Excerpt from Promise Date Policies in Inventory Theory Inventory theory is concerned primarily with procedures for minimizing the cost of replenishing, holding and being without a stock of needed goods. In most models, including the one considered in this paper, the problem is viewed in terms of a finite number of sequential time periods. Within each of these periods, the basic inventory cycle of replenish ment, receipt of orders, and shipment of stock against current and earlier orders takes place. Three components of cost are incurred in the course of each period. The replenishment cost is assumed usually to be a convex function of the amount of stock received, indicating the possibility of greater economy through increased volume. The cost of holding stock is assumed to be a function of the remaining stock level after replenishment and shipment. The shortage cost-the cost of not being able to fill orders on time-is assumed usually to depend on the total amount of all unshipped orders at the end of the period. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.