Upstream Members Research Articles

Where Do We Go From Here? Progressing Sustainability Implementation Efforts Across Supply Chains

The findings from an inductive study conducted in the United States and Europe focused on sustainability implementation efforts across supply chains are reported. In particular, the study focuses on developing a better understanding of: “how do companies involve other members of their supply chain into their sustainability efforts?” Building upon themes that emerged from the data, a typology for the supply chain implementation of sustainability initiatives is proposed. A lack of supply chain integration was identified and companies reported a tendency toward a “mandated” implementation when extending efforts across companies. These efforts are generally initiated by the dominant companies and then forced onto the weaker upstream members. The data suggests that the merits of these initiatives are viewed as being disproportionately awarded to the dominant firm and thus did not receive full buy‐in from the other party. A common vision by both sides of this relationship is to develop a more collaborative implementation that can be supported by all the involved parties. In theoretical implications, empirical findings are viewed through the lens of several prominent management theories in order to augment and elaborate current theory. Managerial implications, limitations, and opportunities for further research are detailed.

Kinesin-1 acts with netrin and DCC to maintain sensory neuron position in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The organization of neurons and the maintenance of that arrangement are critical to brain function. Failure of these processes in humans can lead to severe birth defects, mental retardation, and epilepsy. Several kinesins have been shown to play important roles in cell migration in vertebrate systems, but few upstream and downstream pathway members have been identified. Here, we utilize the genetic model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to elucidate the pathway by which the C. elegans Kinesin-1 Heavy Chain (KHC)/KIF5 ortholog UNC-116 functions to maintain neuronal cell body position in the PHB sensory neurons. We find that UNC-116/KHC acts in part with the cell and axon migration molecules UNC-6/Netrin and UNC-40/DCC in this process, but in parallel to SAX-3/Robo. We have also identified several potential adaptor, cargo, and regulatory proteins that may provide insight into the mechanism of UNC-116/KHC's function in this process. These include the cargo receptor UNC-33/CRMP2, the cargo adaptor protein UNC-76/FEZ and its regulator UNC-51/ULK, the cargo molecule UNC-69/SCOCO, and the actin regulators UNC-44/Ankyrin and UNC-34/Enabled. These genes also act in cell migration and axon outgrowth; however, many proteins that function in these processes do not affect PHB position. Our findings suggest an active posterior cell migration mediated by UNC-116/KHC occurs throughout development to maintain proper PHB cell body position and define a new pathway that mediates maintenance of neuronal cell body position.

Revenue-sharing contracts in an N-stage supply chain with reliability considerations

Revenue-sharing (RS) contracts have been used in a number of industries and have proven to be effective. However, the current RS contracts can be limited when improving the supply chain performance because of member reliability issues. This paper studies a revenue-sharing with reliability (RSR) contract in an N-stage supply chain. In this type of supply chain, there are more than two stages, and certain members have more than one upstream member. First, we propose an RSR contract that can coordinate supply chains and arbitrarily allocate total profits. A two-round profit allocation mechanism is utilized in this RSR contract. In the first round, an initial profit allocation scenario is decided; in the second round, the allocation is adjusted by considering the reliability of all of the members. A flexible method for adjusting the profits in the second round is proposed. Second, we study the incentives for the members to improve their reliability under the RS and RSR contracts by considering two realistic types of improvement investments in reliability. It is found that, in some cases, the RS contracts are limited in terms of encouraging the members to improve their reliability. Next, we show that there are greater incentives for members to improve their reliability under an RSR contract. We discuss in what cases the maximum possible profit of the supply chain under the RSR contract is higher than under the RS contract. Our analytical and numerical results yield insights into how managers can be encouraged to improve their reliability by setting certain decision variables.

An analysis of the general benefits of a centralised VMI system based on the EOQ model

Within a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) agreement, the upstream supply chain member (the vendor) takes responsibility for managing the inventory of the downstream member (the customer) within specific levels previously agreed upon without the need of orders from the customer side to be placed. Therefore, the vendor can focus on optimising production efficiency and capacity planning, while the customer has to improve forecast accuracy. This paper analyses the benefits a VMI agreement could bring for a one-supplier, multiple-customer case through analysing two cases: a supply chain managed in a traditional manner and VMI when both the vendor and the customers belong to the same organisation. The analysis is based on the economic ordering quantity (EOQ) formula and its related total cost, and the novelty is captured by evaluating one vendor, multiple buyers, and multiple product situations. The modelling is done so as to capture the needs and factors which occur within the pharmaceutical industry and a numerical application will be executed with data from one of the main leaders within the pharmaceutical field.

