Optimal policy surfaces for a multi-item inventory problem

A multi-item inventory problem under periodic review with unspecified single-item ordering and storage costs is considered in this paper. The problem as posed involves multiple aggregate objectives and constraints. An approximate solution methodology is derived based on asymptotic properties from renewal theory. The results are presented in the form of an optimal policy surface that shows the tradeoff of the cost of a policy versus customer service, while satisfying the workload for handling orders and storage room space constraints.