New and efficient algorithms for transfer prices and inventory holding policies in two-enterprise supply chains

作者：Hoai An Le Thi^*; Duc Quynh Tran

来源：Journal of Global Optimization, 2014, 60(1): 5-24.

DOI：10.1007/s10898-013-0081-y

• Supply chain
• Mixed integer non-linear programming
• Nash bargaining
• DC programming
• DCA
• Branch and bound

We consider a multi-period problem of fair transfer prices and inventory holding policies in two enterprise supply chains. This problem was formulated as a mixed integer non-linear program by Gjerdrum et al. (Eur J Oper Res 143:582-599, 2002). Existing global optimization methods to solve this problem are computationally expensive. We propose a continuous approach based on difference of convex functions (DC) programming and DC Algorithms (DCA) for solving this combinatorial optimization problem. The problem is first reformulated as a DC program via an exact penalty technique. Afterward, DCA, an efficient local approach in non-convex programming framework, is investigated to solve the resulting problem. For globally solving this problem, we investigate a combined DCA-Branch and Bound algorithm. DCA is applied to get lower bounds while upper bounds are computed from a relaxation problem. The numerical results on several test problems show that the proposed algorithms are efficient: DCA provides a good integer solution in a short CPU time although it works on a continuous domain, and the combined DCA-Branch and Bound finds an -optimal solution for large-scale problems in a reasonable time.

• 出版日期2014-9