Bakgrund: Ett lager är en viktig del av de flesta värdekedjor. Stora ansträngningar har därför under de senaste åren gjorts för att finna optimala strategier för planering och kontroll av lagersystem. För att uppnå en ökad produktion krävs det att kapacitetsutnyttjandet förbättras. Genom att planera sin kapacitet kan företag reducera kapacitetsbegräsningar, så kallade flaskhalsar, som är nyckeln till att förbättra produktionens kapacitetsutnyttjande. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva Staples nuvarande kapacitetsutnyttjande i påfyllnads- och plockprocessen. Vidare avser studien att identifiera kapacitetsbegränsningar inom dessa processer. Därefter ämnar studien att finna de bakomliggande orsakerna till dessa kapacitetsbegränsningar samt hur de kan förbättras. Metod: Det har genomförts ostrukturerade intervjuer, semi-strukturerade intervjuer, deltagande observationer samt insamling av kvantitativ data. Inledningsvis genomfördes en processkartläggning i syfte som ett verktyg för resterande delar av studien. Vidare utfördes beräkningar för att finna flaskhalsar i produktionen och intervjuer för att identifiera störningsmoment inom flaskhalsarna. Slutligen presenterades ett antal förbättringsförslag. Slutsatser: Efter genomförda beräkningar framgick att Staples idag inte utnyttjar sin kapacitet maximalt, dock är maximal kapacitet är en nivå som inte anses vara rimlig. Det framgick att Staples har ett kapacitetsbortfall på grund av att det finns en differens mellan nominell kapacitet och bruttokapacitet. Slutsatsen drogs att följande tre aktiviteter utgör flaskhalsar i Staples verksamhet; godsmottagning, plock ZtZ (plock av framförallt tyngre och otympliga artiklar) och plock PTS (detaljplock). Inom dessa flaskhalsar påträffades ett antal störningsmoment som till stor del har grund inom deiiiteoretiska områdena som Stevenson (2009), Slack et al. (2012) och Bergman och Klefsjö (2012) benämner som anläggning och teknik samt metod. Vidare fastslogs att en svårighet finns i att ge kortsiktiga förbättringsförslag för dessa störningsmoment. Detta på grund av studiens tidsram samt att det berör ämnen utanför studiens omfattning. Det presenteras dock tre scenarier för att hitta en fördelaktig fördelning av kapacitet mellan PTS och ZtZ. Dessa scenarier bygger på tre tidsintervaller för hur produktionen är igång samt två plockhastigheter. Baserat på att PTS:en innehar en större andel aktiva arbetstimmar och en högre plockhastighet är scenario 3 mest fördelaktigt eftersom det krävs att ZtZ är minst verksam. / Background: A warehouse is an important part of most value chains. Great effort has in recent years been made to find optimal strategies for planning and control of storage system. In order to achieve a higher production it requires the capacity utilization to be improved. By planning its capacity, companies can reduce capacity constraints, so-called bottlenecks, which is the key to improving the production’s capacity utilization. Purpose: The aim of this study is to describe Staples current capacity utilization in the filling and picking process. Furthermore, the study aim to identify capacity constraints in these processes. Then, the study intends to find the causes of these capacity constraints and how they can be improved. Method: There have been unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews, participant observation and collection of quantitative data. Initially there was a process mapping in purpose of a tool for the remaining study. Further calculations were performed to find bottlenecks in the production and interviews to identify disturbances in the bottlenecks. Finally, a number of suggestions for improvement where presented. Conclusions: Calculations revealed that Staples is currently not using their capacity to the maximum, altough this is not a level considered reasonable. It appeared that the company has a capacity shortfall when there was a difference between the nominal capacity and gross capacity. It was concluded that the following three activities constituted bottlenecks in Staples; receiving, picking ZtZ (picking of particularly heavy and bulky items) and picking PTS (detail picking). Within these bottlenecks, there was a number of disturbances found that largely had their basis in the teoratical areas Stevenson (2009), Slack et al. (2012) and Bergman and Klefsjö (2012) terms as facility and technology and method. Furthermore, it was established a difficulty in providingvshort-term improvement suggestions to these disturbances. This’s because of the study's time frame and that it reach subjects outside the scope of the study. However, three scenarios are presented to find a favorable allocation of capacity between PTS and ZTZ. These scenarios are based on three time intervals for how production is running and two picking speeds. Based on that the PTS holds a higher proportion of active working hours and a faster pick-speed scenario 3 is the most beneficial because it requires that ZTZ is least active.

