Robust Inventory Management Using Tractable Replenishment Policies

We propose tractable replenishment policies for a multi-period, single product inventory control problem under ambiguous demands, that is, only limited information of the demand distributions such as mean, support and deviation measures are available. We obtain the parameters of the tractable replenishment policies by solving a deterministic optimization problem in the form of second order … Read more

Production design for plate products in the steel industry

We describe an optimization tool for a multistage production process for rectangular steel plates. The problem we solve yields a production design (or plan) for rectangular plate products in a steel plant, i.e., a detailed list of operational steps and intermediate products on the way to producing steel plates. We decompose this problem into subproblems … Read more

Optimizing Highway Transportation at the United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers more than 200 billion items per year. Transporting these items in a timely and cost-efficient way is a key issue if USPS is to meet its service and financial goals. The Highway Corridor Analytic Program (HCAP) is a tool that aids transportation analysts in identifying cost saving opportunities … Read more

Efficiency of Maximum Likelihood Estimators under Different Censored Sampling Schemes for Rayleigh Distribution

The objective of this article is to study the effect of different types of censored sampling schemes on the estimation of the unknown parameter for Rayleigh distribution. The censored sampling schemes namely; type-I, type-II and progressive type-II censored sampling are to be considered. The comparisons made between the samples are based on the Fisher information, … Read more

An estimation-free, robust conditional value-at-risk portfolio allocation model

We propose a novel optimization model for risk-averse investors to obtain robust solutions for portfolio allocation problems. Unlike related models in the literature, no historical data or statistical estimation techniques are used to compute the parameters of the model. Instead, the parameters are directly obtained from current prices of options on the assets being considered. … Read more

The Variational Inequality Approach for Solving Spatial Auction Problems with Joint Constraints

We consider a problem of managing a system of spatially distributed markets under capacity and balance constraints and show that solutions of a variational inequality enjoy auction principle properties implicitly. This enables us to develop efficient tools both for derivation of existence and uniqueness results and for creation of solution methods. CitationKazan University, Kazan, March … Read more

REVERSE-ENGINEERING COUNTRY RISK RATINGS: COMBINATORIAL NON-RECURSIVE MODEL

The central objective of this paper is to develop a transparent, consistent, self-contained, and stable country risk rating model, closely approximating the country risk ratings provided by Standard and Poor’s (S&P). The models should be non-recursive, i.e., they should not rely on the previous years’ S&P ratings. The selected set of variables includes not only … Read more

Pricing A Class of Multiasset Options using Information on Smaller Subsets of Assets

In this paper, we study the pricing problem for the class of multiasset European options with piecewise linear convex payoff in the asset prices. We derive a simple upper bound on the price of this option by constructing a static super-replicating portfolio using cash and options on smaller subsets of assets. The best upper bound … Read more

Recruiting Suppliers for Reverse Production Systems: an MDP Heuristics Approach

In order to achieve stable and sustainable systems for recycling post-consumer goods, frequently it is necessary to concentrate the flows from many collection points of suppliers to meet the volume requirements for the recycler. The collection network must be grown over time to maximize the collection volume while keeping costs as low as possible. This … Read more

Covering models with time-dependent demand

In this paper a covering model for locating facilities with time-dependent demand is introduced. Not only the facility locations, but also the instants at which such facilities become operative, are considered as decision variables in order to determine the maximal-profit decision. Expressed as a mixed nonlinear integer program, structural properties are derived for particular demand … Read more