Conference Agenda

We study flexible versus dedicated technology choice and capacity investment of a two-product firm under demand uncertainty in the presence of subscription programs. With subscription programs, a proportion of customers allocated to a particular product are allowed to switch to the other product. We analyze how the switching proportion and demand correlation between two subscription demands affect capacity investment and profitability with each technology, and shape optimal technology choice.

High-tech products consist of many modules. We study an assembly system with one module sourced from a supplier with a fixed lead-time and one module produced in-house in a make-to-order (MTO) production system. Since unavailability of modules is costly, it is important to coordinate between the ordering policy for one module and the production of the other. We show optimality of an order policy for the lead-time module with base-stock levels depending on the state of the MTO production system.

The buffer allocation problem is a fundamental optimization problem if flow line planners need to cope with stochastic influences. Additionally, practitioners include spare part planning for manufacturing systems to increase the machine's availability directly. Hence, we tackle this crucial question and are the first to present a joint optimization of buffer capacities and spare part stocks for flow lines of arbitrary length. Among others, we generate new insights on spare part allocations.