Cette thèse est composée de trois chapitres. Le premier chapitre, "Bertrand-Edgeworth Competition with Substantial Product Differentiation", étudie le comportement d'un duopole lorsque les deux entreprises sont caractérisées par des contraintes de capacité et produisent un bien différencié à la Hotelling. En limitant l'analyse au cas d'un degré élevé de différentiation du produit, je démontre l'existence d'au moins un équilibre en stratégie pure pour tous les niveaux de capacités. Le deuxième chapitre, "Monopoly Pricing with Dual Capacity Constraints" analyse un monopole qui est contraint par deux types de contraintes de capacité: un sur la quantité produite, l'autre sur le nombre des consommateurs. Je démontre que les prix optimaux choisis par les entreprises en court terme ne sont pas monotones dans le niveau des contraintes de capacité. En outre, le bien-être agrégé des consommateurs peut décroître si une des contraintes de capacité est augmentée. Le troisième chapitre, "Competition with Dual Capacity Constraints", étend l'analyse du deuxième chapitre au cas du duopole symétrique dans lequel les deux entreprises font face aux mêmes niveaux de capacité. Je démontre l'existence de conditions sous lesquelles la non-monotonicité des prix et du bien-être des consommateurs observée dans le 2ème chapitre est également présente dans le cas du duopole. Certains équilibres donnent naissance à des prix de duopole égaux au prix de monopole. En outre, les entreprises peuvent choisir des prix d'équilibre identiques sur les deux marchés malgré leur pouvoir de discrimination des prix. / This Ph.D. thesis is composed of three chapters. Since Kreps and Scheinkman's seminal article (1983) a large number of papers have analyzed capacity constraints' potential to relax price competition. However, the majority of the ensuing literature has assumed that products are either perfect or very close substitutes. Therefore very little is known about the interaction between capacity constraints and local monopoly power. The aim of the present paper is to shed light on this question using a standard Hotelling setup. The high level of product dierentiation results in a variety of equilibrium firm behavior and it generates at least one pure-strategy equilibrium for any capacity level. The second chapter, "Bertrand-Edgeworth Competition with Substantial Product Differentiation", studies the price-setting behavior of a monopoly facing two capacity constraints: one on the number of consumers it can serve, the other on the total amount of products it can sell. Facing two consumer groups that difer in their demands and the distribution of their willingness-to-pay, the monopoly's optimal non-linear pricing strategy consists of offering one or two price-quantity bundles. The characterization of the firm's optimal pricing as a function of its two capacities reveals a rich structure that also gives rise to some surprising results. In particular, I show that prices are non-monotonic in capacity levels. Moreover, there always exists a range of parameters in which weakening one of the capacity constraints decreases consumer surplus. In the long run, when the firms can choose how much capacity to build, prices and consumer surplus are monotonic in capacity costs. The third chapter, "Competition with Dual Capacity Constraints", studies duopoly pricing under dual capacity constraints, limiting both the total quantity and the number of consumers served. It extends both the analysis of monopoly pricing with dual capacity constraints and the symmetric models of Bertrand-Edgeworth competition with a singular capacity. By isolating parameter regions where a symmetric pure-strategy equilibrium exists, I nd that several types of equilibria are possible, depending on the model's specications. For some of them, duopoly prices are identical to monopoly prices. Equilibrium prices are non-monotonic in capacity levels if consumers' valuations are suciently heterogeneous. Moreover, I show that despite their ability to price discriminate, competition may lead firms to charge identical prices across markets.

