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AbstractQuantity discounts are considered in the context of the single‐period inventory model known as "the newsboy problem." It is argued that the behavioral implications of the all‐units discount schedule are more complex and interesting than the literature has suggested. Consideration of this behavior and the use of marginal analysis lead to a new method for solving this problem that is both conceptually simpler and more efficient than the traditional approach. This marginal‐cost solution procedure is described graphically, an algorithm is presented, and an example is used to demonstrate that this solution procedure can be extended easily to handle complex discount schedules, such as some combined (simultaneously applied) purchasing and transportation cost discount schedules.

One of the principal uses of simulation in business and industry is to compare alternative policies or decision rules for the operation and control of complex systems. The immediate objective of such simulation studies is usually quite simple: to discover the best of the several policies under consideration. The measure of effectiveness used is also usually straightforward, often dollars of cost or profit. The basic experimental design that will produce the best comparison of alternatives is generally agreed upon: all policies should be compared under, to the extent possible, identical experimental conditions, i.e., when randomness is involved, all alternatives in a simulation experiment should be simulated using a common sequence of randomly‐generated events.

ABSTRACTWe develop and test ways for modifying the Silver‐Meal and part‐period‐balancing lot‐sizing procedures to include the costs of schedule changes in response to changes in demand estimates. These modifications tend to reduce MRP system nervousness. We compare the performance of these approaches with the modified Wagner‐Whitin algorithm, which we have shown is optimal for static conditions. We find that the modified SilverMeal approach is only slightly more costly than the modified Wagner‐Whitin technique and that the modified part‐period‐balancing approach performs both poorly and erratically.