APPROXIMATIONS FOR THE SINGLE-PRODUCT

We consider a production-inventory problem in which the production rate can be continuously controlled in order to cope with random fluctuations in the demand. The demand process for a single product is a compound Poisson process. Excess demand is backlogged. Two production rates are available and the inventory level is continuously controlled by a switch-over rule characterized by two critical numbers. In accordance with common practice, we consider service measures such as the average number of stockouts per unit time and the fraction of demand to be met directly from stock on hand. The purpose of the paper is to derive practically useful approximations for the switch-over levels of the control rule such that a pre-specified value of the service level is achieved.