The impact of manufacturer rebates on supply chain profits

Manufacturer rebates are commonly used as price discount tools for attracting end customers. In this study, we consider a two‐stage supply chain with a manufacturer and a retailer, where a single seasonal product faces uncertain and price‐sensitive demand. We characterize the impact of a manufacturer rebate on the expected profits of both the manufacturer and the retailer. We show that unless all of the customers claim the rebate, the rebate always benefits the manufacturer. Our results thus imply that “mail‐in rebates,” where some customers end up not claiming the rebate, particularly when the size of the rebate is relatively small, always benefit the manufacturer. On the other hand, an “instant rebate,” such as the one offered in the automotive industry where every customer redeems the rebate on the spot when he/she purchases a car, does not necessarily benefit the manufacturer. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2007     

战时装备备件需求的多层次灰色预测

通过确定战时备件需求评价指标体系 ,运用层次分析原理和灰色理论 ,建立了战时备件需求的多层次灰色预测模型 ,并结合参战的某型舰的主机气阀弹簧的战损需求进行多层次灰色预测     

Supplier‐buyer contracting: Asymmetric cost information and cutoff level policy for buyer participation

We consider the problem of designing a contract to maximize the supplier's profit in a one‐supplier–one‐buyer relationship for a short‐life‐cycle product. Demand for the finished product is stochastic and price‐sensitive, and only its probability distribution is known when the supply contract is written. When the supplier has complete information on the marginal cost of the buyer, we show that several simple contracts can induce the buyer to choose order quantity that attains the single firm profit maximizing solution, resulting in the maximum possible profit for the supplier. When the marginal cost of the buyer is private information, we show that it is no longer possible to achieve the single firm solution. In this case, the optimal order quantity is always smaller while the optimal sale price of the finished product is higher than the single firm solution. The supplier's profit is lowered while that of the buyer is improved. Moreover, a buyer who has a lower marginal cost will extract more profit from the supplier. Under the optimal contract, the supplier employs a cutoff level policy on the buyer's marginal cost to determine whether the buyer should be induced to sign the contract. We characterize the optimal cutoff level and show how it depends on the parameters of the problem. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 48: 41–64, 2001     

Rolling‐horizon replenishment: Policies and performance analysis

We consider a rolling‐horizon (RH) replenishment modeling framework under which a buyer can update demand information and inventory status, modify order quantities committed previously, place an advanced order for a new period at the end of the RH, and move along in time seamlessly. We show that the optimal order policy for the two‐period RH problem is a dual‐threshold type for updating period(s) plus a base‐stock type for the advanced order. We provide analytical formulas and algorithms to compute the optimal thresholds and the optimal base‐stock level exactly. With our analytical results and numerical procedures, we demonstrate the significant value of RH replenishment in matching supplies to demands more closely. We also show that with RH updating (flexibility), the value of additional demand information beyond the RH diminishes quickly. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

基于任务可用度模型的指数分布型备件随舰携行量计算模型

针对现有的战备完好性计算模型与备件数量关联度不强的问题和基于战备完好性的备件数量计算大多采用仿真方法的不足,提出了能够考虑备件数量影响的舰船装备任务可用度的概念及其计算模型,并在此基础上研究了寿命服从指数分布的备件在故障后采用更换策略时,装备的任务可用度与备件携行量的关系,得到了一个可以通过解析计算确定备件数量的新模型...     

装备物资供应业务流程重组研究

为了适应信息化战争的需求,提高部队装备物资供应系统的敏捷性和可靠性,基于信息共享和业务流程的并行、同步化,建立了一个基于协调决策中心的物资供应系统模型,基于该模型对装备物资供应业务流程进行了重组,并提出了对装备物资供应系统业务流程进行重组应注意的一系列问题。重组后的装备物资供应系统可以有效地减少信息流经的环节和可能的信息失真,优化保障资源配置,提高物资供应的敏捷性,增强物资供应的主动性和针对性。     

消防给水系统检查和检测时应重视的问题

建筑固定消防设施中,室内外消火栓系统、自动喷水灭火系统是扑救火灾的主要设施,提出了在对消防给水系统检查时的要求和容易忽视的问题,探讨了在实际工作中进行消防给水系统的调试及检测的重点及注意事项。     

Technical note: Reexamination of all‐or‐none inspection policies in a supply chain with endogenous product quality

This note studies the optimal inspection policies in a supply chain in which a manufacturer purchases components from a supplier but has no direct control of component quality. The manufacturer uses an inspection policy and a damage cost sharing contract to encourage the supplier to improve the component quality. We find that all‐or‐none inspection policies are optimal for the manufacturer if the supplier's share of the damage cost is larger than a threshold; otherwise, the manufacturer should inspect a fraction of a batch. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

Nash bargaining over allocations in inventory pooling contracts

When facing uncertain demand, several firms may consider pooling their inventories leading to the emergence of two key contractual issues. How much should each produce or purchase for inventory purposes? How should inventory be allocated when shortages occur to some of the firms? Previously, if the allocations issue was considered, it was undertaken through evaluation of the consequences of an arbitrary priority scheme. We consider both these issues within a Nash bargaining solution (NBS) cooperative framework. The firms may not be risk neutral, hence a nontransferable utility bargaining game is defined. Thus the physical pooling mechanism itself must benefit the firms, even without any monetary transfers. The firms may be asymmetric in the sense of having different unit production costs and unit revenues. Our assumption with respect to shortage allocation is that a firm not suffering from a shortfall, will not be affected by any of the other firms' shortages. For two risk neutral firms, the NBS is shown to award priority on all inventory produced to the firm with higher ratio of unit revenue to unit production cost. Nevertheless, the arrangement is also beneficial for the other firm contributing to the total production. We provide examples of Uniform and Bernoulli demand distributions, for which the problem can be solved analytically. For firms with constant absolute risk aversion, the agreement may not award priority to any firm. Analytically solvable examples allow additional insights, e.g. that higher risk aversion can, for some problem parameters, cause an increase in the sum of quantities produced, which is not the case in a single newsvendor setting. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

住宅小区消防给水设计问题探讨

住宅小区消防给水设计不同于城市给水设计,也有别于普通建筑给水设计,在一个住宅小区内可以考虑消防给水系统设施的共享,建立区域消防给水系统。以两个住宅小区的消防给水设计为例,从水泵结合器的设置,消防水泵、屋顶消防水箱以及自动喷洒给水系统的共用等方面对区域消防给水设计进行了讨论。