Infinitesimal dividing modeling method for dual suppliers inventory model with random lead times

As one of the basic inventory cost models, the (Q, r) inventory cost model of dual suppliers with random procurement lead time is mostly formulated by using the concepts of “effective lead time” and “lead time demand”, which may lead to an imprecise inventory cost. Through the real-time statistic of the inventory quantities, this paper considers the precise (Q, r) inventory cost model of dual supplier procurement by using an infinitesimal dividing method. The traditional modeling method of the inventory cost for dual supplier procurement includes complex procedures. To reduce the complexity effectively, the presented method investigates the statistics properties in real-time of the inventory quantities with the application of the infinitesimal dividing method. It is proved that the optimal holding and shortage costs of dual supplier procurement are less than those of single supplier procurement respectively. With the assumption that both suppliers have the same distribution of lead times, the convexity of the cost function per unit time is proved. So the optimal solution can be easily obtained by applying the classical convex optimization methods. The numerical examples are given to verify the main conclusions.