Finite horizon planning for a production system with permitted shortage and fixed-interval deliveries

Raw material ordering policy and the manufacturing batch size for frequent deliveries of finished goods for a finite horizon play a significant role in managing the supply chain logistics economically. This research develops an ordering policy for raw materials and determines an economic batch size for a product in a manufacturing system that supplies finished products to customers for a finite planning horizon. Fixed quantities of finished products are delivered to customers frequently at a fixed interval of time. In this model, an optimal multi-ordering policy for procurement of raw materials and production cycle time for a two-stage production and supply system is developed to minimize the total cost incurred due to raw materials and finished goods inventories. The problem is then extended to compensate for the lost sales of finished products. A closed-form solution to the problem is obtained for the minimal total cost. A lower bound on the optimal solution is also developed for problem with lost sale. It is shown that the solution and the lower bound are consistently tight.