Inflationary implications on an inventory with expiration date, capital constraint and uncertain lead time in a multi-echelon supply chain.

The present study considers a multi-echelon supply system comprising of a supplier, a retailer and the end customer. The inventory is deteriorating and has a certain expiration date beyond which there is no demand for the item. The practicalities of real business world are embedded in the setup as the supplier’s lead time has been considered, which is a random variable. The effect of inflation has been accounted for to provide economic feasibility to the model. There is an upper limit to the expenses that the supplier can bear, providing him with a capital constraint. An optimal solution has been arrived at, and the sensitivity of the solution shows that the model is very stable.