Influence of resource‐based capability and inter‐organizational coordination on SCM

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate which firm‐level antecedent – resource‐based capability or inter‐organizational coordination – contributes to a firm's supply chain management (SCM) focus.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework of antecedents of SCM focus and several research hypotheses posit that for a thorough understanding of the behavior of an organization in the supply chain, it is necessary to consider two sets of antecedents simultaneously. Hypotheses are tested using confirmatory factor analysis and multiple linear regression on a set of survey data collected in the USA, Europe and New Zealand.FindingsThe analysis of survey data validates the major premise that inter‐organizational coordination plays an important role in explaining the SCM focus of a firm. Research results validate the positive relationships between the proposed antecedents and a firm's SCM focus.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the research design incorporates extensive literature reviews, it does not capture every aspect of complex inter‐organizational coordination. Future efforts should establish a valid, reliable instrument to measure the underlying constructs.Practical implicationsThis study shows that a firm possesses inimitable internal resource‐based capabilities and external coordination mechanisms that are unique to each firm. Each of the resource‐based capabilities helps to integrate the various internal functional areas within an organization to increase efficiency and reduce waste. The external coordination mechanisms help a firm to link its processes seamlessly with upstream and downstream supply chain members. The paper also shows that product innovation is the only resourced‐based capability that predicts SCM focus when inter‐organizational coordination mechanisms are considered.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the extant literature by integrating the traditional resource‐based view of a firm with inter‐organizational coordination to examine crucial factors that precede a firm's SCM focus. Both perspectives have considerable merit, so for a thorough understanding of a firm's SCM focus, it is necessary to consider these factors simultaneously.

KIBRA exhibits MST-independent functional regulation of the Hippo signaling pathway in mammals

The Salvador/Warts/Hippo (Hippo) signaling pathway defines a novel signaling cascade regulating cell contact inhibition, organ size control, cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis and cancer development in mammals. The upstream regulation of this pathway has been less well defined than the core kinase cassette. KIBRA has been shown to function as an upstream member of the Hippo pathway by influencing the phosphorylation of LATS and YAP, but functional consequences of these biochemical changes have not been previously addressed. We show that in MCF10A cells, loss of KIBRA expression displays epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) features, which are concomitant with decreased LATS and YAP phosphorylation, but not MST1/2. In addition, ectopic KIBRA expression antagonizes YAP via the serine 127 phosphorylation site and we show that KIBRA, Willin and Merlin differentially regulate genes controlled by YAP. Finally, reduced KIBRA expression in primary breast cancer specimens correlates with the recently described claudin-low subtype, an aggressive sub-group with EMT features and a poor prognosis.

The ATPase activity of MLH1 is required to orchestrate DNA double-strand breaks and end processing during class switch recombination

Antibody diversification through somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR) are similarly initiated in B cells with the generation of U:G mismatches by activation-induced cytidine deaminase but differ in their subsequent mutagenic consequences. Although SHM relies on the generation of nondeleterious point mutations, CSR depends on the production of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and their adequate recombination through nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). MLH1, an ATPase member of the mismatch repair (MMR) machinery, is emerging as a likely regulator of whether a U:G mismatch progresses toward mutation or DSB formation. We conducted experiments on cancer modeled ATPase-deficient MLH1G67R knockin mice to determine the function that the ATPase domain of MLH1 mediates in SHM and CSR. Mlh1(GR/GR) mice displayed a significant decrease in CSR, mainly attributed to a reduction in the generation of DSBs and diminished accumulation of 53BP1 at the immunoglobulin switch regions. However, SHM was normal in these mice, which distinguishes MLH1 from upstream members of the MMR pathway and suggests a very specific role of its ATPase-dependent functions during CSR. In addition, we show that the residual switching events still taking place in Mlh1(GR/GR) mice display unique features, suggesting a role for the ATPase activity of MLH1 beyond the activation of the endonuclease functions of its MMR partner PMS2. A preference for switch junctions with longer microhomologies in Mlh1(GR/GR) mice suggests that through its ATPase activity, MLH1 also has an impact in DNA end processing, favoring canonical NHEJ downstream of the DSB. Collectively, our study shows that the ATPase domain of MLH1 is important to transmit the CSR signaling cascade both upstream and downstream of the generation of DSBs.

