Letter to the Editor - An Ordering Policy for Stock Items when Delivery Can be Expedited

THE ORDERING POLICY IS DEFINED BY A TRIPLE (X,Q,E) WHERE X = INVENTORY LEVEL AT WHICH AN ORDER FOR Q UNITS IS PLACED WITH A DELIVERY LEAD TIME L AND E = EXPEDITING LEVEL. AN EXPRESSION FOR THE TOTAL COST OF SUCH POLICY IS DERIVED BASED ON THE EXPECTED VALUES OF INVENTORY, UNITS SHORT PER UNIT TIME, NUMBER OF ORDERS PER UNIT TIME, NUMBER OF EXPEDITED ORDERS PER UNIT TIME, NUMBER OF UNITS EXPEDITED PER UNIT TIME. UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT NO ORDERS ARE OUTSTANDING AT THE TIME AN ORDER IS PLACED, APPROXIMATIONS TO THE OPTIMUM (X, Q, E) ARE DERIVED. /ORMS/