Analysis and Comparison of Two Strategies for Multi-Item Inventory Systems with Joint Replenishment Costs

摘要

Multi-item inventory systems with joint replenishment costs are considered under constant deterministic demand. Two different types of strategies are distinguished: direct grouping strategies and indirect grouping strategies. Different heuristics are reviewed and compared for different strategies. The performance of the strategies is measured as the percentage cost savings of using a joint replenishment strategy instead of an independent strategy. This performance is compared by means of simulation. Regression analysis is used to summarize the output of several simulation experiments.