Serial Chain Merger Evaluation Model and Application to Mortgage Banking*

ABSTRACTMortgage banking operations can be viewed from a supply chain perspective, where the primary and secondary markets are upstream and downstream chain members, respectively. This article describes a serial‐chain‐merger data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to assess potential gains from the merger of different chain operations. We show that in our framework the merger of different chains with many sub‐chains is efficient within the DEA paradigm if and only if the mergers of sub‐chain members are all efficient. A case study of a banking operations merger is conducted to illustrate and validate the proposed approach. The computations show that merger of operations can result in overall efficiency improvement in the banking industry if the merger preserves the features assumed in the DEA model.

Channel coordination and variance reduction in a newsvendor setting

In many situations, demand risks can be reduced by investing in better forecast analytics. Investments in risk reduction usually have to be made by downstream members of the supply chain, but they affect all companies involved. Clearly, this may lead to conflicts of interests. To study how risk reduction impacts all members of a supply chain and to analyse how upstream members may give incentives to downstream members to reduce risks, this paper focuses on a single-vendor-single-buyer supply chain in a newsvendor setting where the newsvendor can reduce demand risk by investing in advanced market forecast analytics and better information coordination. It is shown that these investments can improve the buyer’s and the vendor’s profit, which implies that both the costs and the benefits of uncertainty reduction efforts should be shared to achieve the maximum profit for the supply chain. Further, a coordination mechanism is presented that induces compliant behaviour of both actors.

783: Protein-interaction pathways of VEGF receptor-2 in placentas from normal and preeclamptic pregnancies

783 Protein-interaction pathways of VEGF receptor-2 in placentas from normal and preeclamptic pregnancies Kiran Rao, John Tsibris, Stanley Stevens, Thora Steffensen, Maja Okuka, Valerie Whiteman, William Spellacy University of South Florida College of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Tampa, FL, University of South Florida, The Florida Center of Excellence for Drug Discovery and Innovation, Tampa, FL, Tampa General Hospital, Department of Pathology, Tampa, FL OBJECTIVE: Suboptimal placental vascularization is a hallmark in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Our goal is to define the protein complexes of VEGFR-2 which regulate placental vascularization. STUDY DESIGN: Large complexes of VEGFR-2 tolerate tissue freezing, homogenization and extraction by detergent ASB-14, as shown by Blue-Native electrophoresis. Tissue homogenates were spun at 100,000g and the pellets were cross-linked with DSP, a primary amine-reactive water-insoluble disulfide reagent, to ensure capture of small proteins bound to VEGFR-2 and thus decrease false negatives. After treatment with carbonate pH 11 to remove adhering proteins, the pellets were extracted with 1% ASB-14. Extracts were first mixed with magnetic M-280 sheep anti-rabbit IgG Dynabeads (InVitrogen) to reduce false positives and then applied to M-280 charged with VEGFR-2 antibody 55B11 (Cell Signaling). Immunoprecipitated proteins were eluted with ASB-14 at pH 2.8, fractionated by SDS-PAGE and after digestion with trypsin and Glu-C were identified by mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Mitochondrial proteins prohibitins (PHB) and pyruvate dehydrogenase component E2 (PDC-E2) co-immunoprecipitated with VEGFR-2. Westerns blots (WB) of ASB-14 extracts (without DSP) showed that PHB levels (smaller-kDa band) were 25% lower, but PDC-E2 levels were 30% higher in preeclamptic than normal placentas (n 4-7 placentas each at 34-38 weeks gestation, p 0.05). A fraction of available Leptin, the top up-regulated gene in preeclampsia, and of VEGF-A and all of Notch-1 also co-immunoprecipitated with VEGFR-2, as revealed by WB of bead eluates. All proteins were eluted in two peaks, by 0.1% and 1% ASB-14, that may represent complexes of different affinity for VEGFR-2 and the plasma membrane and intracellular pools of VEGFR-2; in arterial morphogenesis, VEGFR-2 signals from the intracellular pool (Carmeliet and Jain, Nature 2011; 473:298). CONCLUSION: Sequential immunoprecipitations and membrane proteomics can identify the up-stream and down-stream members of the VEGFR-2 pathways and may provide new insights on their function and the etiology of preeclampsia.

