The (S-1, S) inventory model and its counterparts in queueing theory

Abstract

We explore the relationship between the (S - 1, S) inventory model and three well-known queueing models: the Erlang loss system, the machine-repair model and a two-node Jackson network. Exploiting this relationship allows us to obtain key performance measures of the (S - 1, S) model, like the so-called virtual outdating time, the number of items on the shelf in steady state, the long-run rate of unsatisfied demands and the distribution of the empty shelf period. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.