ASSESSING THE RISK-POOLING EFFECT OF WAREHOUSE INVENTORY IN A ONE-WAREHOUSE N-RETAINER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

This paper suggests the“infinite-retailer model”to approximate expected backorders per cycle of the One-warehouse N-retailer distribution system where the warehouse holds back some of the replenishment quantity to satisfy retailer backorders at the end of the cycle through direct shipping to customers. The main objective is to show the functional relationship between the warehouse inventory and the expected backorders per cycle. We illustrate the relationship using a uniform demand case.