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In recent years, as a result of environmental legislation and an increasing interest in economics, many producers have been forced to implement the PTB (Products Tack Back) program. In this paper, we employ the basic (R, Q) model to control a single-item single-echelon inventory system with return flow. Based on the assumption that the return and the demand are independent Poisson processes, we derive a simple approximate algorithm to determine the optimal control parameters. The numerical examples show that the presented algorithm is more tractable than the exact algorithm and more accurate than other approximate algorithms, such as normal approximation.

Environmental legislation and customer expectations increasingly force manufacturers to take recovery of used products into account in their production and inventory management. One of the areas concerned is production planning with returned products remanufacturing. In this paper, we discuss the optimal decision for a joint manufacturing and remanufacturing system in a multi-period horizon, including manufacturing decision, remanufacturing and disposal decisions of the returned product. Setup costs are considered for the manufacturing and disposal activities. For an n-period model, we derive an optimal solution structure for the three activities, where the solution parameters can be computed by dynamic programming approach.

In this work, we propose a single period stochastic inventory decision-making model that captures the trade-off between inventory policies and disruption risks for unreliable (both uncapacitated and capacitated) dual-sourcing reverse supply chain networks. Risk-management has emerged high at the corporate agenda as globalised supply chain networks are more stretched than ever due to offshoring and thus are more exposed to disruptions, while reverse logistics has been proven to constitute a profit center. In this environment, global companies have to scrutinize especially the role of major Asian economies (with large manufacturing capacities and huge markets), while conducting their strategic procurement planning. The developed model can be applied to a number of different scenario types encompassing various instances of disruptions to the collection of the end-of-life products, of the transportation system, and of the remanufacturing yield and capacity. Analytical closed-form solutions are obtained and important managerial insights on the merit of contingency strategies in managing uncertainties for reverse logistics networks are discussed.

This paper discusses vehicle routing problem involving split deliveries and pickups, in which the customer has pickup and delivery demands that can exceed the capacity of the vehicle, and one customer can be visited by no more than one vehicle or by one vehicle for no more than one time. The objective of the problem is to minimize total travel cost. A new heuristic algorithm, the competitive decision algorithm, is proposed to solve the problem. Computational experiments on the benchmark provided by Mitra are performed to evaluate our algorithm against the previously proposed method. The experiment shows that our algorithm provides the best solutions to a total of 110 problems whether or not the number of vehicles used is restricted to the minimum.

This paper introduces the capacitated vehicle routing problem with recycling in reverse logistics, and designs a food chain algorithm for it. Some illustrative examples are selected to conduct simulation and comparison. Numerical results show that the performance of the food chain algorithm is better than the genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization as well as quantum evolutionary algorithm.

The paper investigates fuzzy multi-attribute group decision-making (FMAGDM) problems. The important weights of the attributes and the ratings of the alternatives with respect to each attribute provided by multiple decision-makers are described by the linguistic variables expressed in triangular fuzzy numbers or trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. A hybrid fuzzy approach is proposed, which assesses each alternative in terms of distance measure calculated by a modified VIKOR method as well as similarity measure calculated by a modified gray relational analysis (GRA) method, to the positive ideal alternative and the negative ideal alternative. A new relative closeness coefficient is established to rank alternatives by aggregating the distance and the similarity measures. Two numerical examples for reverse logistics applications are presented to illustrate the proposed method.

Reverse logistics (RL) emerges as a hot topic in both research and business with the increasing attention on the collection and recycling of the waste products. Since Location and Routing Problem (LRP) in RL is NP-complete, heuristic algorithms, especially those built upon swarm intelligence, are very popular in this research. In this paper, both Vehicle Routing Problem (RP) and Location Allocation Problem (LAP) of RL are considered as a whole. First, the features of LRP in RL are analyzed. Second, a mathematical model of the problem is developed. Then, a novel discrete artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm with greedy adjustment is proposed. The experimental results show that the new algorithm can approach the optimal solutions efficiently and effectively.

Nowadays, reverse logistics (RL) is one of the key strategies in many industries, especially in the electronics industry due to increasing environmental awareness and sustainable management. The main aim of this research is to investigate the correlation of RL performance to solutions for RL practice of the electronics industry in Thailand. In this research, questionnaires were distributed to 417 companies in the electronics industry of Thailand. A conceptual model was developed and the model examined by using structural equation modeling (SEM). Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used in this study. The hypotheses were tested in which RL performance was directly positively associated with the overall solutions for RL practices. RL performance was also indirectly positively associated with management & organization solutions, legal & technology solutions and collaboration and support solutions of the various solutions for RL practices. Empirical data was tested by using SEM and it was found that the proposed model could fit with the empirical data. The proposed results of this study will help to understand more about RL practices and could provide further direction for researchers and practitioners in the electronics industry and other related industries.

