Service Level Relationships in a Multi-Echelon Inventory System
研究由一个中央配送中心和多个区域配送中心组成的多级库存系统，通过仿真开发并测试了一种启发式方法，用于确定在给定各级服务水平组合下客户所获得的服务水平，并以最小化系统平均总库存为准则选择最优组合。
This paper deals with a multi-echelon inventory system consisting of one central Distribution Center (DC) which is the source of supply for any number of Regional Distribution Centers (RDC's) which are the source of supply for customer demand. It develops and tests through the use of simulation a heuristic for determining what level of service the customer receives given any combination of DC and RDC service levels, where service is defined as the fraction of demand met from on-hand inventory at the location where the order is placed. A number of different combinations of DC and RDC service level will achieve any given level of customer service. The criterion used to identify the best combination is the minimization of the average level of total system inventory.