Inventory rationing with critical level policies: a structured literature review

Romero-Silva, R, Overbeek, B and de Leeuw, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3056-8775, 2025. Inventory rationing with critical level policies: a structured literature review. International Journal of Production Research. ISSN 0020-7543

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Abstract

Differentiating service for various customer classes is a critical challenge in modern supply chains, particularly in sectors like e-commerce, healthcare, and industries reliant on critical spare parts. Inventory rationing with critical level policies is a key mechanism to address this challenge. This study presents a comprehensive, structured literature review of 128 studies on this topic. We classify existing research based on problem characteristics, such as the distinction between capacitated and non-capacitated systems, and policy structures, which we categorize as static, dynamic, or state-dependent. Our findings show that lead time uncertainty is an important factor determining whether the optimal policy is dynamic or state-dependent, and that simpler static policies often perform remarkably close to complex optimal ones, offering a highly practical solution for managers. Based on this synthesis, we identify research gaps, such as the study of rationing policies for capacitated systems with service level constraints and real world applications like healthcare, where the differentiation between critical and non-critical supplies, taking into account product substitutions, is vital.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Production Research
Creators:	Romero-Silva, R., Overbeek, B. and de Leeuw, S.
Publisher:	Informa UK Limited
Date:	25 November 2025
ISSN:	0020-7543
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/00207543.2025.2594057 DOI 2565898 Other
Rights:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Production Research on 25 November 2025, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2025.2594057
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	24 Mar 2026 13:37
Last Modified:	24 Mar 2026 13:37
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55462

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