A Forecast-based Inventory Control Policy for an Item with Non-stationary Demand

Abstract

A logistics system involving a supplier who produces and delivers a single product and a buyer who receives and sells the product to the final customers is analyzed. In this system, the supplier and the buyer establish a contract which specifies that the supplier will deliver necessary amount of the product to raise inventory up to a specified position at the beginning of each period. A new periodic order-up-to-level inventory control policy specifically designed for nonstationary end customer's demand is proposed for the system. Simulations are used to test the efficiency of the proposed policy. An analysis of the test results reveals that the proposed policy performs much better than does the existing order-up-to-level policy, especially when the demand is nonstationary.