Optimal Stock Allocation for a Capacitated Supply System
研究产能受限供应系统中多客户类别的库存分配问题，通过动态规划证明最优分配策略的简单结构，并给出高效算法，指出忽略库存分配可能导致错误决策。
We consider a capacitated supply system that produces a single item that is demanded by several classes of customers. Each customer class may have a different backorder cost, so stock allocation arises as a key decision problem. We model the supply system as a multi customer make-to-stock queue. Using dynamic programming, we show that the optimal allocation policy has a simple and intuitive structure. In addition, we present an efficient algorithm to compute the parameters of this optimal allocation policy. Finally, for a typical supply chain design problem, we illustrate that ignoring the stock allocation dimension—a frequently encountered simplifying assumption—can lead to incorrect managerial decisions.