A new iterative heuristic to solve the joint replenishment problem using a spreadsheet technique

In this paper, a heuristic method is presented which gives a novel approach to solve joint replenishment problems (JRP) with strict cycle policies. The heuristic solves the JRP in an iterative procedure and is based on a spreadsheet technique. The principle of the recursion procedure is to find a balance between the replenishment and inventory holding costs for the different items by adjusting the replenishment frequencies. The heuristic is also tested according to an extensive test template and shows pleasing results. It also performs well in comparison with many other heuristics.