Bakgrund: Formgivningsprocessen på Svensson & Linnér är en produktionsprocess som syftar till att förändra produktens form genom pressning samt böjning. I en produktionsprocess existerar det oftast ett flertal slöserier och kapacitetbegränsningar som inte kan identifieras förrän en processkartläggning är gjord. Kartläggning av processer möjliggör därför att företag blir medvetna om de slöserier och kapacitetsbegränsningar som existerar. Detta gör att företag kan förbättra sina processer genom att eliminera ledtider, väntetider och onödiga rörelser. Syfte: Syftet med detta examensarbete är att identifiera slöserier och kapacitetsbegränsningar i formgivningsprocessen på Svensson & Linnér samt förklara dess bakomliggande orsaker. Syftet är vidare att föreslå förbättringsåtgärder som borde göras för att öka kapaciteten i processen. Metod: Studien som genomförts är en fallstudie på företaget Svensson & Linnér där data samlats in genom deltagande och strukturerade observationer samt genom ostrukturerade och semi-strukturerade intervjuer. En processkartläggning och beräkningar av kapacitetsutnyttjandet har gjorts för att kunna identifiera slöserier och kapacitetsbegränsningar. Orsak-verkandiagram har sedan upprättas för att identifiera bakomliggande orsaker och ge förslag på förbättringsåtgärder som bör göras för att öka kapaciteten i processen. Slutsatser: Studien har kommit fram till att det i formgivningsprocessen existerar slöserier i form av onödiga lager, rörelser, transporter, väntan, inkorrekta processer, defekta produkter och outnyttjad kreativitet hos medarbetarna. Efter beräkningar av kapacitetsutnyttjandet i processen identifierades det att funktionen skär- och sliproboten är kapacitetsbegränsningen i processen. Utifrån de bakomliggande orsakerna har fem förbättringsförslag identifierats som kan leda till kapacitetsökning i formgivningsprocessen. Svensson & Linnér bör endast ha ett lager för stansat faner där FIFO-principen och ställagring av pallat gods bör användas. I processen bör fel och brister åtgärdas långsiktigt istället för provisoriskt och arbetssättet bör standardiseras. I robotcellerna bör soptunnor placeras ut så att avfall kan slängas direkt och inte vid skiftbytet senare. För att öka kapaciteten i kapacitetsbegränsningen, skär- och sliproboten, föreslås det att fallföretaget ska anpassa kapaciteten efter efterfrågan på produkten genom att utnyttja övertid i processen. / Background: The shaping process at Svensson and Linnér is a process that aims to change the shape of the product by pressing and bending. In a production process there usually exists a number of wastes or capacity constraints which not can be identified until a process mapping is made. A mapping of a process therefore enables companies to become aware of the waste and the capacity constraints that exist. This enables companies to improve their processes by eliminating lead times, waiting times and unnecessary movements. Purpose: The aim of this thesis to identify waste and capacity constraints in the shaping process at Svensson & Linnér and to explain its underlying causes. The aim is then to propose improvements that should be done in order to increase the capacity in the shaping process. Method: The study is conducted as a case study at the company Svensson & Linnér where data was collected through participant and structured observations and through unstructured and semi-structured interviews. A process mapping and calculations of capacity utilization has been made to identify waste and capacity constraints. Cause - effect diagrams was then established to identify the underlying causes and to suggest improvements that could lead to increased capacity. Conclusions: The study has concluded that it in the shaping process exists wastes in terms of unnecessary inventory, motion, transportation, waiting, incorrect procedures, defective products and untapped creativity of the operatives. After calculations of capacity utilization in the process, it was identified that the cutting and grinding robot is the capacity limit of the process. Based on the underlying causes have five suggestions for improvements been identified that could lead to increased capacity in the shaping process. Svensson & Linnér should only have one stock for punched veneer where the FIFO principle and rack storage of palletized goods should be used. In the process should errors and flaws be fixed in long terms instead of provisionally and working methods should be standardized. In the robot cells should dustbins be placed so that waste can be disposed immediately and not at the shift change later. To increase the capacity of the capacity constraint, cutting and grinding robot, it is suggested that the company should adjust their capacity to demand for the product by using overtime in the process.

