Strategic safety stocks in supply chains (Q1582798)

The monograph deals with the problem of multi-stage inventory theory to determine the size end allocation of safety stocks in complex supply networks with stochastic customer demands so that specified consumer service levels are guaranteed at minimum inventory holding costs. It presents both theoretical results in advanced stochastic inventory control and effective algorithms applicable in practice. More specifically, the book extends a multi-echelon inventory coordination approach that provides decision support for safety stocks in network supply chains. For this purpose one extends the model of \textit{A. Clark} and \textit{H. Scarf} [Managem. Sci. 6, 475-490 (1960), see also Zbl 0137.38404 and the model of \textit{K. F. Simpson} Oper. Res. 6, 863-873 (1958)]. The book contains the following chapters: 1. Introduction; 2. Single-echelon inventory models 3. Material coordination in supply chains; 4. Safety stocks in multi-echelon systems (serial systems, divergent systems, convergent systems, general systems, comparative analysis of heuristic solution procedures, cyclic systems with external and internal returns, extensions); 5. Concluding remarks.