Title: Clearance chain design: strategies selection and unsold inventory allocation

Authors: Rihab Mechmech; Slim Harbi; Atidel B. Hadj-Alouane; Sami Sboui

Addresses: OASIS Laboratory, National Engineering School of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia ' OASIS Laboratory, National Engineering School of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia; National Engineering School of Carthage, University of Carthage, Tunisia ' National Engineering School of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia; University of Sharjah, UAE ' SQLI Services, Manouba, Tunisia

Abstract: The management of unsold inventory represents a significant issue for many retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. Evaluating the various inventory clearance strategies, particularly in terms of business risk and performance represents a challenge that reaches well beyond the operational level. In this paper, a structured approach is developed to aid in the clearance chain decision-making process. The proposed approach uses the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to select a clearance strategy with a focus on risk and performance indicators. AHP allows both quantitative and qualitative criteria to be considered. As for the unsold inventory allocation problem, a multi-objective optimisation method was adopted. The paper includes a discussion on managerial insights for clearance chain design where results give opportunities for future research.

Keywords: clearance chain; unsold inventory; ∈-constraint method; risk-performance criteria.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2022.120989

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2022 Vol.41 No.1/2, pp.145 - 170

Received: 30 May 2020
Accepted: 19 Nov 2020
Published online: 21 Feb 2022 *

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