Constant approximation algorithms for the one warehouse multiple retailers problem with backlog or lost-sales

J.-P. Gayon, G. Massonnet, C. Rapine and G. Stauffer

European Journal of Operational Research, 2016, vol. 250, issue 1, 155-163

Abstract: We consider the One Warehouse Multi-Retailer (OWMR) problem with deterministic time-varying demand in the case where shortages are allowed. Demand may be either backlogged or lost. We present a simple combinatorial algorithm to build an approximate solution from a decomposition of the system into single-echelon subproblems. We establish that the algorithm has a performance guarantee of 3 for the OWMR with backlog under mild assumptions on the cost structure. In addition, we improve this guarantee to 2 in the special case of the Joint-Replenishment Problem (JRP) with backlog. As a by-product of our approach, we show that our decomposition provides a new lower bound of the optimal cost. A similar technique also leads to a 2-approximation for the OWMR problem with lost-sales. In all cases, the complexity of the algorithm is linear in the number of retailers and quadratic in the number of time periods, which makes it a valuable tool for practical applications. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first constant approximations for the OWMR with shortages.

Keywords: Approximation algorithms; Lot-sizing; Inventory control; Distribution systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:250:y:2016:i:1:p:155-163

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2015.10.054

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