Letter to the Editor—Optimum Preventative Sampling Via Dynamic Programming

Abstract

In an interesting paper entitled “Optimum Preventative Sampling,” Whittle (Whittle, P. 1954. Optimum preventative sampling. J. Opns Res. Soc. Am. 2 197–203.) has discussed the general problem of carrying out a sampling operation—not for the customary purpose of estimating a characteristic of a population but for the purpose of discouraging the arising of defectives. In general the more intense the sampling is, the greater is the deterrent effect on a potential transgressor. We wish to show how the optimization problem to which Whittle's model leads, and which is typical of a large class of related problems, may be treated advantageously by the functional equation technique of dynamic programming (Bellman, R. 1957. Dynamic Programming . Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.).