Optimization of Multi-Echelon Inventory Systems in E-commerce Supply Chains
Résumé
In recent years, e-commerce companies such as Alibaba, JD, and Amazon have been promoting the new retail that integrates on-line E-commerce sites, off-line retail stores, and logistics. One key for the success of this new generation of retail is effective supply chain management to ensure that goods ordered on-line can be delivered from suppliers or retail stores to customers quickly and on-time at lower costs. To achieve this goal, effective inventory management across the entire supply chain of an e-commerce company is critical for it to reduce inventory costs while assuring a high service level to customers. In this lecture, basic concepts and models for inventory management are introduced, two major methods for the optimization of multi-echelon inventory systems are presented, and practical issues and research perspectives of e-commerce supply chain inventory management are addressed.