International Journal of Systems Science

A simulation-based approach to study stochastic inventory-planning games JAIDEEP J. RAOy*, KIRAN KUMAR RAVULAPATIz and TAPAS K. DAS} Non-cooperative decision-making problems in a decentralized supply chain can be characterized and studied using a stochastic game model. In an earlier paper, the authors developed a methodology that uses machine learning for finding (near) optimal policies for non-zero sum stochastic games, and applied their methodology on an N-retailer and W-warehouse inventory-planning problem. The focus of this paper is on making the methodology more amenable to practical applications by making it completely simulation-based. It is also demonstrated, through numerical example problems, how…