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Inventory management of supply chain with robust control theory: literature

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Article in International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management · January 2017

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2017.10005787
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438 Int. J. Logistics Systems and Management, Vol. 27, No. 4, 2017
Inventory management of supply chain with robust

control theory: literature review
Azeddine Zemzam* and

Mohammed El Maataoui
LASTIMI Laboratory,
Mohammedia School of Engineers (EMI) and
High School of Technology (EST),
Mohammed V University in Rabat,
Rabat 765, Morocco
Email: azdo1977@gmail.com
Email: mohammedelmaataoui@gmail.com
*Corresponding author
Mustapha Hlyal
LASTIMI Laboratory,
School of Textile and Clothing (ESITH-CELOG),
Casablanca 7731, Morocco
Email: mustapha.hlyal@gmail.com
Jamila El Alami
LASTIMI Laboratory,
High School of Technology (EST),
Salé 227, Morocco
Email: alamijamila1@gmail.com
Nourddine El Alami
Mohammedia School of Engineers (EMI),
Rabat 765, Morocco
Email: prelalami@gmail.com
Abstract: Supply chain management (SCM) has become a vital tool for
organisations, which desire to improve performance and resilience. More and
more attention in SCM has been dedicated to inventory. The great potential of
control theory to handle inventory problems was evidenced since the early
1950s. In particular, the robust control which is devoted to dealing with
uncertainties and minimising the worst case value of disturbances represents a
useful tool to help research in inventory management. This paper aims to
provide a review of 37 articles covering the application of robust control in
modelling and control of inventory problems according to the considered
uncertainties mainly in demand and delay time.
Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Inventory management of supply chain with robust control theory 439
Keywords: supply chain; inventory management; robust control theory;

uncertainties.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Zemzam, A.,

El Maataoui, M., Hlyal, M., El Alami, J. and El Alami, N. (2017) ‘Inventory
management of supply chain with robust control theory: literature review’,
Int. J. Logistics Systems and Management, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp.438–465.
Biographical notes: Azeddine Zemzam obtained his Aeronautical Engineering

degree in 2000 from The Air School (ERA), Marrakech, Morocco. Currently,
he is a PhD student in the Laboratory of Analysis of Systems, Information
Processing and Integrated Management (LASTIMI), Mohammedia School of
Engineers (EMI) and High School of Technology (EST), in Rabat, Morocco.
His research interests have revolved around the robust control and its
applications in supply chain systems.
Mohammed El Maataoui received his Computer Engineering degree in 2001

from The National School of Mineral Industry (ENSMR), Rabat, Morocco.
Currently, he is a PhD student in the Laboratory of Analysis of Systems,
Information Processing and Integrated Management (LASTIMI), Mohammedia
School of Engineers (EMI) and High School of Technology (EST), in Rabat,
Morocco. His research interests include robust control and supply chain
management.
Mustapha Hlyal is currently a Manager of the Centre of Excellence in Logistics

(CELOG), Associate Professor at the Laboratory Systems Analysis,
Information Processing and Industrial Management (LASTIMI), Professor of
Logistics at the Higher School of Textile and Clothing Industries (ESITH) in
Casablanca, Morocco. He holds a PhD in Science and Technology from
Mohammed V University in Rabat, an Executive MBA in Supply Chain
Management from the University of Laval Canada, and an Engineering degree
from the National School of Arts and Textile Industries (ENSIAT), Roubaix,
France. He has a track record experience of more than seven years as an expert
in the engineering of training in the European’s projects MEDA1, MEDA2 and
over ten years experience in industry as production manager and logistics and
information systems manager.
Jamila El Alami is the Head of Laboratory of Analysis of Systems, Information

Processing and Integrated Management (LASTIMI) in High School of
Technology of Salé (ESTS), Morocco. She received her Engineering degree in
1985 from Mohammadia School of Engineering, Morocco. In 1996, she holds a
Preparatory Certificate in Research (Master degree) in Automatic Control. In
2001, she received her PhD in Automatic Control and Industrial Informatics
from Mohammadia School of Engineering, Mohammed V University in Rabat,
Morocco. Since 1999 she is a Professor at High School of Technology of Salé,
Morocco. Her research interests are control of nonlinear systems and supply
chain management.
Nourddine El Alami received his Electrical Engineering degree in 1980 from

The Mohammedia School of Engineering (EMI), Rabat, Morocco, his
‘Certificat d’Etudes Approfondies’ in Applied Mathematics in 1981 from The
Faculté des Sciences de Rabat, and his PhD in Automatic Control in 1986 from
The University of Perpignan, France. He is with the (EMI) since 1980, where
he supervised several doctoral theses in control and observation of distributed
and lumped parameters bilinear systems, fractional systems, large scale
systems, harvested fish population systems, and delay systems.
440 A. Zemzam et al.
1 Introduction
Companies must think how to improve their supply chain management in order to
increase their profitability and reduce their vulnerability in response to competitive
environment and globalisation. Characterised by fast changes, today’s market incites
every business to assess its policy and take the necessary actions in order to satisfy its
customers with the high service level at the minimum possible cost and at the right time.
Making an appreciable evaluation of strategy and taking optimal choices are therefore of
key importance to optimise the total flow of materials from suppliers or manufacturers to
end-users.
This fact instigates managers to make appropriate decisions at different levels:
strategic, tactical and operational (Chopra and Meindl, 2010). Including in the two last
level, planning and control of inventories and activities as a single entity is the key for an
efficient supply chain management (Jones and Riley, 1987). According to Jones and
Riley, three conditions must come together for integrating the supply chain to work
successfully: identifying customer service level requirements, defining location of
inventory along the supply chain, and allocation of stock at each point and developing the
suitable policies for managing the supply chain as a single entity.
The efficiency of inventory management involves consideration of disturbances and
changes, because once a supply chain is affected by a disruption or exposed to
fluctuations, its competitiveness is compromised and its income is reduced (Guojun and
Caihong, 2008). As an expression of these effects, uncertainties must be taking into
account in order to make the appropriate operational decisions.
To remain competitive, supply chains must be robust, they must develop the
responsiveness capacity to predict disturbances and to return rapidly to their original state
or move to a new, more valuable one (Guojun and Caihong, 2008; Carvalho and
Machado, 2007; Peck, 2005). Regarding inventory management, the incidence of changes
in company decisions is a tradeoff between restricting of risk by having a greater
inventory level and limiting a costs of inventory (Michalski, 2008).
Two main techniques may be used to solve inventory problem: the analytic approach
and the simulation approach. The last one allows the managers to test different scenarios
and decide on the best one. Many decision makers prefer the analytic method because of
its relative simplicity (Zizka, 2005; Soshko et al., 2010). According to Vrat (2014), the
ability to represent an inventory problem by a model allows to rationally decide how
much to buy and when to buy. Inventory models combine decision variables with
situational parameters (demand; lead time; cost parameters; and any uncertainties
associated with it) depending upon the adopted inventory policy. Therefore, many
methods for modelling inventories have been proposed. According to the same author,
these models can be mainly grouped as static models or dynamic models; other major
classification could be ‘deterministic’ inventory models vs. probabilistic inventory
models.
The control theory is considered as an effective tool to understand the dynamic
behaviour of supply chains. Backx et al. (2000) underline the importance of feedback
control mechanisms to enhance adaptability of manufacturing to the increasingly
transient nature of the marketplace. This idea was earlier examined by Simon (1952)
through servomechanism control of replenishment policy for continuous-time, single
product inventory. Since the application of control theory to the management of

