Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1132403 | Transportation Research Part B: Methodological | 2011 | 15 Pages |
Product substitution can mitigate supply chain disruptions. However, it may not be very effective without multiple sourcing. In this paper, we consider a supply chain with two downward substitutable products. The products can be ordered from an unreliable supplier or a reliable but more expensive supplier. It is found that in an optimal sourcing policy the higher-grade product should be preferred over the lower-grade product. A sufficient condition is given for an optimal policy where only the higher-grade product is dual-sourced. The effect of substitution is contrasted with the non-substitution case. Numerical study shows the impact of demand variability and correlation on the effect of product substitution and the corresponding optimal sourcing policy.