Rail Transport has held an important place in the European economy. Several problems plague rail freight. We frequently hear about train disruptions, whether it is due to a signal failure or an infrastructure breakdown, most of which have caused significant issues for both passengers and cargo. One of the primary reasons disruptions have such a significant impact on the railway system is limited redirections for trains. Taking this into account, we investigate the resilience of rail systems for international freight in the Öresund region. The Öresund area divides Denmark and Sweden via a small strait fixed link consisting of a bridge, a tunnel, and the artificial island of Peberholm. To avoid impeding freight traffic in the case of the Öresund bridge, we investigate two alternative fixed links where traffic may be routed if the bridge closes. The first proposal is LC Link (Europaspåret), which will connect Landskrona (Sweden) and Copenhagen (Denmark) with double track. Another alternative for the second fixed link is the HH rail connection between Helsingborg (Sweden) and Helsingör (Denmark) across the Öresund region. After the Fehmarn Belt link between Germany and Denmark, the infrastructure in the Öresund region should be strong enough to accommodate increased freight train capacity. Several methods have been used to assess the system’s robustness and resilience in terms of capacity. This master’s thesis employs both qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods. For the investigation, we employ Planimate simulation software and simulation models based on potential scenarios. A timetable for 2040 is developed based on the current number of trains passing through Öresund. The capacity constraints were selected depending on the resistance offered by the other routes. According to the research findings, more significant capacity limitations would eventually increase freight train queuing. The results from the simulation indicate that the LC link is the most robust and resilient option for the second fixed connection over the Öresund bridge. The data also indicate that when additional capacity restraints are applied, more crowding is seen for the HH connection, better suited for passenger traffic. The research also offers insight into the meso - models for modelling freight traffic. / Järnvägstransporter har en viktig plats i den europeiska ekonomin. Det finns dock flera problem kopplade till godstrafiken på järnväg. Vi hör ofta om tågstörningar, oavsett om det beror på ett signalfel eller ett infrastrukturfel, många av dem har orsakat betydande störningar för både passagerare och gods. En av de främsta anledningarna till att störningar har en så betydande inverkan på järnvägssystemet är de begränsade omledningsmöjligheterna för tåg. Med hänsyn till detta undersöker vi tågsystemets redundans för internationella godståg i Öresundsregionen. Öresundsregionen delar Danmark och Sverige genom ett litet sund med en fast förbindelse bestående av en bro, en tunnel och den konstgjorda ön Peberholm. För att undvika att hindra godstrafiken över Öresundsbron vid händelse av ett avbrott, undersöker vi två alternativa fasta förbindelser där trafik kan ledas om. Det första förslaget är Europaspåret som binder samman Landskrona (Sverige) och Köpenhamn (Danmark) med ett dubbelspår. Det andra alternativet för den andra fasta länken är HH-järnvägsförbindelsen mellan Helsingborg (Sverige) och Helsingör (Danmark) över Öresundsregionen. Efter att Fehmarn Bält-förbindelsen mellan Tyskland och Danmark är färdigställd bör infrastrukturen i Öresundsregionen vara tillräcklig för att klara en ökad godstågskapacitet. Flera metoder har använts för att bedöma systemets robusthet och motståndskraft vad gäller kapacitet. Denna masteruppsats använder både kvalitativa och kvantitativa utvärderingsmetoder. För utredningen använder vi Planimates simuleringsprogram och simuleringsmodeller baserade på potentiella scenarier. En tidtabell för 2040 tas fram utifrån antalet tåg som passerar Öresund idag och har därefter räknats upp. Kapacitetsbegränsningarna valdes beroende på det uppskattade motståndet genom de olika alternativen. Enligt forskningsresultaten skulle mer betydande kapacitetsbegränsningar på sikt minska kapaciteten för godståg att passera. Resultaten från simuleringen tyder på att Europaspåret är det mest robusta och motståndskraftiga alternativet för den andra fasta förbindelsen över Öresundsbron. Uppgifterna indikerar också att när ytterligare kapacitetsbegränsningar tillämpas resulterar det i mer trängsel för HH-förbindelsen, som är bättre lämpad för passagerartrafik. Forskningen ger också insikt i meso-modeller för modellering av godstrafik.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T17:05:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 18 / Nenhuma / Frente às freqüentes mudanças no mercado consumidor, as empresas precisam se adequar aos novos cenários. As estratégias de produção e de capacidade podem auxiliar nesse processo, especialmente se for possível formular e testar alternativas em ambientes paralelos antes mesmo de serem aplicados na fábrica real. As dificuldades encontradas nas empresas estão associadas à adequação (ou não) dos modelos existentes na literatura sobre o tema, bem como, a base de informações sobre a qual são tomadas as decisões de capacidade. Os conceitos de gargalo de produção, de eficiência global dos recursos e a lógica de análise capacidade versus demanda e tomada de decisão são discutidos e avaliados no conjunto da análise da capacidade fabril. Um Modelo de Tomada de Decisão é proposto, englobando as estratégias de capacidade nos