Determination of optimal shipping quantity for perishable goods under probabilistic supply (Q1665195)

Summary: The problems of shipping and transporting perishable goods are commonly considered in the literature as significant topics, but rarely did researchers adopt a probabilistic point of view in their models. It is common in SCM environments that the participating entities' behaviors are random and unpredictable and so can only be modeled in a probabilistic way. In this paper, we consider the shipping problem of determining the optimal quantity of perishable products with a limited time to be stored in the warehouse. The optimal quantity minimizes the overall operational costs including those of inventory and shipping. We develop a mathematical model, from which the probability distribution function, mean, and variance of the length of the build-up period are derived and we establish a cost function for determining the optimal shipping value.