Title: Inventory control techniques in a two-echelon supply chain model with fuzzy demand and learning effect

Authors: S. Ganesan; R. Uthayakumar

Addresses: Department of Mathematics, Government Polytechnic College, Usilampatti-625537, Madurai District, Tamilnadu, India ' Department of Mathematics, The Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed to be University), Gandhigram-624 302, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract: The crucial part of decision-making in a two-echelon supply chain modelling is to decide the production quantity of the manufacturer to satisfy the demand of the retailers. In this paper, we develop a two-echelon supply chain model with one manufacturer and multiple retailers. The production quantity of the manufacturer and demand of each retailer are the uncertain components of the model, and they are quantified by fuzzy numbers. Wright's learning function is applied in the fuzzy limits to appertain the knowledge acquired through experience of supply chain leaders in decision-making. We determine the optimal order quantity of each retailer by calculus method. An approximate value of generalised harmonic numbers is employed for the derivation of optimal values in learning model. Numerical examples are supplied to demonstrate both fuzzy and learning models. The robustness of the learning model is explained using numerical examples and comparative study.

Keywords: supply chain; two-echelon; inventory control; fuzzy demand; parabolic fuzzy number; centre of area method; Wright's learning curve; learning rate; generalised harmonic number; robustness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDSDE.2021.120044

International Journal of Dynamical Systems and Differential Equations, 2021 Vol.11 No.5/6, pp.473 - 496

Received: 19 Apr 2019
Accepted: 04 Oct 2019
Published online: 05 Jan 2022 *

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