Two-level credit financing for noninstantaneous deterioration items in a supply chain with downstream credit-linked demand

Abstract

Trade credit financing is a useful tool in business today, which can be characterized as the agreement between supply chain members such as permissible delay in payments. In this study, we assume that the items have the property of noninstantaneous deterioration and the demand is a function of downstream credit. Then, an EOQ model for noninstantaneous deterioration is built based on the two-level financing policy. The purpose of this paper is to maximize the total average profit by determine the optimal downstream credit period, the optimal replenishment cycle length, and the optimal ordering quantity per cycle. Useful theorems are proposed to characterize the method of obtaining the optimal solutions. Based on the theorems, an algorithm is designed, and numerical tests and sensitive analysis are provided. Lastly, according to the sensitive analysis, managerial insights are proposed. © 2013 Yong He and Hongfu Huang.