Two-stage supply chain information sharing model and strategy based on Markov decision process

Some problems about supply chain information sharing were reviewed, including information category, earnings, technology, mechanism, etc. To optimize supply chain coordination operation, two-stage single-supplier single-retailer information sharing model was constructed by introducing the Markov decision process. The algorithms of Markov process and restricted observed Markov process were analyzed, and the strategy choice of suppliers and retailers under fully information sharing and no information sharing conditions were discussed. Taking beer industry for example, the cost sharing information of beer supplier and retailer was identified, and probability distributions of five uncertain kinds of demand information were compared. Research results indicate that the Markov decision process, as representative of the stochastic theory, is feasible to solve supply chain information sharing problem, no matter on the algorithm validation or strategy selection.