NPM-ALK Oncogene Upregulates the Expression of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase in T-Cell Lymphoma Through STAT3/MicroRNA-26a-Dependent Mechanism

Abstract 1383The oncogenic tyrosine kinase nucleophosmin-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (NPM-ALK) is aberrantly expressed in a subset of T-cell anaplastic large-cell lymphoma tumors. NPM-ALK promotes cellular survival and transformation, and initiates lymphomagenesis. To induce its effects, NPM-ALK interacts with a comprehensive network of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Previous studies have identified upstream and downstream members of this network that modulate the effects of NPM-ALK. However, the exact mechanisms by which NPM-ALK induces its effects are not completely identified.Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous molecule and a highly active free radical. It plays critical, yet versatile, roles in physiological cellular functions including survival, adhesion, migration, and angiogenesis. It also has important contributions to tumor progression and metastasis. NO is generated from L-arginine via 3 distinct isoforms of the enzyme NO synthase including the inducible form (iNOS). The expression and role of iNOS in NPM-ALK-expressing T-cell lymphoma is not known.We found that iNOS mRNA and protein are expressed in the NPM-ALK-expressing T-cell lymphoma cell lines Karpas 299, DEL, and SR-786. In agreement with a functional role of iNOS in these cells, the selective iNOS inhibitor 1400W and the NO scavenger CPITO decreased the proliferation of the NPM-ALK-expressing T-cell lymphoma cell lines (p < 0.05). In addition, the NO donor SNAP recovered the decrease in the proliferation of these cell lines after treatment with the ALK inhibitors TAE684 and PF-2341066 (p < 0.05). Interestingly, iNOS protein was totally absent in normal human T lymphocytes in spite of a notable increase in iNOS mRNA. These observations suggested that the downregulation of iNOS protein in T lymphocytes vs. its high levels in the NPM-ALK-expressing T-cell lymphoma cell lines might occur posttranscriptionally. Because microRNA are major posttranscriptional regulators of protein expression, we set to analyze possible aberrancies in microRNA. First, we performed an array study comparing the expression of microRNA in T lymphocytes vs. NPM-ALK-expressing T cell lymphoma cell lines. Three web-based algorithms [TargetScan (http://genes.mit.edu/targetscan/), miRanda (http://www.microrna.org/microrna/home.do), and PicTar (http://pictar.mdc-berlin.de/] identified microRNA-26a (miR-26a) to potentially bind with iNOS 3’-UTR. Importantly, statistical analysis of the array data showed that the expression of miR-26a is much more pronounced in T lymphocytes in comparison with the lymphoma cell lines (p < 0.00001), and real-time qPCR further confirmed these results. To examine the functional interactions between miR-26a and iNOS 3’-UTR, we performed a luciferase assay in 293T cells after transfection with iNOS 3’-UTR reporter gene. Wild type miR-26a, and not mutated miR-26a, induced a marked decrease in the luciferase activity of iNOS 3’-UTR reporter gene (p < 0.05). We then questioned whether NPM-ALK underlies the aberrancies in the expression of miR-26a and iNOS. Specific targeting of NPM-ALK by siRNA increased miR-26a and simultaneously decreased iNOS protein levels in the lymphoma cell lines. Next, we reasoned to examine how NPM-ALK induces its effects on this system. A transcription factor screening showed that miR-26a gene promoter, which is located within the promoter of a host gene, CTDSPL, contains 2 consensus sequences where it can potentially bind with STAT3, a major downstream target of NPM-ALK. Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies illustrated the binding between STAT3 and CTDSPL promoter. To analyze the functional interactions between STAT3 and miR-26a, a luciferase assay performed in NPM-ALK-expressing T-cell lymphoma cell lines showed that the downregulation of STAT3 by siRNA increased CTDSPL promoter activity. In addition, downregulation of STAT3 protein or the decrease in STAT3 phosphorylation by STAT3 or NPM-ALK siRNA, respectively, increased miR-26a levels and decreased iNOS protein expression in NPM-ALK-expressing T-cell lymphoma cell lines.Our study proposes novel mechanisms by which NPM-ALK contributes to the survival of T-cell lymphoma. We are currently analyzing the expression of miR-26a and iNOS in primary human lymphoma tumors, and examining the effects of transfecting NPM-ALK-expressing T-cell lymphoma cell lines with miR-26a on cell proliferation, adhesion, and migration. Disclosures:No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Green supply chains: Efforts and potential applications for the Turkish market

