Lot Sizing with Random Yields: A Review

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on quantitatively-oriented approaches for determining lot sizes when production or procurement yields are random. We discuss issues related to the modeling of costs, yield uncertainty, and performance in the context of systems with random yields. We provide a review of the existing literature, concentrating on descriptions of the types of problems that have been solved and important structural results. We identify a variety of shortcomings of the literature in addressing problems encountered in practice, and suggest directions for future research.