We consider the optimal production and inventory control of an assemble-to-order system with m components, one end-product, and n customer classes. A control policy specifies when to produce each component and, whenever an order is placed, whether or not to satisfy it from on-hand inventory. We formulate the problem as a Markov decision process and characterize the structure of an optimal policy. We show that a base-stock production policy is optimal, but the base-stock level for each component is dynamic and depends on the inventory level of all other components (more specifically, it is nondecreasing). We show that the optimal inventory allocation for each component is a rationing policy with different rationing levels for different demand classes. The rationing levels for each component are dynamic and also nondecreasing in the inventory level of all other components. We compare the performance of the optimal policy to heuristic policies, including the commonly used base-stock policy with fixed base-stock levels, and find them to perform surprisingly well, especially for systems with lost sales.
{"title":"Production and Inventory Control of a Single Product Assemble-to-Order Systems with Multiple Customer Classes","authors":"S. Benjaafar, M. Elhafsi","doi":"10.1287/mnsc.1060.0588","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1060.0588","url":null,"abstract":"We consider the optimal production and inventory control of an assemble-to-order system with m components, one end-product, and n customer classes. A control policy specifies when to produce each component and, whenever an order is placed, whether or not to satisfy it from on-hand inventory. We formulate the problem as a Markov decision process and characterize the structure of an optimal policy. We show that a base-stock production policy is optimal, but the base-stock level for each component is dynamic and depends on the inventory level of all other components (more specifically, it is nondecreasing). We show that the optimal inventory allocation for each component is a rationing policy with different rationing levels for different demand classes. The rationing levels for each component are dynamic and also nondecreasing in the inventory level of all other components. We compare the performance of the optimal policy to heuristic policies, including the commonly used base-stock policy with fixed base-stock levels, and find them to perform surprisingly well, especially for systems with lost sales.","PeriodicalId":415756,"journal":{"name":"ERPN: Other Labor Economics (Sub-Topic)","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132864745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Entrepreneurial activities of the Diaspora attracted increased research attention in the recent years, as the phenomenon of migration is rapidly growing. The Diaspora refers to the migrants and their descendants who maintain a strong relationship with their country of origin (Safran, 1991). The previous research has, however, predominantly focused on diaspora entrepreneurs from developing or emerging economies and those who originate from developed countries are almost invisible, even though they are empirically observable (cf. Elo, 2013; Horiuchi, 2010). In fact, their entrepreneurial activities have mostly been neglected by previous research in diaspora as well as international entrepreneurship. This study coins a new concept 'Descending diaspora entrepreneurs' for the entrepreneurs from developed countries who migrate to less developed ones and explores their entrepreneurial activities through the network perspective. The literature review on entrepreneurial networks as well as diaspora networks identifies three potentially significant benefits of networks on entrepreneurial activities: (i) opportunity recognition, (ii) access to resources and (iii) motivation sustainment. Explorative multiple case studies with Japanese diaspora entrepreneurs in emerging economies (Philippine, Guatemala and Argentina) was conducted and the empirical findings were descriptively analyzed in line with the identified network benefits. Finally, the model of network dynamics for Descending Diaspora Entrepreneurs is developed based on the findings.
{"title":"Network Dynamics of Descending Diaspora Entrepreneurship: Multiple Case Studies with Japanese Entrepreneurs in Emerging Economies","authors":"A. Harima","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2578697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2578697","url":null,"abstract":"Entrepreneurial activities of the Diaspora attracted increased research attention in the recent years, as the phenomenon of migration is rapidly growing. The Diaspora refers to the migrants and their descendants who maintain a strong relationship with their country of origin (Safran, 1991). The previous research has, however, predominantly focused on diaspora entrepreneurs from developing or emerging economies and those who originate from developed countries are almost invisible, even though they are empirically observable (cf. Elo, 2013; Horiuchi, 2010). In fact, their entrepreneurial activities have mostly been neglected by previous research in diaspora as well as international entrepreneurship. This study coins a new concept 'Descending diaspora entrepreneurs' for the entrepreneurs from developed countries who migrate to less developed ones and explores their entrepreneurial activities through the network perspective. The literature review on entrepreneurial networks as well as diaspora networks identifies three potentially significant benefits of networks on entrepreneurial activities: (i) opportunity recognition, (ii) access to resources and (iii) motivation sustainment. Explorative multiple case studies with Japanese diaspora entrepreneurs in emerging economies (Philippine, Guatemala and Argentina) was conducted and the empirical findings were descriptively analyzed in line with the identified network benefits. Finally, the model of network dynamics for Descending Diaspora Entrepreneurs is developed based on the findings.","PeriodicalId":415756,"journal":{"name":"ERPN: Other Labor Economics (Sub-Topic)","volume":"69 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130643016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}