This study aims to explore the suitability and significance of waste management as the first step to creating green supply chains in general, and as an extension of this exploration we address the following research questions: (1) What should be the starting point both for individual companies and supply chains for becoming green? Can it be waste management? (2) What is the level of environmental consciousness of firms and how is it possible to assess the potential level of participation if a waste management system was to be implemented in their supply chains? (3) Which sector would be the most appropriate for implementing a green policy in terms of attracting the attention of other sectors and customers simultaneously? (4) What are the dynamics of interdependency and interaction within the upstream and downstream partners in the chain in terms of green consciousness? In discussing green issues, the importance of the mentioned “attracting attention” underlies the importance of consciousness. Addressing this issue requires a general understanding of the current situation in the Turkish market in the first place, and then to extending this understanding to be able to evaluate more effectively the potential of waste management to help companies and consumers gain consciousness at the same time. Based on the literature and personal experience, it was decided to select the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) sector for research. The focus group method was selected to collect opinions of managers from the EEE sector in Izmir. The focus group study was implemented in two sessions. Results showed that the waste management implementation could provide a good starting point for introducing green supply chains, and that the EEE sector could serve as a model for other sectors and consumers, as this sector's products directly affect electricity consumption. Also, we propose a conceptual model regarding dynamics of interdependency and interaction within the upstream and downstream partners in the chain in terms of green consciousness. The key contribution of this study is an analysis of the dynamics between upstream and downstream members in the supply chain, in terms of adopting a more environmentally aware attitude. The analysis of these dynamics is visualized with a proposed conceptual model.

A serial supply chain of newsvendor problem with safety stocks under complete and partial information sharing

Abstract We consider a supply chain where multiple members are serially connected. The decision is to determine the ordering quantity of a member to the next upstream member in the supply chain. The basic cost model is similar to the newsvendor problem with additional consideration to safety stock. This paper presents optimal approaches for coordination of the supply chain under both complete and partial information sharing in order to maximize the total expected benefit. For complete information sharing we develop an optimal coordination algorithm. For partial information sharing, we propose an optimal coordination algorithm based on the Alternating Direction Method and the Diagonal Quadratic Approximation Method. A numerical example is discussed to show the optimal convergence of ordering quantities and discuss the properties of the proposed algorithms.

Research on Bullwhip Effect Considering Allocation Mechanism in Supply Chain

Commonly, an upstream member in a supply chain provides productions or resources for many downstream members. When the sum of retailers order quantities is beyond suppliers' inventories, suppliers might apply order allocation mechanism to solve the difficulty. The allocation mechanism is not considered in most of previous studies on the bullwhip effect. This paper develops the supply chain simulation software based browser/server technology, which can build tree-shape supply chain structure considering allocation mechanism. Two experiments are designed and implemented in order to isolate the effect of different order allocation mechanisms on bullwhip effect. The studies show that BWV differs from allocation mechanisms. For three types of supply chain members, the change tendencies of BWV with two allocation mechanism are similar. The paper also demonstrates that distributors have effect more obviously on bullwhip effect than other two roles with different allocation mechanism.

Coordination in multi-echelon supply chain under supply and demand uncertainty

Abstract The main purpose of this paper is to study the inventory, production, and contracting decisions of a multi-echelon supply chain with both demand and supply uncertainty. We find that the commonly used wholesale price contracts used by both up-stream and downstream supply-chain members cannot coordinate the system. We then propose a returns policy used by the manufacturer and the retailer, combined with the wholesale price contract used by the raw-material supplier and the manufacturer, which can perfectly coordinate the supply chain. Through Nash bargaining analysis, we further provide contract terms that lead to win–win situation. We also investigate the impact of the supplier's risk attitude on the decisions, as well as the impact of spot market price for raw material on the performance of the entire supply chain.

