Optimizing multi-echelon inventory with three types of demand in supply chain

This paper proposes multi-echelon inventory models with three types of demand. The stakeholders consist of a retailer, a plant and a number of middlemen. Because the modes of demand for stakeholders are different, the stakeholders have different inventory modes. Based on these different inventory modes, three models and the procedures to solve these models are developed. In computational experiments, the applicability of the proposed models and procedures is verified. Management insights are summarized through analyzing the composition of average total inventory cost. Finally, the relationship between the parameters and the optimal solutions is investigated by two sensitivity analyses.