production-inventory processes has been widely used. Vassian (1954) proposed a
discrete-time servomechanism control theory based on the Z transform methodology for
managing replenishment policy. Soon after that, Forrester (1958) introduced ‘industrial
dynamics’ methodology, called later as ‘system dynamics’, in order to analyse and
improve dynamics in production-inventory systems from feedback perspective. This
work was the first to identify one of the traditional problems in supply chain called
demand amplification or as it has been named by Lee et al. (1997) the bullwhip effect
(BE). This phenomenon refers to the trend of orders to amplify in comparison to sales as
they move through the echelons of a supply chain (Disney and Towill, 2003).
The various methods of control theory, applied in the field of inventory management,
include globally: classical control theory, optimal control, model predictive control and
robust control. The latter allows the system remain stable in the presence of uncertainties
with minimisation of the worst case fluctuation in a feedback context. In particular,
robust control theory can be used to quantify and deal with BE problem. Recently, there
is an absence of review papers that summarise publications regarding the application of
robust control theory to the inventory management problem. This paper attempts to fill
this gap by reviewing the major literature in this field. The aim of this paper is to review
relevant works, with regard to the applicability of robust control on inventory
management, integrating mainly uncertainties in demand and lead time and consequently,
to provide a classification of them so as to help researchers interested to learn about the
state of art of the various articles dealing with this subject, to identify gaps and future
improvements.
The rest of this paper is organised as follows: Section 2 introduces some earlier
review papers; the research methodology for accomplishing the present study is described
in Section 3. Analysis of reviewed papers with regard to uncertainties in demand and
delay time is presented respectively in Sections 4 and 5. Section 6 evaluates the different
models and controls witch focus on the BE reduction. Finally, Section 7 contains the
conclusion and recommendations for future research.
2 Literature review
In order to prove the contribution of the present review, Table 1 point out several papers
that have addressed state-of-art studies regarding application of control theory in analysis
and control of supply chain systems.
The work of Ortega was devoted mainly to review tools of classical control theory
applied to production-inventory systems. Sarimveis et al. provided review of researches
regarding the dynamic modelling and application of several methods of control theory to
the supply chain management realm. Zhang et al. presented an overview of classical
control theory, modern control theory and intelligent control theory application to supply
chain management. Ivanov et al. studied the applicability of optimal control theory to
adaptive supply chain planning and scheduling. Recently, Duffie et al. examined classical
control theoretical frame to analyse the transient behaviour and understand fundamental
dynamics of production planning and control.
Table 1 Review studies regarding application of control theory into supply chain
Paper Control methods Period

Ortega and Lin (2004) Classical control theory – optimal control Until 2004
Sarimveis et al. (2008) Classical control – dynamic programming Until 2008
Optimal control – model predictive control
Robust-control – approximate dynamic
programming
Zhang et al. (2011a) Classical control theory – modern control Until 2011
Theory – intelligent control theory
Ivanov et al. (2012) Optimal control theory 1960–2011
Duffie et al. (2014) Classical control theory Until 2014
Among all these review studies, the one of Sarimveis et al. was the only that has
considered applicability of robust control in the field of supply chain management among
others control methods.
Therefore, after 2008, no review publication has emerged about robust control in
inventory management problem. Thus, a literature review study of recent publications is
necessary to define the main axes for further works. It should be noted that the present
work will also include some papers which had not been discussed in Sarimveis et al.
(2008).
3 Research methodology
The aim of this paper is to identify major works on inventory management research
applying robust control theoretical framework, and subsequently, to categorise them so as
to clarify gaps and opportunities for future research. For this purpose, the demarche in
(Mayring, 2003) is adopted here to elucidate the research methodology.
3.1 Material collection
The present work studies papers found via electronic search of the topic field covering a
period from January 2009 to December 2015 and including articles which had not been
reviewed by Sarimveis et al. (2008).
The search was conducted in Google Scholar engine with “robust control theory and
inventory management in a supply chain” as keywords. Given the large number of
publications we have obtained, some suitable considerations must be setting to identify
the material of the literature review. Consequently, the search was limited to the accepted
papers, in English language and published in scientific journals or through conference
proceedings, included in the online literature sources such as Springer Link, Science
Direct, IEEE, Informaworld (Taylor & Francis, Routledge), Hindawi. Master/doctoral
dissertations, books and unpublished working papers are excluded. Accordingly, 37
articles are selected to be reviewed in the present review.
3.2 Descriptive analysis

The literature review study is based on 37 articles. Distribution of these papers with
regard to journals or conferences is presented in Table 2. The third column gives the
number of papers per journal or conference.
Table 2 Distribution of articles with regard to journals/ conference proceedings
Number of
Journals/conferences
papers
Automatica 1
Bulletin of the Polish Academy of Sciences: Technical Sciences 1
Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience 1
Control and Decision 1
International Journal of Advancements in Computing Technology 1
INTECH Open Access Publisher 1
Journals
Journal of Optimisation in Industrial Engineering 1

Journal of Convergence Information Technology 1
Neurocomputing 1
Systems Engineering 1
Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 2
International Journal of Production Research 2
International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research 1
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 4
Advanced Mechatronic Systems Proceedings Conference 1
American Control Conference 1
Automation Science and Engineering, IEEE 2
Computational Intelligence and Industrial Application Asia Workshop 1
Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision. 9th International Conference 1
Decision and Control IEEE Conference 1
Future BioMedical Information Engineering Proceedings International 1
Seminar
Conferences
Information Engineering and Computer Science. International Conference 1

Intelligent Control and Automation Proceedings of the World Congress 1
Intelligent Networks and Intelligent Systems, 3rd International Conference 1
International Federation of Automatic Control Proceedings of the 17th World 1
Congress
Management Science and Industrial Engineering International Conference 2
Mechatronics and Control (ICMC), 2014 International Conference 1
Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation, International 1
Conference
Production and Operations Management Society 26th Annual Conference 1
Transportation, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering, International 1
Conference
Because of the great contribution of robust control theory in analysing and controlling the
inventory management problem, different journals and international renowned
conferences were interested in this topic.
3.3 Category selection

The robust control is devoted to deal with uncertainty. Therefore, the reviewed papers
will be classified with respect to the uncertain parameters considered in these studies,
namely the demand and the time delay. The articles witch examine only uncertainty of
demand (28 papers) and the others that study uncertainty related to the two parameters
(9 papers) constitute the two categories selected in this review. Some papers that treated
fluctuation of demand are categorised in the first group. Others which studied models
with time varying delay are discussed in the second group.
Each one of these categories is divided in subcategories vis-à-vis the considered state
representation namely models in the standard state representation, models with time
delays, model with uncertainties of parameters and switching models.
3.4 Material evaluation