níveis: operacional – Método de Gestão de Rotinas; tático – Método de Gestão de Melhorias; e estratégico – Método de Gestão Estratégica de Longo Prazo. Através de estudo de caso foram avaliadas as dife / Considering the frequent changes in the consumer market, companies need to adapt to the new sceneries. Production strategies and capacity can assist in this process, especially if it is possible formulating and testing before applying it in the real plant. The difficulties found by the companies in this business are associated with adjusting (or not) the models found in the literature about the subject, and the information base on which capacity decisions are made. The concepts of production bottleneck and the overall efficiency of resources, and the logic CXD analysis and decision-making are discussed and evaluated throughout the analysis of manufacturing capacity. A Model of Decision-making is proposed, including strategies in different levels: operational – Method Management Routines; tactical - Method Management Improvements, and strategic - Method Management of Long-term Strategic. Through the study of case research methodology, the differences in use of the CXD Tool in different perspectives of decision

Un modèle structurel est fourni afin d'appréhender les phénomènes de capacité dans un modèle d'affectation de flux de voyageurs sur un réseau de transport collectifs. Cela a été fondé sur une représentation du réseau de transports collectifs en deux couches : sur la couche inférieure, le modèle traite séparément chaque sous système du réseau (ligne, station et rabattement) en fonction des effets de capacité spécifiques ; sur la couche supérieure, le choix d'itinéraire d'un voyageur individuel est adressée par une représentation du réseau en leg (ou segment de ligne) en utilisant le coût et les caractéristiques opérationnelles des sous-systèmes respectifs. On établit une cadre novateur pour modéliser les effets de capacité et on développe le modèle CapTA (pour Capacitated Transit Assignment). Il s'agit d'un modèle d'affectation de flux systémique et modulaire. Il adresse les phénomènes de capacité ci dessous : La qualité du service en véhicule est liée au confort de voyageurs à bord. L'occupation d'états de confort hétérogènes (places assises, strapontins et debout à de densités de voyageurs variables) influence la pénibilité perçu du voyage ; La capacité du véhicule à la montée impacte le temps d'attente de voyageurs et leur distribution aux missions disponibles ; La capacité de l'infrastructure de la ligne établit une relation entre le temps de stationnement des véhicules (and par extension les flux de voyageurs en montée et en descente) et la performance des missions et leur fréquence de service. Ces phénomènes sont traités par ligne d'exploitation sur la base d'un ensemble des modèles locaux qui rendent de flux et de coût spécifiques. Par conséquent, ils modifient les conditions locales d'un trajet en transports collectifs pour chaque voyageur individuel. Cependant, ils doivent être adressés dans le cadre d'un réseau de transports collectifs afin de recueillir leur effet sur les choix d'itinéraire sur le réseau ; essentiellement sur les arbitrages économiques qui impactent le choix entre itinéraires alternatifs. Leur traitement sur la couche réseau garantir la cohérence du choix d'itinéraire. Le modèle de station traite de contraintes de capacité spécifiques et évalue les conditions locales de marche, qui est sensible aux interactions des voyageurs à l'intérieur de la station : le goulot instantané à l'entrée d'un élément de circulation retard l'évacuation de la plateforme ; la densité de voyageurs et l'hétérogénéité des leur flux ralenti les voyageurs qui circulent dans une station ; la présence de l'information en temps réel influence le processus de décision des voyageurs. Ces effets n'ont pas seulement un impact sur le choix d'itinéraire à l'intérieure de la station, mais notamment ils modifient les choix de service sur le niveau du réseau. La Région Ile-de-France fournit un champ d'application idéal pour un modèle d'affectation de flux de voyageurs en transport collectifs sous contraintes de congestion. Plus précisément, il est utilisé dans le cadre du modèle CapTA pour illustrer les capacités de simulation et la finesse de l'approche de modélisation adoptée. Le réseau de transports collectifs contient 1 500 missions de cars et autocars, tout comme 260 missions ferroviaires et inclut 14 lignes de métro et 4 lignes de tramway. L'affectation de trafic à l'heure de pointe du matin est caractérisée d'une charge importante en voyageurs sur les sections centrales de lignes ferroviaires qui traversent la ville. Un temps de stationnement élevé, en raison de flux de montée et descente, et la réduction de la fréquence de service impactent la capacité des missions et des lignes. Le temps généralisé d'un trajet est impacté notamment de sa composante de confort à bord. De résultats détaillés sont présentés sur le RER A, la ligne la plus chargée du réseau ferroviaire régional / A structural model is provided to capture capacity phenomena in passenger traffic assignment to a transit network. That has been founded on a bi-layer representation of the transit network : on the lower layer the model addresses each network sub-system (line, station and access-egress) separately, on the basis of specific capacity effects ; on the upper layer a leg-based representation is used with respect to the sub-systems' costs and operating characteristics to address the trip maker's path choices. We establish a novel framework for modelling capacity effects and develop the CapTA network