Risk minimization inventory model with a profit target and option contracts under spot price uncertainty

Abstract

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>This paper aims to analyze the inventory purchasing model for a manufacturer with an objective of minimizing risk and a constraint on profit target, where the manufacturer buys the components from the supplier or in the spot market and tailors them into the final products to meet a deterministic demand. This paper develops the mean-variance optimization models without and with option contracts, and conducts numerical examples to explore how the target profit level, the spot price uncertainty and option contracts affect the manufacturer's optimal solutions and the level of risk. It is shown that without and with option contracts the manufacturer's level of risk is non-decreasing in the target profit level. With (without) option contracts, the manufacturer suffers a zero risk from a higher spot price uncertainty if the profit target is low, whereas suffers a lower (higher) risk from a higher spot price uncertainty if the profit target is high. Finally, the level of risk faced by the manufacturer is not higher with option contracts than without them. This paper facilitates the application of option contracts in inventory purchasing management with a spot market for the risk minimization manufacturer with a profit target consideration. New insights are also provided for the manufacturer to set an appropriate profit target for an affordable level of risk, and establish the risk observation mechanism for hedging against the spot price volatility effectively.</p>