An Exact n Echelon Inventory Model: The Simple Simon Method.

摘要

The roots of this work are from a paper by Richard Simon: (1) Stationary Properties of a Two-Echelon Inventory Model for Low Demand Items (AD-689 765). A subsequent paper by Kruse and Kaplan; (2) claimed to correct Simon's results, but Kruse; (3) points out that Simon's results are, nevertheless, correct in spite of the apparent logical error in their derivation. He also notes that both Simon's and Kruse and Kaplan's results reduce to a simple and intuitive form. We take a new look at the model in this paper with the intent of providing a more revealing analysis than appears in either (1) or (2). We then show how these 2-echelon results can be extended to model an N-echelon inventory system in a manner similar to the way the METRIC model uses Palm's Theorem to accommodate an indefinite number of echelons.