DETERMINISTIC APPROXIMATIONS FOR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT AT SERVICE FACILITIES

We consider the problem of finding optimal inventory policies for a service facility where the demand for inventory occurs during the provision of service (e.g., fixing a car in a repair shop). The paper formulates a model where both the demand and service rates are assumed to be constant and deterministic. Consequently a queue forms only during stockouts. In the first of two models analyzed, the service rate is assumed to be fixed and cannot be controlled by the service facility. The ability to use this simple, deterministic model to approximate systems with probabilistic arrival and/or service distributions is also analyzed. The second model relaxes the assumption of a fixed service rate. Optimal inventory policies are derived under linear costs over ordering, inventory holding, customer waiting, and the service rate.