On the Convexity of the Backorder Function for an E.O.Q. Policy

Robin B. S. Brooks, John Y. Lu

Expert InsightsPublished 1968

The backorder function for an economic order policy as derived by Hadley and Whitin, while convex in [r] (the reorder point) and convex in [Q] (the order quantity), is unfortunately not generally convex in both [r] and [Q]. It has been pointed out previously that such nonconvexity can lead to a failure of the optimization technique suggested by Hadley and Whitin. This study shows that if [r] is restricted to be suitably large, then [B(r, Q)] is convex within such a region.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1968
  • Pages: 4
  • Document Number: P-3889

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Brooks, Robin B. S. and John Y. Lu, On the Convexity of the Backorder Function for an E.O.Q. Policy. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1968. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P3889.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.