The deductive and inductive methods are used to validate the selected papers. To rule the
different traits of analyses, all articles were decorticated using Excel spreadsheet. The
materials are verified through other databases (SCOPUS and WOS) to enrich this review
and to confirm the conformity of the publications to the selected criteria.
4 Robust control of inventory management considering demand

uncertainty
4.1 Models in standard state representation

Guo and Huang (2006) presented a state matrix model of a closed-loop supply chain
(CLSC) based on remanufacturing consisting of the actual inventory at the manufacturer
and the virtual inventory (Nakashima et al., 2004) used by a customer. The BE was
calculated as the minimum of the up-bounded of L2 norm of the discrete-time transfer
function of the CLSC considering the output as the variance of the expected cost of the
manufacturer and the input as the variance of the customer’s demand. The H∞ control
strategy was designed to reduce the BE, applying the bounded real lemma for discrete
time system (Gahinet and Apkarian, 1994) in the worst case of customer’s demand
fluctuation.
Huang et al. (2007) have discussed discrete models of a multi-echelon supply chain
system, a time-lag dynamic supply chain system, and a dual-channel supply chain with a
B2B e-market. The first system consisted of customer, middle concentration echelon and
distributor. To describe the three models, the dynamic equations of inventory deviation
were constructed from the difference between the variables in the actual system and in
the nominal system. New state variables were introduced to transform the production and
inventory time-lag system in a state equation. The three models were being combined
into one uniform model. The analysis, quantification and damping of the BE values of the
three systems subject to the worst fluctuation of demand was performed based on the H∞
control. It consists to find a positive definite matrix by solving a one Riccati equation.
Boccadoro et al. (2008) discussed a similar model of Dejonckheere et al. (2003)
derived from linearisation around nominal operating condition of a nonlinear model
describing a supply chain including N sites. They considered a performance criterion
comprising two H∞ gain minimising fluctuations in the demand on those of the inventory
and of the orders, with properly chosen weights. They used H∞ control method to
provide linear feedback policies which depend on the same signals listed above,
according to the considered performance, to optimise local inventory costs while
avoiding the BE. They applied a pre-filtering technique to minimise the gain, in case the
main frequency band of demand fluctuations can be estimated. They addressed a relation
between the optimisation of local costs at each site and the optimisation problem of the
whole supply chain. Presented in a closed loop form, this policy required that the lead
time is known which in a realistic situation is not valid, and is likely to yield unstable
behaviour of the system.
The analysis of constrained controls was proposed in Bauso et al. (2008) where a
continuous time linear multi-inventory system was studied with uncertain demands ω(t)
confined within ellipsoids ω(t) ∈ W = {ω ∈ Rn: ωTRωω ≤ 1} and controlled flow u(t)
confined within polytopes
u (t ) ∈ U = {u ∈ R m : u − ≤ u ≤ u + } .
The problem of ε-stabilisability of this system was addressed with ε is the maximal
dimension of the target set defined as П = {x(t) ∈ Rn: xTPx ≤ 1} where x(t) is a vector
corresponds to the buffer levels and ε = maxx{||x||∞: x ∈ П}. It aims to lead the state
within an a-priori chosen target set using a saturated linear state feedback control
formulated as u = sat[u − .u + ] (− Kx) under conditions expressed as an inclusion between
convex sets and based on linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The sat operator is defined as
⎧b if ζ >b,
⎪
sat[ a.b ] (ζ ) = ⎨ζ if a ≤ ζ ≤ b,
⎪a if ζ < a,
⎩
where a, b and ζ are vectors of same dimensions. As showed in McCormick (1996),
verification of such conditions is NP-hard when both demands and controls are bounded
within polytopes.
In the case where both demands and controls are bounded within ellipsoids (Bauso
et al., 2007), the verification becomes easy. The authors examined for which initial state
the system could be certainly ε-stabilisable by a ‘pure’ linear state feedback control. In
first step, they considered only the ellipsoidal constraint on ω and neglect the one on u.
Then, they introduced this constraint on both demands and controls. Subsequently, they
showed that if the previous linear policy is saturated then the system is ε-stabilisable for
any initial state.
Guo et al. (2008) studied CLSC networks consisting of two CLSCs based on
remanufacturing. Each chain includes a manufacturer, a retailer and a consumer which is
considered as virtual inventory. Chains cooperation allows manufacturers to collect
product from the whole CLSC networks. The model of the two chains was addressed
after establishing of the inventory state difference equations of the manufacturers,

