Pricing and Warranty Decisions of Substitutable Products for a Fuzzy Two-Echelon Supply Chain

Abstract

This paper considers the optimal decisions of pricing and warranty level for substitutable products in a fuzzy supply chain environment, where the consumer demands, manufacturing costs, and warranty costs are characterized as fuzzy variables. Expected value manufacturer-leader Stackelberg models and two chance-constrained programming models, that is, the -optimistic and -pessimistic manufacturer-leader Stackelberg models, are established. The corresponding closed-form solutions are obtained by using the game-theoretical approach and fuzzy theory. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the models and to provide managerial insights for decision makers. The results show that it would be beneficial for the whole supply chain when the warranty services are introduced into the market, and the firm which provides the warranty service has the advantage in holding more dominant position.