A literature review on lot size with quantity discounts: 1995-2013

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to present a literature review on models developed for the economic order quantity (EOQ) problem with incremental and all-units discounts, extending the work of Benton and Park (1996) which covered the most significant literature, from 1963 to 1994, about EOQ with discounts and that has identified four open areas in this field of study. The modeling of lot size with discounts wishes to give good solutions for realistic situations, such as those concerning the discounts offered by suppliers, to rises in the demand. Design/methodology/approach – The research was carried out in papers published from 1995 to 2013, and indexed in databases as Scopus and ISI Web of Science. The papers were compared through objective function, constraints, discounts, developed algorithms, allowance of shortages or multiproduct, demand pattern and buyer or buyer–supplier perspective. Findings – Results indicate two areas that still remain untouched, and probably the main cause is due to mathematical complexities. The authors have also identified an increasing trend of works that compared just-in-time with the EOQ with quantity discounts policy and also an increasing number of works that solved this category of problems with algorithms. Research limitations/implications – The research does not cover materials published in working papers, monographs, thesis, conferences or journals that are not indexed in those databases. Originality/value – This manuscript fills a gap in the study of EOQ with incremental discounts, as it highlights the leading edge advances in this field and the main differences among models. As a whole, the new trends about modeling EOQ problems with quantity discounts were discovered.