retailers and consumers. According to the method in Guo and Huang (2006) and Huang
et al. (2007), BEs were described as the ratio of the sum of the variances of the
manufacturer’s remanufacturing, normal production and the variance of the retailer’s
order in each supply chain to the sum of the demand’s variances. The H∞ control
methods were presented in order to reduce the different BEs values in the worst case of
the demand fluctuation. It consisted to minimise some criterion, by solving a Riccati
equation, so as to select a suitable control parameter.
In Haifeng and Xiaoming (2008), the authors studied the same networks of Guo et al.
(2008). The BE was quantified as L2 norm of the discrete-time transfer function of CLSC
networks
zk ( z )
FWZ ( z ) =
wk ( z )
where the output zk is the sum of the variance of the production and the variance of the
inventory and the input wk is the variance of the customer’s demand in downstream. To
reduce the BE values, the H∞ control strategy, based on LMIs approach, was applied in
the worst case of customer’s demand fluctuation.
A two CLSC networks with the third party reverse providers (3PRLP) were examined
in Haifeng (2010) as shown in Figure 1. Vertical cooperation between tiers was
supposed. The inventory dynamic equations of chain 1, chain 2 and 3PRLP were
formulated where inventory levels of the manufacturers and 3PRLP as well consumers’
virtual inventory (Nakashima et al., 2004) were considered as the state variables.
Considering the discarded rate of the two chains and the collection rate or the
remanufacturing rate from chain to chain, the model of 3PRLP-CLSP network was
constructed. A γ-suboptimal H∞ state feedback controller was designed so that the
production deviation and the inventory level deviation could be smoothed, in other words
reduce the BE in the worst case namely the most fluctuation of end customer’s demand in
the same way of Haifeng and Xiaoming (2008).
Figure 1 Two chain cooperation CLSC networks model with 3PRLP
In Guo and Sun (2010), a dual channel closed loop supply chain with B2B e-market was
be examined. It consisted of a manufacturer, a distributor and a consumer as shown in
Figure 2.
Figure 2 Dual channel closed loop supply chain model
Besides the traditional channel, the manufacturer can use internet channel by selling
products directly to the consumer at the preference rate α of the costumer to such channel
where 0 ≤ α ≤ 1. The reverse logistics included the remanufacturing part of the outdated
products at the rate μ and the gratuitous return of goods returned at the rate β that
manufacturer and distributor promise the consumer. Products of consumer’s virtual
inventory are discarded at the rate λ, then μ + β + λ ≤ 1. After establishing the inventory
dynamic equation of each stage of the supply chain system by considering fluctuant
quantity in demand (ξk), the state matrix equation of dual-channel CLSC was formulated.
The state variables were described by the actual inventory levels of the manufacturer and
the distributor and the virtual inventory of consumer. The quantification and the
reduction of the BE was performed as in Guo et al. (2008).
Zhang et al. (2011b) analysed a four-echelon close loop supply chain model
composed of manufacturer, retailer, consumer and third-party logistics that recycles
return from the consumer before sending it to the manufacturer. The demand fluctuations
and the market demand forecast inaccuracies represent model uncertainties. For one
single period, the BE was measured as the difference between manufacturer’s real
products’ supply (uk) using the true market demand and noised supply parameter (uk)
caused by forecasted market demand. The calculation of true production control and
noised production control were derived after satisfying LMI condition of Kim and Park
(1999), under two forecasting approaches: moving average and exponential smoothing.
The H∞ control of the BE was experimented in single period and whole periods with
BEsingleperiod = uk − uk
and
∑
n
k =1
( uk − uk )2
BEallperiod =
n
In Ignaciuk and Bartoszewicz (2011a), a supply policy for periodic-review inventory
systems with perishable goods was developed. The fulfilment of an unknown,
time-varying demand is accomplished by the on-hand stock at a distribution centre. The
inventory deteriorates at a constant rate and is replenished with delay time from a remote
supply source. This lead-time is assumed to be a multiple of the review period. The
supply chain model is represented in the standard state space with stock level as the first
state variable and the delayed values of the control signal as the remaining state variables.
The achievement of high service level with minimum on-hand stock is accomplished
through the design of a discrete-time sliding-mode (SM) control. This method is
identified to be efficient and robust regulation technique (Milosavljevic, 1985). The
design of SM controller relies on the determination of sliding plane parameters selected
for a dead-beat scheme. The closed-loop system error was defined as:
e(kT ) = xd − x(kT )
where xd and x(kT) represent the desired state vector and the state vector. The sliding
variable was selected as s(kT) = cTe(kT). Equation s(kT) = 0 defined the sliding
hyperplane. The elements c1, c2, …, cn, of vector c was determined in a way that cTb ≠ 0
and that the closed-loop system shows the desired performance, where b is the input
vector.
The drawback of the dead-beat scheme is the generation of large control signals in the
initial step of the control process. In the case of inventory system, the requirement of
large order quantities in the initial phase can be hard to realise in practice due to supplier
limitations. Because of this limit, a modified nonlinear controller based on the concept of
reaching law (Gao and Hung, 1993; Gao et al., 1995) was proposed. This modification
conserves the desirable properties of the original strategy and guarantees satisfaction of
input constraint. This reaching law permits to control how the system representative point
approaches the sliding plane. Instead of requiring the point to reach the plane in one step
as it was assumed to design a dead-beat SM controller, the reaching phase is spanned
over several periods thus decreasing the control effort needed to cover large initial
distance from the plane.
The work of Leśniewski and Bartoszewicz (2013) discusses a periodic-review
inventory problem with perishable goods replenished from a distant supply source with
fixed lead time. It considers losses of products either during storage or on the way from
the supplier to the warehouse. The supply chain dynamics was formulated as a discrete
time model and controlled via discrete time sliding mode methodology so that an
unknown and permanently time-varying demand is satisfied and smoothly varying orders
is ensured (mitigation of BE). The supply chain model is built in the standard state space
as Ignaciuk and Bartoszewicz (2011a). The selection of the parameters c1, c2, …, cn
related to the sliding hyperplane, was carried out by minimising the quadratic quality
criterion defined as
∞
j (u ) = ∑ [u (k ) + e
k =0
2 T
(k )We(k ) ]
where W = diag (w1, w2, …, w2,) with w1 and w2 are positive weighting elements
adjusting the impact of the stock level error and the deviation of the recent orders from
the steady state value respectively. The minimisation of this criterion has led to a control
signal that steered the system towards the desired state, while ensuring fast reaction to the
unpredictable variations of demand.
The previous model was studied in Przemys\law (Ignaciuk and Bartoszewicz, 2011b)
considering this time a variable lead-time where the same technique was used to provide
a state-space representation with no delay but without taking into account the
perishability of goods. As a first step, the nominal system was considered. To select the
controller parameters for this system, a linear-quadratic (LQ) optimisation problem was
solved through minimisation of a cost function. The obtained controller is formulated as
⎡ k −1
⎤
uopt (kT ) = α ⎢ yd − x1 (kT ) −
⎢⎣
∑ u( jT )⎥⎥
j =k −n ⎦
where yd, x1, n and α represent respectively the target, the current stock level, the
∑
k −1
nominal lead time and the tuning parameter. u ( jT ) denote the quantity of goods
j =k −n
already ordered at the supplier, but which has not yet attained the warehouse due to time
delay. After that, the impact of perturbation was investigated and an improved nonlinear
controller was formulated to enhance robustness against delay and demand variations as
⎧0 if φ(kT ) < 0 ⎫
⎪ ⎪
u (kT ) = ⎨φ(kT ) if 0 ≤ φ(kT ) ≤ umax ⎬
⎪u if φ(kT ) > umax ⎪
⎩ max ⎭
where umax is the maximum order quantity in a one review period and φ(kT) is defined as
⎡ k −1 k −1
⎤
φ(kT ) = α ⎢ yd − x1 (kT ) −
⎢⎣
∑
j =k −n
∑
u ( jT ) + ε [u ( jT − L) − u ( jT − L ]⎥
j =0 ⎥⎦
The second part of this function describes compensation of the delay variability adjusted
by the coefficient ε ∈ [0, 1]. This part stores the information about the differences
between the amount of goods which actually arrived at the warehouse and those which
were expected to arrive.
Bartoszewicz and Lesniewski (2014) introduced a new non-switching reaching law
for discrete time sliding mode control of dynamic systems with a state dependent sliding
variable decrease rate factor. With this reaching law, the crossing of the sliding
hyperplane, in each step during the quasi-sliding, is not required. This property improves
robustness, rejects undesirable chattering, and ensures fast convergence with bounded
control signal. The proposed reaching law was applied to control a replenishment
operation for an inventory system with multiple remote suppliers characterised by lead
time and product loss factor in each delivery channel and represented in the standard
form as Ignaciuk and Bartoszewicz (2011a). It guarantees non-negative upper bounded
supply orders, eliminates the risk of exceeding storage capacity and may ensure full
customers’ demand fulfilment.
Wei et al. (2015) have investigated a two-layer supply chain network with m
distributors and n retailers. In order to study the impact of network structure and
collaboration, they defined two matrixes:
• The supply relationship matrix L = (lij)m×n ∈ Rm×n between retailers and distributors
that reproduces the network topology. lij is a binary value that reflects the existence
of link or not between a retailer and a distributor.
• The collaboration matrix H (δj1j2)n×n ∈ Rm×n describing exactly the demand

diversion between retailers that can collaborate with each other. δj1j2 is the rate of
demand diversion among retailers j1 and j2.
Then, the discrete-time state space model was constructed with uncertain customer’s
demands. The inventory positions of the distributors and the retailers represented the state
variables. The dynamic equations for retailers and distributors are established separately.
The robust H∞ control method was used to improve the dynamics and robustness of the
supply chain network based on this state space model. This algorithm has the advantage
to attenuate both inventory and order fluctuations as shown by the results of the
simulation in a chain with complex supply relationships and collaborations between
retailers.
4.2 Models with time delays

