主管:中国科学院
主办:中国优选法统筹法与经济数学研究会
   中国科学院科技战略咨询研究院

Chinese Journal of Management Science ›› 2024, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (7): 248-257.doi: 10.16381/j.cnki.issn1003-207x.2021.1215

Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Optimization of Online Dynamic Inventory Allocation for Order Fulfillment in Two Echelon Warehouse Network of B2C e-Commerce

Hao Xiong1,Huili Yan2()   

  1. 1.International Business School, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
    2.College of International Tourism and Public Administration, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
  • Received:2021-06-17 Revised:2021-09-27 Online:2024-07-25 Published:2024-08-07
  • Contact: Huili Yan E-mail:yhl_yanhuili@126.com

Abstract:

To make the B2C order always be fulfilled by the closest warehouse, the Regional Distribution Center (RDC) of B2C have to replenish the inventory to Front Distribution Center (FDC) according to the available inventory and the daily demand. This process of the replenishment is called online dynamic inventory allocation, which could greatly reduce the inventory shortage and reduce the transshipment cost and the sales loss. So, the online dynamic inventory allocation become an important issue for the fastest response of the e-fulfillment. In this paper, the daily decision model and the solving algorithm of the online dynamic inventory allocation problem are presented. First, the cost of inventory shortage caused by the daily inventory allocation decision are analyzed, which includes five different shortage cost. And, the daily decision model is proposed based on these shortage costs. Then, according to the marginal analysis of inventory shortage cost, it is concluded that the RDC daily demand of the decision day should be satisfied preferentially. After that, two equilibrium inventory allocation strategies are presented specifically for the current day and the next day when transportation is unlimited. Furthermore, when both the limitation of quantity and the product item of transportation are considered, an iterative algorithm based on average opportunity cost of allocation is constructed. Finally, numerical experiments are implemented to simulate the inventory allocation operation of B2C e-commerce. The results of simulation demonstrate that both the model and the algorithm could obtain a sequence of optimal daily allocations in an acceptable computation time. The daily decision model and the solving algorithm of this study can help the B2C retailor develops better inventory allocation policies.

Key words: B2C order fulfillment, two-echelon warehouse network, online dynamic inventory allocation, equilibrium allocation strategy, iteration algorithm

CLC Number: