An (s,S) perishable system with arbitrarily distributed leadtimes

The analysis of continuous review perishable inventory system becomes complex once a positive order leadtime is introduced. In this article the authors analyze an (s,S) inventory system of items with constant failure rates and Poisson demands where the leadtimes are arbitrarily distributed. The difficulty in the analysis is circumvented by emplying the techniques of semi-regenerative processes. The stationary Markov chain associated with the embedded Markov renewal process turned out to be reversible and this enabled us to determine the various operating characteristics explicitly. The problem of minimizing the steady state total expected cost rate is discussed with numerical illustration.