On the equivalence of the control theoretic, differential and difference equation approaches to solving the production and inventory control system design problem

17th International Conference on Production Research, 3rd-7th August, Virginia, USA, 11 pages.

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Abstract

In this paper we conduct an analysis of a production / distribution ordering and inventory algorithm in both continuous and discrete time. The ordering policy we have chosen for our study is a generalized Order-Up -To policy. We show that the management insights gained from both time approaches are very similar. We conclude that for qualitative, practical purposes we may use either domain for analysis. This is particularly true as some questions are often hard to ask in one time domain but may be easier in the other, and although the exact results may differ, their qualitative nature is often similar.