Based on networked manufacturing, a supply chain system process was discussed in Xu
et al. (2011). The supply chain system consists of three tiers (sub-systems): cooperative
designer (c), manufacturer (m) and distributor (r). The demand (dk) is the uncertain
interference input and zk(total) is the supply chain total costs representing the system
output. The outside demand (dk), production (uc,k, um,k) and order (ur,k) represent the
sub-systems inputs. Costs of each sub-system (zc,k, zm,k, zr,k) are the sub-systems outputs .
The coordination of control variables is realised through a web system. An order could be
implemented from manufacturer sub-system through web. Interaction among
manufacturer subsystem with cooperative designer sub-system is based on web for
realising collaborative manufacturing. The model of such uncertain linear dynamic
supply chain system with time-delay was constructed as
xk +1 = Axk + A1 xk − τ + ( B + ΔB )uk + B1uk − τ + (C + ΔC )d k
uk, uk–τ, xk and xk–τ represent respectively a system control vector, a time-delay control
signal, a system state variable composed of different inventories and a time-delay state
variable. A, A1, B, B1, C are coefficients corresponding to each variables. ΔB and ΔC
represent the considered corresponding uncertainties. The inhibition of disturbances,
caused by uncertain demands and different time-delays, and the achievement of robust
stability were conducted through H∞ approach for supply chain subsystem and global
system according to LMI conditions of Kim and Park (1999).
A two-echelon supply network was studied in Javadian and Tavakkoli-Moghaddam
(2014) considering many interrelations between n distributors and m retailers.
Cooperation between retailers was assumed through a lateral transshipment policy. It is
based on differences in stock between two retailers j1 and j2 and considered time delay
caused by transmission of information and by delay factors. It is formulated as:
h j1 j 2 = rj1 j 2 ( x j 2 (t − τ ) − x j1 (t − τ ) )
where rj1j2 is determined after negotiation of bilateral cooperation. Then the supply
network state model was being established using the dynamic differential equations of
retailers’ nodes and distributors’ nodes. Afterwards, the BE in this supply chain network
was discussed. To guarantee the stability of the whole system and reduce the BE, the
robust control approach was proposed based on the LMI conditions of Wei et al. (2013).
They showed that the choice of the output matrix can provide different control strategies
and may inhibit the BE. Also, this study points out the significant role of complex supply
relationships in reducing the BE in a supply network.
The possibility of integrating manufacturing and inventory decisions motivates us to
review the paper of Guo et al. (2015). It investigates the impact of manufacturing
decisions on the process of transmission from resources to capability using a time-delay
dependent H∞ control model. They constructed a model of manufacturing management
process integrating resource, manufacturing decision, and manufacturing capability as a
description of how a firm transfers resources into manufacturing capability using the
manufacturing decision. The state variables are material resource, capital resource and
human resource. The control inputs are represented by the decision of company’s
structure, the decision of manufacturing process and the decision of manufacturing
integration. The outputs are capabilities that cover quality, cost, flexibility, delivery and
innovation. Because the decisions are made before resources allocation and in the other
side, the manufacturing capability might become after the latest, the model considered
two time delays. To avoid the uncertain disturbances such as asymmetric information,
error, and many other unknown causes, a state feedback H∞ robust controller was built
under LMI sufficient conditions to make optimal manufacturing decisions at the worst
case and to ensure the robustness of manufacturing management.
4.3 Model with uncertainties of parameters

The analysis of distributed controllers was performed in Madani and Ramezani (2014)
where a supply chain system that consists of suppliers, manufacturers, distributers,
retailers and final customers, was examined. Dynamic equations representing the system
model in each of the retailer, distributer and manufacturer subsystems were derived.
Uncertainties in distribution rate and manufacturing rate were treated as plant model
mismatches or polynomial uncertainties and customer stochastic demand was considered
as an input which belongs to an uncertain bounded set. Distributed robust model
predictive controllers (MPCs) were constructed concerning the retailer, distributer and
manufacturing subsystems in order to control the inventory to remain as close as possible
to the desired level while guaranteeing the safety storage control despite uncertainties.
Each controller performs local optimisation and sends the optimised input to the next
controller. The retailer subsystem was be controlled by a robust MPC in which robustness
of the uncertain optimisation problem was achieved using YALMIPs in MATLAB
software. For the subsystems with polynomial uncertainties, robust MPC based on
convex optimisation with LMI was being applied.
4.4 Switching models

Rodrigues and Boukas (2006) modelled the production systems with deteriorating
produced parts as constrained switched linear systems. The switching variable is the
stock level x1(t). The demand rate is the sum of a deterministic part and an unknown
fluctuating part with finite energy whose bound is known d (t ) = d& + w(t ). The piecewise
affine dynamics of the switched system are described as follows.
x&1 (t ) = − ρi x1 (t ) + u (t ) − d (t ), i = 1, 2, 3,
where ρ1 = ρ3 = ρ if 0 < x1 < L or L < x1 < cmax, ρ2 = 0 if x1 < 0 (backorders), and L is a

warning limit value bound to the maximum warehouse capacity cmax.
The production rate was constrained as 0 ≤ u (t ) ≤ u , where u is a known positive
scalar defining the maximum production rate. The inventory level x1(t) was limited by a
desired maximum value y satisfying y ≤ cmax .
The formulation of the inventory control problem as a constrained switched H∞
problem was derived. It aims to quadratically stabilises the system while keeping the
stock level close to zero (just-in-time policy), even when there are fluctuations in the
demand. A set of LMIs condition was derived for the synthesis of the state feedback
controller that rejects the external demand fluctuation (considered as a disturbance). The
reconversion of a robust control problem to an LMI problem is a popular technique to
provide a solution via very efficient algorithms (Gahinet et al., 1994).
Ge and Huang (2009) considered a supply chain switched inventory models with
uncertain parameters and external demand including three production and inventory
subsystems and a switched inventory signal vector. Fluctuation caused by inventory
switching behaviour in the supply chain systems and BE induced by uncertain parameters
and external demand was restricted by robust H∞ control theory. The supply chain
behaved as a switched system according to supplier’s stock availability.
The cluster supply chain (CSC) networks inventory system investigated in Li et al.
(2012) was composed of two single supply chains including m nodes firm for each one.
In the context of cooperation, transshipment of inventory between retailers of the two
chains was permitted. After formulation of the inventory model of each node, the error
time-varying model of CSC networks system was built with the client’s demand divided
into certain and uncertain parts ω(k). Depending on safe inventory level of each retailer,
the switched cluster system models of each chain was described. Then, the uncertain
switched control system model was constructed with uncertain matrices satisfying the
convex multi-polyhydric domain. After defining the output signal z(k) as the proportion
of the sum of inventory and order fluctuation, a robust optimisation problem was
introduced to reduce the BE as
⎛ ∞
2⎞
J = min ⎜
⎜
⎝
∑z0
T
(k ) z (k ) − γ 2 ω 2 ⎟
⎟
⎠
With γ is the H∞ inducement norm. The solution of optimal control serials was explored
via the least value of the given function utilising H-infinity switched control algorithm.
Firstly, the solution of one closed-loop subsystem was discussed. Furthermore, finding
the solution and satisfying the H∞ performances about the switch control system was
explored before developing the stable conditions of switch system. Finally, on the basis
of above results, the solution to overhead problem was deduced which also guarantees the
stability and robust performance of the system. The switching procedure was performed
through an online inventory optimisation and simulation system.
A CSC inventory system was discussed in Hou and Chen (2011). Each one of its two
single supply chains includes one wholesaler and one retailer. Four types of emergency
replenishment between the two supply chains exist depending on stock level and safe
stock level as shown in Figure 3. Based on different replenishment modes, the system
model was obtained and an inventory cooperative switching signal was defined. The state
variable (xk) is represented by the inventory deviation states xk = ( x2(1)k , x1(1) (2) (2)
k x2 k , x1k ).
Then, the cluster supply chain switching system (CSCSS) model was derived as the
expression of the four modes of emergency replenishment. The controlled output of this
system was selected so that the quantitative formula of the BE in Haifeng and Xiaoming
(2008) could be obtained. Robust H∞ control was applied for this system to reduce
fluctuation caused by switching process and the BE induced by external uncertain
demand. The state feedback H∞ controller was designed depending on switching signal.
An online inventory decision-making system was established to decide how to switch
among multiple modes. The robust stability of CSCSS and reduction of different
disturbances in a worst case was testified through the combination of these methods.
Figure 3 Cluster supply chain
Based on Guo and Sun (2010) and Songtao and Xiaowei (2012) studied a switched
dual-channel CLSC model with delay in remanufacturing and uncertainties of cost
parameters, customer’s demand disturbance, remanufacturing/disposal rates, gratuitous
return rate and preference rate to the internet channel. Depending on whether the reverse
logistics activities are carried by the original manufacturer or outsourced to the third
party reverse logistics provider (3PRLP), this model consists of goods recovery
subsystem via 3PRLP and a manufacturer remanufacturing recovery subsystem.
Furthermore, a switching signal vector was established based on comparison of the total
operation cost of the CLSC under each of the two subsystems and some control rules was
defined according to the safety inventory and the expected inventory of the manufacturer.
In order to reduce the fluctuation caused by switching processes, the delay in
remanufacturing and the different uncertainties, the fuzzy robust control method was
developed. Firstly, a discrete-time switched system with constant time delay and
norm-bounded parameter uncertainties was considered by the T-S fuzzy model such as
every subsystem constitute an uncertain fuzzy system. The stability analysis for such
system was presented before designing the fuzzy controllers for the T-S fuzzy model via
the parallel distributed compensation (PDC) technique. Based on a set of LMIs, a
sufficient condition to asymptotically stabilise the discrete-time switched T-S fuzzy