model (for Capacitated Transit Assignment). It is systemic and modular and addresses in particular the following capacity phenomena, the in-vehicle quality of service is linked to the comfort of the passengers on-board. The occupation of heterogeneous comfort states (seats, folding seats and standing at different passenger densities) influences the perceived arduousness of the travel ; the vehicle capacity at boarding influences the waiting time of the passengers and their distribution to the transit services ; the track infrastructure capacity relates the dwelling time of the vehicles (and by extent the alighting and boarding flows) with the performance of the transit services and their service frequency. These phenomena are dealt with by line of operations on the basis of a set of local models yielding specific flows and costs. Accordingly, they modify the local conditions of a transit trip for each individual passenger. However, these should be addressed within the transit network in order to capture their effect on the network path choices; essentially the economic trade-offs that influence the choice between different network itineraries. Their treatment in a network level assures the coherence of the path choice. Equivalently, a station sub-model addresses specific capacity constraints and yields the local walking conditions, sensible to the interaction of the passengers in the interior of a station : the instant bottleneck created at the entry of the circulation elements delays the evacuation of the station platforms; the passenger density and presence of heterogeneous passenger flows slows down the passengers who circulate in the station; and the presence of real-time information influences the decision making process of the transit users exposed to. These effects do not only impact locally the in-station path choice, but most notably they modify the choices of transit routes and itineraries on a network level. The Paris Metropolitan Region provides an ideal application field of the capacity constrained transit assignment model. It is mainly used as a showcase of the simulation capabilities and of the finesse of the modelling approach. The transit network involves 1 500 bus routes together with 260 trains routes that include 14 metro lines and 4 light rail lines. Traffic assignment at the morning peak hour is characterized by heavy passenger loads along the central parts of the railway lines. Increased train dwelling, due to boarding and alighting flows, and reduction in the service frequency impact the route and the line capacity. The generalized time of a transit trip is impacted mainly though its in-vehicle comfort component. Detailed results have been provided for the RER A, the busiest commuter rail line in the transit network

This thesis consists of four chapters that investigate the performance and capital flows of hedge funds. The first two chapters of the thesis focus on hedge funds that have a pure emerging market strategy. Hedge funds should be well equipped to take advantage of opportunities in emerging markets due to their flexibility in investment strategy and lockup periods. However, the results show that, at the strategy level, emerging market hedge funds have only generated risk-adjusted returns in the most recent years of the sample period. Although emerging market hedge funds have performed poorly in the past, an important finding is the upward trend over time in performance. Given that other hedge fund strategies have a declining trend in alpha during the same period, the emerging market strategy may be where future alpha can be found. The third chapter investigates if there are capacity constraints in hedge fund strategies. The idea is that the alpha opportunities in the markets are limited. Thus, the more capital coming in to hedge funds, the higher competition for the investment opportunities. The findings reveal that mainly strategies that rely on liquidity in their underlying market show evidence of capacity constraints. That is, high past capital flows have a negative effect on current risk-adjusted returns. The last chapter investigates the out-of-sample performance of five allocation models relative to an equally weighted portfolio, when optimizing over hedge fund strategies. The findings show that for hedge fund investors the naive allocation model (1/N) with equal weights in each asset is not an efficient allocation. The risk-adjusted performance can be improved by using an optimal sample-based allocation model. Moreover, significant improvement in out-of-sample alpha can be made if the investor optimizes over non-systematic returns instead of total returns, which is an important results for investors seeking alpha. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2008</p>

We consider a single-product dynamic inventory problem where the demand distributions in each period are known and independent but with density. We assume the lead time and the fixed cost for ordering are zero and that there are no capacity constraints. There is a holding cost and a backorder cost for unfulfilled demand, which is backlogged until it is filled by another order. The problem may be nonstationary, and in fact our approximation of the optimal cost function using splines is most advantageous when demand falls suddenly. In this case the myopic policy, which is most often used in practice to calculate optimal inventory level, would be very costly. Our algorithm uses quadratic splines to approximate the optimal cost function for this dynamic inventory problem and calculates the optimal inventory level and optimal cost.

No description available.