A multicriteria framework for inventory control

An interactive multicriteria framework for an inventory control decision support system is presented. Previous formulations of the simultaneous order quantity, safety stock and service-level problem have assumed explicit preference articulation, although comparisons of total annual cost and e.g. service level are complex without the knowledge of local trade-off ratios and the nondominated set. The procedure is constructive in the sense that the preference structure of the decision maker is assessed progressively under the exploration of the solution space. The framework is intended for inclusion in a decision support system for production and operations management or to be used as a separate module for strategic inventory control. Implementations as FORTRAN modules and spreadsheet macros are available.