障诊断的效率,常见的故障诊断系统均基于二值属性,而多值属性系统的测试优化问题研究的较少。针对多值属性系统测试序列优化问题的特点,提出了一种改进蚁群算法,结合二值属性系统和多值属性系统的关系,设计了适应于多值属性优化的状态转移规则和信息素更新机制。针对在等测试费用和故障先验概率的情况下不能寻优的问题,制定了对应的优化标准,符合实际的测试需求。通过对比试验,证明了其能解决电子系统多值属性系统的序列优化问题,扩展了多值属性电子系统的测试优化策略。     

基于Hurst指数的油罐声发射信号分析

由油罐声发射检测直接得出油罐底板状态等级的评价研究工作有待完善。提出一种基于Hurst指数理论分析声发射信号幅值最大值分布的评价方法。从Hurst指数分形理论出发,结合声发射信号参数处理方法,给出研究条件假设,分析现场油罐声发射信号结果,并与开罐检测的底板状况加以对比分析。研究发现,相同检测条件,同种类型油罐底板状态等级与Hurst指数呈相反的关系。     

LEACH—DRT算法中基于神经网络的数据预测算法

为了保证无线传感器网络中数据的完整性,针对基于LEACH路由协议的动态轮时间算法存在的问题,提出一种基于人工神经网络的数据预测算法。该动态轮时间算法中,部分簇因调整后的轮时间不足以完成数据的采集而丢失数据。数据预测算法结合传感器节点数据具有时空相关性的特点,将时空延迟算子引入神经网络模型,并通过建立的神经网络模型对数据进行预测。仿真时采用伯克利英特尔实验室的传感器数据,通过Mafl软件对模型进行测试并分析仿真结果。实验结果表明：该算法对连续多个数据的预测效果理想,预测误差始终保持在较低水平。     

Joint inventory and pricing decisions for perishable products with two‐period lifetime

We consider a periodic review model over a finite horizon for a perishable product with fixed lifetime equal to two review periods. The excess demand in a period is backlogged. The optimal replenishment and demand management (using price) decisions for such a product depend on the relative order of consumption of fresh and old units. We obtain insights on the structure of these decisions when the order of consumption is first‐in, first‐out and last‐in, first‐out. For the FIFO system, we also obtain bounds on both the optimal replenishment quantity as well as expected demand. We compare the FIFO system to two widely analyzed inventory systems that correspond to nonperishable and one‐period lifetime products to understand if demand management would modify our understanding of the relationship among the three systems. In a counterintuitive result, we find that it is more likely that bigger orders are placed in the FIFO system than for a nonperishable product when demand is managed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2013     

精密加工过程切削用量和表面粗糙度关系的模糊化处理方法

在金属切削原理中,用切削用量可以估计理论表面粗糙度。由于切削过程的复杂性,实际加工表面粗糙度和理论表面粗糙度有较大差距。本文采用模糊模式识别方法,对切削用量和表面粗糙度的关系进行了实验研究。本人介绍的理论方法、实现技术路线和实验结果,为以后开展ＦＭＳ或ＣＩＭＳ中智能化质量监控技术的进一步研究打下了基础。     

阶比谱分析与汽车起动电机故障的实时诊断

本文主要论述阶比谱分析方法及其在汽车起动电机故障实时诊断中的应用。首先阐述了阶比谱分析的原理以及阶比采样中混迭与泄漏的产生及其抑制方法,然后讨论了如何在起动电机运行过程短、升速快的情况下获取感兴趣的噪声信号,进而采用阶比谱分析方法从信号中提取故障特征信息,最后利用阀值判别法起动电机的故障进行实时诊断。