Peter Berling

Bio: Peter Berling is an academic researcher from Lund University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Supply chain & Inventory control. The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 28 publications receiving 511 citations. Previous affiliations of Peter Berling include Linnaeus University.

Optimal Inventory Policies when Purchase Price and Demand Are Stochastic

Abstract: In this paper we consider the problem of a firm that faces a stochastic (Poisson) demand and must replenish from a market in which prices fluctuate, such as a commodity market. We describe the price evolution as a continuous stochastic process and we focus on commonly used processes suggested by the financial literature, such as the geometric Brownian motion and the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. It is well known that under variable purchase price, a price-dependent base-stock policy is optimal. Using the single-unit decomposition approach, we explicitly characterize the optimal base-stock level using a series of threshold prices. We show that the base-stock level is first increasing and then decreasing in the current purchase price. We provide a procedure for calculating the thresholds, which yields closed-form solutions when price follows a geometric Brownian motion and implicit solutions under the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck price model. In addition, our numerical study shows that the optimal policy performs much better than inventory policies that ignore future price evolution, because it tends to place larger orders when prices are expected to increase.

The Effects of Financial Risks on Inventory Policy

Abstract: The effect of financial risks on (R, Q) inventory policies is analyzed in a real options framework. Simple adjustments of the usual formulas for R and Q are suggested and tested. Stochastic demand and purchase costs are considered, both with known systematic (business-cycle-related) risk. The systematic risk of stochastic demand has typically a negligible effect on the optimal values of R and Q, although an improvement may be achieved by a simple adjustment of R. The systematic risk of the purchase price, c, has a significant effect on R and Q. The capital holding cost should be estimated as r i¾· c, where r is the sum of the risk-free interest rate, the expected price decrease, and the risk premium associated with the systematic risk of c. For goods quoted on commodity exchanges, r may be estimated directly from the prices on forward contracts. Its size (and sign) varies considerably for different commodities.

Managing the Innovation Adoption of Supply Chain Finance-Empirical Evidence From Six European Case Studies

Abstract: Logistics’ contribution to corporate performance has increased over recent years, particularly due to supply chain innovations. Opposed to common innovations focusing on the improvement of product or information flow, supply chain finance (SCF) targets the financial flow and allows buying firms and their suppliers to improve working capital and reduce costs. However, the adoption process of SCF is complex and rather unexplored in academia. This article provides an early step in building knowledge about SCF and in particular how firms adopt SCF, why they adopt differently, and what role suppliers play in the adoption process. The objective was therefore to close the gap between our knowledge on product and information flow oriented innovations and financial flow innovations along the supply chain, namely SCF. For this explorative research, we opted for an inductive multiple case study approach with six European firms. Based on our findings, four sets of propositions are posited and an extended SCF adoption framework is proposed revolving around the interrelated adoption processes of buying firms and their corresponding supplier bases.

Supply Chain Management, Activity-Based Costing and Organisational Factors

Abstract: In today's intense global competition, supply chain management (SCM) is as a vital tool for helping managers to improve productivity, profitability and the performance of their organisations. In doing so, SCM requires more accurate cost data regarding all activities and processes within the organisations. Given the above, activity-based costing (ABC) can significantly contribute to global supply chain management as it is suggested to fulfil the above requirements by providing more accurate, detailed and up-to-date information on all activities and processes in organisations.Contributing to the SCM and ABC literature, current study first identifies different types of improvements which ABC can offer to SCM and the performance of the organisations, then it examines the extent of association between business size as well as business industry (as organisational factors) affecting the adoption of ABC in New Zealand (NZ) through using a survey questionnaire and targeting NZ qualified CIMA members. To improve SCM and organisations’ performance by increasing the adoption of ABC in organisations, one of the main implications of the findings is that the adoption of ABC in smaller firms needs more attention compared with the larger firms regardless of their industries (manufacturing versus non-manufacturing firms). However, when the decision is made to implement ABC, non-manufacturing firms (rather than manufacturing firms) need more attention to proceed with a higher level of adoption of ABC.