system under the switching law was derived and then the feedback gains were obtained.
Zhang et al. (2014a) investigated robust stabilisation for discrete Takagi-Sugeno (T-
S) fuzzy system with uncertainties based on the construction of a piecewise Lyapunov
functions in each maximal overlapped-rule group (MORG). A fuzzy robust H∞ output
feedback controller that can stabilise the uncertain system and ensure attenuation of
external disturbance was designed. This requires only finding a local common positive
definite matrix in each MORG. The proposed condition is less conservative and less
difficult than the common Lyapunov function approach and the fuzzy Lyapunov function
approach where a common positive-definite matrix must be found in all local linear
models for the first and satisfaction of more Lyapunov inequalities must be guaranteed
for the second. The proposed method was applied to robustly control a two-echelon
uncertain nonlinear supply chain system. Each one of the manufacturer’s production
strategies and the retailer’s order strategies was represented by two scenarios.
Uncertainties was considered in inventory policy implementation, productivity and order
placement, external demand, inventory cost, cost of manufacturing and ordering, and
return cost in the supply chain process. An uncertain T-S model was addressed to
represent this uncertain nonlinear supply chain system.
In Zhao and Zhang (2015), a stock and flow diagram (Morecroft, 2007) of a
closed-loop supply chain network (CLSCN) system for recycling and remanufacturing
was studied. The forward supply chain is composed of producers’ inventory of raw
materials replenished from external suppliers and recycled materials, serviceable
inventory, distributor’s inventory and customers’ virtual inventory. The reverse channel
comprises the gratuitous returned products, remanufactured products, and recyclable
products. The dynamic modelling of the CLSCN system with the dual-channel was
examined under four situations depending on the virtual inventory level of customers and
the actual inventory of the manufacturer in comparison with its safety inventory and its
expected inventory. The state variables are the actual inventory levels of raw materials
resources, manufacturer, distributor, collected products and virtual inventory of the
customers (Nakashima et al., 2004). The quality levels of collected products and their
proportion were taking into account. The model considers delay in collected products and
uncertainties in demand, gratuitous return rate, preference rate of the customer to the
internet channel, proportion of recycled products used for the recovery and for the
remanufacturing, number of units of raw materials to produce a new product and
uncontrollable disposal rate of the used products. The output variable was the total
operation cost of the whole CLSCN system. Based on the four situations, the uncertain T-
S fuzzy system with time delay of the dynamic CLSCN system was established. In order
to restrain uncertainties and the demand disturbance and obtain a steady cost of the
CLSCN operation, the fuzzy robust control strategy of Zhang et al. (2014a) was used.
Li and Sun (2014) examined the problem of H∞ control for a CLSC system with
Markov jumping parameters. Firstly, the impact of two types of deteriorates rates which
correspond to the serviceable stock level and recycling stock level, was taking into
account. The switching rule for this supply chain system was defined on the basis of this
impact. In view of that, four subsystems were being constructed. The switching between
the four subsystems is ruled by a Markov chain: {σ(k), k ≥ 0} according to the state space
S ={1, 2, 3, 4} and the state transmission matrix P = [pij](i, j) ∈ S. The transition
probabilities are as follows.
∑
4
P ⎡⎣ σ (k + 1) = j σ (k ) = i ⎦⎤ = pij , ∀i, j ∈ S with pij ≥ 0 and pij = 1.
j =1
Besides, constant delays were considered in the control law, which depend on the system
mode. Then, a switched CLSC system was established with Markov jumping parameters
based on the different states transition probabilities. The switching control problem of
CLSC was formulated. It aims to guarantee the mean square exponential stability of this
system and to ensure its robustness with a noise attenuation determined level. The robust
H∞ control was be used to deal with this problem under such LMI conditions. Then, a
state feedback controller of CLSC system with Markov parameters was designed.
In Qiu et al. (2015), a supply network, constituted of n suppliers, was investigated.
The delivery among them is assumed and expressed by a delivery rate while considering
a time delay due to transportation between two suppliers. Then, the dynamics of this
system was formulated by a model taking into account the uncertainty of demand and the
topology structure of this network. The switching topology was considered varying in
time due to changes of interconnections among the suppliers. The switched supply
network was controlled through state feedback strategy with a state variable constituted
of the inventory level and the delivery rate. Based on switched system theory and
Lyapunov stability theory, the exponential stabilisation of the closed-loop supply network
system with a prescribed H∞ performance level was guaranteed by a sufficient condition.
According to Sun et al. (2006) and Zhang and Yu (2012), a system is said to be
exponentially stable, if the solution of its model’s equation with no disturbance satisfies
|| x(t ) ||= v || x(t0 ) ||cl e− λ (t −t0 ) , for t ≥ t0 and some constants v ≥ 1 and λ > 0 where
|| x(t ) ||cl = sup − τ ≤θ ≤ 0 {x(t + θ ) | x′(t + θ )} and t0 as the initial time instant.
5 Robust control of inventory management treating delay time uncertainty
5.1 Model in a standard form

