Title: A joint economic lot size model with returnable transport items

Authors: Christoph H. Glock; Taebok Kim

Addresses: Department of Law and Economics, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 1, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany ' Graduate School of Logistics, Incheon National University, Songdo-Dong, Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon 406-840, Korea

Abstract: The literature on the joint optimisation of order and production quantities typically tries to smooth the downstream flow of materials in a supply chain. Items that are transported in the opposite direction of the flow of finished products have only infrequently been considered. In many practical situations, however, products are transported on pallets or in containers, which may be reused after the final product has been delivered to the end customer. These so-called 'returnable transport items' (RTIs) have to be managed as well to assure that the cost of producing and distributing a product are minimised. To derive insights for the management of RTIs, this paper develops and analyses a model of a supply chain that considers both the downstream flow of materials from the manufacturer to the buyer as well as the circulation of RTIs between both actors.

Keywords: JELS; joint economic lot sizing; RTI; returnable transport items; integrated inventory modelling; supply chain coordination; supply chain management; SCM; optimisation; order quantities; production quantities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISM.2015.068105

International Journal of Integrated Supply Management, 2015 Vol.9 No.3, pp.202 - 224

Received: 06 Jan 2014
Accepted: 06 Nov 2014
Published online: 17 Mar 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article