Lower Bounds for Multi-Echelon Stochastic Inventory Systems
针对多级生产分销网络（包括串联、组装和单仓库多零售商系统）在随机需求和设置成本下，通过新颖的成本分配方案建立最小成本的下界，并评估其在单仓库多零售商系统中的表现。
We establish lower bounds on the minimum cost of managing certain production-distribution networks with setup costs at all stages and stochastic demands. These networks include serial, assembly, and one-warehouse multi-retailer systems. We obtain the bounds through novel cost-allocation schemes. We evaluate the bounds' performance for one-warehouse multi-retailer systems by comparing them with simple, heuristic policies. The bounds are quite tight for systems with a small number of retailers. We also present simplified proof of known optimality results for serial and assembly systems.