Joint replenishment problem for deteriorating item

Based on the analyses of items' deterioration in real production/inventory systems, such as decay, spoilage, evaporation, and so on, Joint Replenishment Problem (JRP) model with exponentially distribution deterioration rate was proposed. The objective function of the JRP model was to minimize the setup costs, inventory holding costs and deterioration costs. Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used to solve this problem and studies were also conducted from aspects such as chromosome coding, fitness function, selection, crossover and mutation operations etc. Numerical examples demonstrated the effectiveness of the model and presented algorithm, and the total relevant costs were remarkably influenced by the changing rate of deterioration. The results showed that proposed model provided better solution than other decision-making model ignoring deterioration factors.