In Boccadoro et al. (2006), the authors considered a similar model of Boccadoro et al.
(2005) linearised around typical operative conditions which describes a time delay
system of a supply chain with N sites. This system was transformed to a no-delay model
through an extended state space via a standard technique. In contrast with Boccadoro
et al. (2008), this study showed, for an open loop implementation of a properly modified
H∞ technique, based on the evolution of the system with nominal delays, that for the case
of uncertain time variable delays, only tolerably deteriorated performances with respect
to those of the nominal system were noted.
5.2 Models with time delays

Huang and Qiu (2007) investigated closed-loop dynamic model based on
remanufacturing. The robustness against uncertainty of remanufacturing and disposal
time-delays and that of demand was studied based on H∞ control by means of linear
matrix inequality. This policy aim to achieve an ideal cost of the CLSC operation.
Li et al. (2008) studied a CLSC system model with multiple delays from the dynamic
equation of the actual new items inventory and the returned items inventory. Caused
respectively by remanufacturing and disposal processes, two time delays were considered
in returned items inventory. The system output is the total cost of CLSC system which
consists of new production cost, inventory cost, remanufacturing cost, disposal cost, and
reclaiming cost. Based on LMI conditions of Zhang and Wu (2006), a delay-dependent
H∞ strategy of the CLSC system was provided in order to restrain the uncertainty of
delays and exterior demand, obtain an ideal total operation cost of supply chain and make
the whole CLSC system run at a locally optimal stable state. With the increasing of time
delays, the results indicated that the performance of the system weakened gradually
mainly because of remanufacturing delay influence. In this work, the influences of the
time delays to the globally optimal CLSC system performance were not considered. The
impacts of time delays to the globally optimal performance were studied in Li et al.
(2009). This problem was formulated as a non-convex problem under nonlinear matrix
inequality (NLMI) constraint. Then, some of the variables in the NLMI were being
searched by immune genetic algorithm so that the NLMI transformed to LMI, and the
non-convex problem reduces to a convex problem, thus the globally optimal performance
of the H∞ control of the CLSC system could be obtained.
Huang et al. (2009) examined dynamic sustainable CLSC models by studying three
types of uncertainties caused by time-delay in remanufacturing and returns, system cost
parameters and customer demand’s disturbances. After development of a generalised
dynamic model with time-delay and parameters uncertainty, they established three CLSC
models including the product return model with uncertain remanufacturing rate for
returned products, the remanufacturing model with uncertain time delays due to
remanufacturing process and the third party reverse logistic providers (3PRLP) collecting
model including time-delay uncertainty of remanufacturing and return as well as
parameters uncertainties. In the three cases, the output variable consisted of the total
operation cost of the CLSC. To deal with such uncertainties, robust H∞ control based on
Kim and Park (1999) was applied to improve the system performance of the CLSC
system.
In Zhang et al. (2012), an uncertain dynamic model of CLSC based on
remanufacturing via 3PRLP was formulated similarly to the one of Songtao and Xiaowei
(2012). This model has considered uncertainty of a production time-delay and a
remanufacturing time-delay. Fuzzy robust control strategy of this system was presented
based on the uncertain T-S fuzzy systems with time delays to restrain the impact of
uncertainties and to provide an ideal operational cost of CLSC.
Luo et al. (2013) considered the supply chain model studied in Rodrigues and Boukas
(2006). The inventory production system was modelled as network control system (NCS)
and a piecewise continuous state feedback controller was supposed to stabilise the NCS
with network-induced delays and data packet dropouts. When a feedback control system
is closed through a communication network which may be shared with other nodes outer
the control system, then it is categorised as a networked control system (NCS) (Gupta
and Chow, 2010). This work aims to stabilise this system asymptotically with ω(t) = 0
and to satisfy the H∞ performance namely ||y(t)||2 ≤ γ||ω(t)||2 for all ω(t) ≠ 0 under the
zero initial condition where ω(t) and y(t) represent respectively an unknown
time-varying/fluctuating component of the demand rate and the output signal. To this
end, the Lyapunov stability theory was used to derive sufficient conditions as a set of
LMIs based on free weighted matrix for the stabilisation of the production systems and
the rejection of the external demand fluctuation.
5.3 Switching models

Luo and Yang (2014) investigated a switched model of stock level of supply chain
described by
3 3 3
x(k + 1) = ∑
i =1
σ i (k ) Ai x(k ) + ∑
i =1
σ i (k ) Bi u (k ) + ∑ σ (k ) F d (k ),
i =1
i i
3 3
z (k ) = ∑ σ (k )C x(k ) + ∑ σ (k ) D u(k ),
i =1
i i
i =1
i i
where x(k) ∈ R, u(k) ∈ R, and d(k) ∈ R represent the stock level, manufactured level, and
clients demand, respectively. z(k) ∈ R is the output signal. If the switching signal
σi(k) = i ∈ {1, 2, 3}, the ith subsystem is activated. It depends on the stock level in
comparison of the warning value. Based on network control technique, the state feedback
H∞ controller u(k) = Kσx(k – dk) was designed to stabilise the system and limit the effect
of d(k) to the output z(k) under a desired level, with dk is a random time delay. With the
help of Lyapunov stability theory, sufficient conditions were obtained to guarantee mean
square stability, and the BE reduction in the sense of the stochastic H∞ performance
namely mean-square asymptotic stability of the stochastic model of closed-loop system
with d(k) = 0, and satisfaction of E{||z(k)||2} ≤ γ2{||d(k)||2} for all non-zero d(k) ≠ 0 under
the zero initial condition.
Zhang et al. (2014b) studied a basic dynamic inventory model of CLSC with
time-varying delay τ(k) in remanufacturing and uncertainties in remanufacturing rates,
disposal rates, cost parameters and customers’ demand illustrated in Figure 4.
Figure 4 CLSC with time-varying delay
x1(k) and x2(k) represent the manufacturer’s actual inventory and the customers’ virtual
inventory. d(k) is the customers’ demand at period k; u(k) is the control variable; α1 and
α2 are immediate and delayed remanufacturing rates, β1 and β2 are immediate and
delayed disposal rates, Δα1, Δα2, Δβ1, and Δβ2 are all relative uncertain parameters, and
0 < αi < 1, 0 < βi < 1, 0 < αi + βi + Δαi + Δβi ≤ 1 (i = 1, 2) and h1 ≤ τ(k) < h2. In order to
reduce production cost, the manufacturer’s production strategies was defined through
different cases based on the manufacturer’s safety inventory and expected inventory.
Different basic dynamic inventory models were obtained depicting the switching action.
Then, the fuzzy uncertain CLSC model with the time delay was established as uncertain
T-S fuzzy system with time delay. To robustly stabilise the dynamic CLSC system and
restrain disturbances caused by the different uncertainties, by the time-varying delay in
remanufacturing, and by the switching process among subsystems, a robust fuzzy
controller was proposed under a set of LMIs conditions.
6 BE reduction: evaluation and numerical analysis
The BE is considered as the major phenomena to be reduced in a supply chain. In

