Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.17559/TV-20250525002698

An Intelligent Purchasing Decision Model for Railway Wagon Components Using a Markov Decision Process

Shuo Zhang ; School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Haidian, 100044, China
Chen Li ; Energy Railway Equipment CO., LTD, China
Hao Hua ; Energy Railway Equipment CO., LTD, China
Ping Gao ; Energy Railway Equipment CO., LTD, China
Wenzhuo Wang ; China Merchants Bank Co., Limited Jinan Branch, 250010, China
Qiuli Qin ; School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Haidian, 100044, China *

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

Overcoming the inefficiency in the procurement of railway wagon components is a crucial step in promoting the modernization of railway enterprises' governance capabilities. This study formulates components purchasing for railway wagon as a two-stage Markov Decision Process (MDP) that jointly optimizes planned purchase quantities and supplier selection. Inputs to the MDP (demand signals and inventory) are treated as pre-processed operational forecasts from the enterprise data platform; the paper therefore focuses on the design of state/action spaces, reward construction, and the value-iteration solution for producing actionable purchasing decision. Using real business records from a large railway equipment group, simulation results demonstrate that the MDP-based decision reduces total purchasing cost, shortens purchasing lead time, and improves supplier quality metrics compared with legacy manual strategies.

Keywords

Markov decision process; purchasing decision; railway wagon condition-based maintenance; smart purchase

Hrčak ID:

346710

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/346710

Publication date:

30.4.2026.

Visits: 0 *