Perfect simulation of an inventory model for perishable products

Perfect simulation of an inventory model for perishable products

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Article ID: iaor2004942
Country: United States
Volume: 18
Issue: 2
Start Page Number: 229
End Page Number: 243
Publication Date: Apr 2002
Journal: Stochastic Models
Authors: ,
Keywords: markov processes, simulation: applications
Abstract:

We study an inventory model for perishable products with a critical-number ordering policy under the assumption that demand for the product forms an i.i.d. sequence, so that the state of the system forms a Markov chain. Explicit calculation of the stationary distribution has proved impractical in cases where items have reasonably long lifetimes and for systems with large under-up-to levels. Using the recently developed coupling-from-the-past method, we introduce a technique to estimate the stationary distribution of the Markov chain via perfect simulation. The Markov chain that results from the use of a critical-number policy is particularly amenable to these simulation techniques, despite not being ordered in its initial state, since the recursive equations satisfied by the Markov chain enable us to identify specific demand patterns where the backward coupling occurs.

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