Environmentally sustainable inventory control for perishable products: A bi-objective reorder-level policy

Francesco Pilati, Marco Giacomelli and Matteo Brunelli

International Journal of Production Economics, 2024, vol. 274, issue C

Abstract: In order to improve sustainability and transparency in the decision making for inventory control, this paper presents a reorder-level model that considers product perishability. Conversely to most inventory control policies, the classical economic perspective is paired with an environmental one for a stochastic bi-objective optimization approach to reduce inventory logistics emissions and costs. In order to contrast stockouts, lost-sale costing and a service level constraint are integrated for a more comprehensive approach. Results show how the two objectives may be in contrast, and how Pareto-efficient solutions can help to analyze and select the proper trade-offs during decision making. Experiments indicate, for a case-study application, how the most relevant aspects affecting system performance are product shelf life and the possible need of temperature control during storage. Moreover, considering multiple sustainability perspectives in inventory management can help businesses consolidate and future-proof their operations, as well as meet environmental standards and customer demand for greener products and processes.

Keywords: Inventory control; Reorder-level policy; Perishability; Multi-objective optimization; Environmental sustainability; Lost sales (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092552732400166X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:proeco:v:274:y:2024:i:c:s092552732400166x

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2024.109309

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Production Economics is currently edited by Stefan Minner

More articles in International Journal of Production Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().