Fuzzy Inventory Model for Deteriorating Items in a Supply Chain System with Time Dependent Demand Rate

Abstract

An inventory model for a single deteriorating item under fuzzy environment has been presented in this paper. Here demand rate is considered to be constant for some time period, post which the same is a linear function of time. This situation is common during the time of a new product launch in the market. As the product becomes popular, its demand increases with time although it remains constant during the initial days. Cycle time is considered to be constant in most of the models. However, practically it has been observed that it is difficult to pro-actively predict the cycle time. Because of this problem, cycle time has been considered as uncertain and has been further described as Symmetric Triangular Fuzzy number. The Signed Distance method has been used for defuzzification of the total cost function. For illustration of the process for finding the total optimal cost and the cycle time, numerical examples have been considered. The effects of changing parameter values on the optimal solution of the system have been demonstrated through Sensitivity Analysis.