A multi-vendor multi-buyer integrated production-inventory model with synchronised unequal-sized batch delivery

Abstract

Integrating vendors’ and buyers’ production-inventory systems can significantly reduce the total costs incurred by both parties. In this paper, we study the synchronised multi-vendor multiple-buyer integrated production-inventory system with a production flow where the lot sizes follow a geometric sequence. We model this new problem with the objective to minimise the total cost incurred by the vendors and the buyers and determine the optimal production shipment policy. The computational experiments realised on real case study show the efficiency of the developed model for optimising production shipment and synchronisation of vendor-buyer inventories.

KEYWORDS:

• Production-inventory model
• multi-vendor multi-buyer
• unequal-size shipment policy
• synchronized shipment production
• integrated inventory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All used data is provided in the paper. If readers have any question about the data used in this research they are invited to contact the corresponding author who will share all available information.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Z.A.M.S. Juman

Z.A.M.S. Juman is a Senior Lecturer of Operations Research in the department of Mathematics at University of Peradeniya (UOP) Sri Lanka. He currently holds a deputy proctor position at the Faculty of Sciences at University of Peradeniya Sri Lanka. He is a founder and coordinator of the newly proposed Master degree programme, MSc. in Financial Mathematics at Postgraduate Institute of Science (PGIS) Sri Lanka. He received his Ph.D in Mathematics from UBD Brunei in 2014 after having received his first degree, BSc (Hons) in Mathematics from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2008. He has more than six years of teaching experience in Operations Research, Applied and pure Mathematics courses at University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. His research interests include Production Inventory Control, Industrial Vehicle Routing, Artificial Intelligent, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and Combinatorial Optimisation. He serves as an editorial board member in JSCDM. Dr. Juman was a recipient of the International Graduate Research Scholarship (GRS) for his doctorate in 2011 and the Faculty research award ‘Award of Excellence in Research’ in 2019.

Rym M’Hallah

Rym M’Hallah currently holds a chair position in Systems Engineering at the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences at Kings College London. Previously, she was a professor of Operations Research at the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at Kuwait University, and a professor of Quantitative Methods and Information System at the University of Sousse, Tunisia, which she joined after industrial experience with the Regional Institute for Informatics and Telecommunication, Tunis, Tunisia. Professor M’Hallah has Bachelors, Masters, and PhD degrees in industrial engineering and operations research, all from Pennsylvania State University.

Ruchira Lokuhetti

Ruchira Lashantha Lokuhetti is a Research Consultant at Foundation for Environment, Climate and Technology Sri Lanka, a non-profit organisation dedicated to developing usable social scientific and technological data for societal well-being and environmental preservation. He received his Master’s degree in Industrial Mathematics at Postgraduate Institute of Science (PGIS) of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2018 after having received his first degree, BSc (Hons) in Applied Science from University of Peradeniya in 2015. He has more than four years of experience in Hydro Meteorological Monitoring and Regional Climate Modelling. His research interests include Tropical Climate Variability, Climate Modelling, and Natural Disaster Management, along with field of study related to Operational Research such as Production Inventory Control, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and Combinatorial Optimisation.

Olga Battaïa

Olga Battaïa has a Full Professor position in Department of Operations Management and Information Systems at Kedge Business School. She obtained her PhD form the Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne in France in 2007, for which she was granted the Best PhD Thesis Award by the French Research Cluster on Modelling, Analysis and Management of Dynamic Systems. She serves as Associated Editor for several international peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Manufacturing Systems, IISE Transactions and Omega-the International Journal of Management Science. She is also a Member of IFAC Technical Committee 5.2. Manufacturing Modelling for Management and Control. Her research interests lie in the domains of Supply Chain Management, Sustainable manufacturing, Operations Research, Combinatorial optimisation, Decision Support Systems. Olga Battaïa co-authored more than 200 scientific publications, participated in several European research projects and was involved in organising several renowned international conferences across Europe and other countries.