this section, models and control approaches focusing on this aim are evaluated and
compared.
Figure 5 Index Ju and Jx v/s disturbance frequency for the proposed H∞ policy with Q = 1 and
R = 0, R = 10 and R = 100
In Huang et al. (2007), the simulation of multi-echelon supply chain including one
distribution centre and ten customers shows that the BE value is reduced (r → 0,63) by
the H∞ control method based on the resolution of a Riccati equation when the fluctuation
of end demand is at a maximum. However, when considering a four-echelon supply chain
time-lag system with four different delay time, the simulation experiment, in the worst
demand case, show that the H∞ control approach cannot weaken enough the BE induced
by the time lag in the multi-echelon supply chain dynamic system and the demand
disturbance. It results from the fact that this work considers a model of the multi-level
discrete time lag supply chain system with multiple delays composed of dynamic
equations of all the echelons which results on a system with a large order. In contrast
with the previous work, the control policy of Boccadoro et al. (2008) considering a multi
sites system with different delays gives good performance with a suitable weights on the
BE index.
In fact, the analysis was carried out for a single site, and then extended to the whole
chain in a decentralised fashion. As the authors noticed that the BE in all the chain is the
multiple of the BE at each single stage, the inhibition of this value at each echelon
guarantees no BE in all the chain. The performance function considered for the analysis
|| x ||2 || u ||2
for the single site is defined as J = QJx + RJu. Where J x = and J u =
|| d ||2 || d ||2
represent the H∞ gains correcting both the worst case effects of the external demand (d)
on the inventory (x) and those on the order (u). Q and R are suitable weights. As
illustrated in Figure 5, the BE may be avoided as desired for R = 10 and R = 100 with
Q = 1.
In the case of the CSCSS of Hou and Chen (2011) and Li et al. (2012), the BE was
inhibited perfectly (r → 0) by solving a γ-suboptimal state feedback H∞ control via LMI
and the introduction of online decision-making system to indicate how to switch among
multiple modes. However, the bullwhip, the inventories and the orders of retailers and
wholesalers have excessive fluctuations when the switching process is started as showed
in Figure 6. Also, the inventory transshipment from a supply chain to another represents
an efficient complementary method for each single chain and can improve the robustness
of the system. Namely, in the worst case of demand, the cooperation among node
enterprises in a network yield to a best strategy to encounter the normal order.
This consequence remain valid in the work of Haifeng and Xiaoming (2008) studying
a CLSC networks, with two chains considering cooperation in remanufacturing, though
the BE was not restrained enough in the numerical example (r → 1.44). This could result
from the fact that in the choose control output and subsequently the BE value, the authors
do not introduce weights as it was performed in Hou and Chen (2011).
The investigation of the BE, when the switching behaviour in modelling a supply
chain system is considered, was also performed in Luo and Yang (2014). In comparison
with other papers, this switched model considers a random network-induced delay and
studies the BE in the sense of the stochastic H∞ performance. This method gives good
performance in the simulation results. However, this model considers only one site in a
supply chain. If this work examines a multi echelon model, the derived conditions of
mean-square stability and stochastic H∞ performance will be more and more complex
than the ones of this paper, especially with a big number of random delays.
Figure 6 Changing trend of BE (see online version for colours)
The stabilisation of the dynamic model of the CLSC with remanufacturing delay and
disposal delay of Li et al. (2008), through the delay dependent H∞ control, shows a good
performance when the two delays are small. Once delays increase, the BE of the CLSC
becomes greater. Since the delays are uncertain in real life, the robustness of the
controlled system against these parameters is affected.
Figure 7 Variation trend of the BE r1 and r2: comparison
The calculation of the BE by Zhang et al. (2011b), as formulated in Section 4, represents

a different quantification in comparison with the traditional method of the previous
works. Emulations show that the BE can be inhibited under different customer demand
forecasting method (moving average method and exponential smoothing method).
However, it depends on the choice of parameters needed to forecast market demand as
well as the existence of a set of history about demand information when moving average
is used. In the same context, the authors of Guo and Sun (2010) formulate the BE value
as the ratio of the fluctuate of production/order to the sum of all the demand variances
(r1). Though this formulation shows (Figure 7) better performance when compared to the
traditional one calculated as the ratio of the sum of the variances of order/production and
inventory to the sum of all the demand variances (r2), it does not give a clear idea on the
inventory level.
7 Conclusions and recommendations for future research
This study presents a methodical review of the robust control theoretical framework in
modelling and controlling of inventory management problem. It covers relevant articles
published between 2009 and 2015 in addition to others which have not been treated in
Sarimveis et al. (2008). Selection and categorisation of articles were performed using
content-analysis research methodology according to uncertain parameters namely
demand/return and lead time. Thirty seven publications from different scientific journals
and international conference are analysed. This paper provides insights into robust
control approach in inventory management literature and some future research directions.
Despite the significant contributions provided over the last two decades, many other
issues could be investigated in the future. Regarding the delay, it is considered most often
time-invariant which is not true in reality. It is therefore possible to study the same
models considering this parameter varying in time. Also, we can examine other models
that studied multiple delay-times at once. The research of Li et al. (2008) is
recommended as one of the papers that have studied this topic. Other questions such as
environmental concerns can be taken into account in this framework. Finally, can be
researched the possibility of using robust control to study models that integrate the three
levels of decisions in supply chain management (strategic-tactic-operational). For
example, a model that considers design and inventory issues at once.
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Inventory management of supply chain with robust control theory: literature

Article in International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management · January 2017

Jamila El Alami Mustapha Hlyal

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Inventory management of supply chain with robust

Azeddine Zemzam* and

Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Keywords: supply chain; inventory management; robust control theory;

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Zemzam, A.,

Biographical notes: Azeddine Zemzam obtained his Aeronautical Engineering

Mohammed El Maataoui received his Computer Engineering degree in 2001

Mustapha Hlyal is currently a Manager of the Centre of Excellence in Logistics

Jamila El Alami is the Head of Laboratory of Analysis of Systems, Information

Nourddine El Alami received his Electrical Engineering degree in 1980 from

product inventory. Since the application of control theory to the management of

Paper Control methods Period

3.1 Material collection

3.2 Descriptive analysis

Journal of Optimisation in Industrial Engineering 1

Information Engineering and Computer Science. International Conference 1

3.3 Category selection

3.4 Material evaluation

4 Robust control of inventory management considering demand

4.1 Models in standard state representation

after establishing of the inventory state difference equations of the manufacturers,

Figure 1 Two chain cooperation CLSC networks model with 3PRLP

Figure 2 Dual channel closed loop supply chain model

• The collaboration matrix H  (δj1j2)n×n ∈ Rm×n describing exactly the demand

4.2 Models with time delays

4.3 Model with uncertainties of parameters

4.4 Switching models

where ρ1 = ρ3 = ρ if 0 < x1 < L or L < x1 < cmax, ρ2 = 0 if x1 < 0 (backorders), and L is a

Figure 3 Cluster supply chain

sufficient condition to asymptotically stabilise the discrete-time switched T-S fuzzy

5 Robust control of inventory management treating delay time uncertainty

5.1 Model in a standard form

5.2 Models with time delays

5.3 Switching models

Figure 4 CLSC with time-varying delay

6 BE reduction: evaluation and numerical analysis

The BE is considered as the major phenomena to be reduced in a supply chain. In

Figure 6 Changing trend of BE (see online version for colours)

Figure 7 Variation trend of the BE r1 and r2: comparison

The calculation of the BE by Zhang et al. (2011b), as formulated in Section 4, represents

7 Conclusions and recommendations for future research

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• The collaboration matrix H (δj1j2)n×n ∈ Rm×n describing exactly the demand