Offsetting inventory replenishment cycles

Abstract

The inventory-staggering problem is a multi-item inventory problem in which replenishment cycles are scheduled or offset in order to minimize the maximum inventory level over a given planning horizon. We incorporate symmetry-breaking constraints in a mixed-integer programming model to determine optimal and near-optimal solutions. Local-search heuristics and evolutionary polishing heuristics are also presented to achieve effective and efficient solutions. We examine extensions of the problem that include a continuous-time framework as well as the effect of stochastic demand.