On the effect of non-optimal forecasting methods on supply chain downstream demand

Demand information sharing is used by many organizations to counter the bullwhip effect. A stream of recent papers claims that the upstream member can mathematically infer the demand at the downstream link (downstream demand inference [DDI]) without any formal information sharing mechanism. In this paper, we investigate DDI when non-optimal forecasting methods are employed by supply chains. We show that in the case of a simple moving average forecast, the demand at the downstream link can be inferred. In the case of single exponential smoothing (SES), downstream demand cannot be inferred and thus needs to be shared. Finally, we quantify the value of sharing demand information when SES is employed.

Chain interdependencies, measurement problems and efficient governance structure: cooperatives versus publicly listed firms

We determine the circumstances when the absence of public listing, often believed to be a disadvantage, makes a cooperative the unique efficient governance structure. This is established in a multi-task principal–agent model, capturing that cooperatives are not publicly listed and their CEOs have to bring the downstream enterprise to value as well as to serve upstream member interests. Not having a public listing prevents the CEO from choosing the level of the downstream activities too high. Cooperatives are uniquely efficient when the upstream marginal product multiplied with a function increasing in the strength of the chain complementarities is higher than the downstream marginal product.

Feasibility principles for Downstream Demand Inference in supply chains

Many companies are adopting strategies that enable Demand Information Sharing (DIS) between the supply chain links. Recently, a steady stream of research has identified mathematical relationships between demands and orders at any link in the supply chain. Based on these relationships and strict model assumptions, it has been suggested that the upstream member can infer the demand at the downstream member from their orders. If this is so, DIS will be of no value. In this paper, we argue that real-world modelling requires less restrictive assumptions. We present Feasibility Principles to show that it is not possible for an upstream member to accurately infer consumer demand under more realistic model assumptions. Thus, we conclude that DIS has value in supply chains. We then move our focus to the supply chain model assumptions in the papers arguing that there is value in sharing demand information. Using a simulation experiment, we show that the value of sharing demand information in terms of inventory reductions will increase under more realistic supply chain model assumptions.

Frequent epigenetic inactivation of KIBRA, an upstream member of the Salvador/Warts/Hippo (SWH) tumor suppressor network, is associated with specific genetic event in B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia

The WW-domain containing protein KIBRA has recently been identified as a new member of the Salvador/Warts/Hippo (SWH) pathway in Drosophila and is shown to act as a tumor suppressor gene in Drosophila. This pathway is conserved in humans and members of the pathway have been shown to act as tumor suppressor genes in mammalian systems. We determined the methylation status of the 5' CpG island associated with the KIBRA gene in human cancers. In a large panel of cancer cell lines representing common epithelial cancers KIBRA was unmethylated. But in pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) cell lines KIBRA showed frequent hypermethylation and silencing of gene expression, which could be reversed by treatment with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine. In ALL patient samples KIBRA was methylated in 70% B-ALL but was methylated in < 20% T-ALL leukemia (p = 0.0019). In B-ALL KIBRA methylation was associated with ETV6/RUNX1 {t(12;21) (p13;q22)} chromosomal translocation (p = 0.0082) phenotype, suggesting that KIBRA may play an important role in t(12;21) leukemogenesis. In ALL paired samples at diagnosis and remission KIBRA methylation was seen in diagnostic but not in any of the remission samples accompanied by loss of KIBRA expression in disease state compared to patients in remission. Hence KIBRA methylation occurs frequently in B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia but not in epithelial cancers and is linked to specific genetic event in B-ALL.

Simultaneous coordination of order quantity and reorder point in a two-stage supply chain

In this paper, we investigate the simultaneous coordination of order quantity and reorder point in a two-stage supply chain (SC). While coordination of order quantity has received much attention in the supply chain management literature, coordination of the reorder point has been less-studied. The retailer's reorder point has a direct impact on product availability and customer service level (CSL) and therefore has a great impact on SC profitability. Our proposed model adopts a two-stage SC with stochastic demand and lead times over multiple periods. The proposed coordination model assures global optimization of order quantity–reorder point decisions. Using a pricing scheme with a discount factor, we extract conditions in which both downstream and upstream members have sufficient motivation to participate in the coordination scheme. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed model can achieve channel coordination. Results of the modeling and analyses show that coordination of both reorder point and order quantity can lead to increased SC profitability as well as CSL improvement.