Due to industrialization, increasing solid waste is affecting environmental integrity globally. Reverse logistics (RL) has become a significant tool to deal with environmental degradation issues, and it is being implemented in developed countries. However, RL is at the infancy stage in developing countries especially in Pakistan due to different obstacles. This study aims to identify and analyzes the interrelationship between barriers affecting RL implementation in Pakistani manufacturing industry using an integrated methodology of Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and MICMAC approach. Results of ISM and MICMAC identified organizational, financial, and technological barriers as dependent barriers. However, lack of government policy incentives, lack of responsiveness about RL, lack of enforceable laws on product return, changing in regulations due to political changes, lack of environmental law awareness and lack of corporate social responsibility emerged out as top-ranked barriers driving other barriers that need to be addressed. An inter-relationship based structural model will be helpful for supply chain and RL professional in understanding major obstacles to RL implementation and develop a strategy to promote RL in the manufacturing industry.

Reverse logistics (RL) network can be adequately planned and implemented to gain additional benefits such as maximizing customer satisfaction and a positive image of the business organization, even though most distribution networks are not equipped with reverse channels to deal with the return of merchandise. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to develop a new mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) mathematical model with a single-objective, single-product, multi-stage closed-loop supply chain network design (CLSC ND), considering the fixed transportation charge in the distribution network that has been neglected in the recently published papers in the field of CLSC ND. Since such network design challenges belong to the class of NP-hard problems, an algorithm based on ant colony optimization (ACO) is proposed to design a multi-stage RL network with fixed transportation cost and variable cost for the routes. Four network characteristics of different sizes were designed, and 30 instances were randomly generated for each network characteristic to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The computational analysis of the results shows the high-quality effectiveness of the proposed ACO algorithm compared with the exact results.

In this paper, we address the problem of demand driven disassembly used to determine the optimal lot-sizes of end-of-life (EOL) products to disassemble so as to fulfil the demand of various components from a mix of different product types that have a number of components and / or modules in common. We discuss two approaches, viz., (1) the disassembly graph approach that is based on the study of the disassembly of mechanical products and (2) the component-disassembly optimization model that focuses on parts recovery by applying the reverse bill of materials. Although elegant, the main disadvantages of these two approaches are redundancy and nonlinearity respectively. To overcome these disadvantages, we propose a new method that combines the advantages of both approaches without their disadvantages. This is called the tree network model, which is a linear description of the demand driven, multiple product problem that includes commonality and multiplicity. Because of its simple structure, it can also be applied in dynamic situations, which is useful in problems that are related to production planning and inventory control in reverse logistics.

Eco-design practices are still incipient in Brazilian furniture industries, although some improvement can be identified in recent years. This paper describes the performance of an industrial furniture cluster located in Southern Brazil regarding such practices. An embedded case study involving four companies — two manufacturers and two suppliers — was carried out using in-depth interviews. It enabled to depict particularities of how these companies deal with sustainable aspects of design in their respective business. Critical issues identified as obstacles for eco-design implementation in these industries were: control of both, productive process and product durability; product distribution; rational use of space for transportation and storage. Minor difficulties were identified regarding the lack of renewable energy sources and the scarcity of knowledge dissemination. Such hurdles could provide opportunities and support future eco-design strategy implementation, improving the competitiveness and contributing for the eco-efficiency of the Brazilian furniture industry.

E-commerce, which is also referred to as Electronic Commerce, means buying and selling products and services over the internet. Although this industry has been wholeheartedly welcomed by different organizations, firms, and individuals, some inherent challenges still need to be overcome. Some of the issues confronting this sector include logistics, improper infrastructure, and high return rates. The logistics in e-commerce is an amalgamation of forward and reverse logistic processes. Forward logistics manages the transaction of goods, products, and services downstream in the supply chain from suppliers to customers. Still, as the demand for e-commerce increases, there is a proportionate surge in the returns of the goods. Thus, it was imperative to develop similar reverse logistics to cope with the challenge. Therefore, reverse logistics was conceptualized to manage the flow of goods upstream in the supply chain, i.e., from customers to suppliers. These goods are then returned to the inventory, stocked again, and listed or returned to sellers. This report will see how continuously evolving business demand is reshaping the forward and reverse logistics for the e-commerce sector.

Project construction is one of the most important economic activities. How to dispose construction waste is an urgent issue in the management of city. The traditional method is simple landfill, not only occupy the land, causing environmental pollution, but also waste a lot of resources which can be rational recycling. In this paper, considering the establishment of a reasonable reverse logistics network for construction waste to achieve the recycling, minimize the total cost such as network facilities investment, operation cost, transportation cost and other related costs.

Recent years have witnessed reverse logistics (RL) gaining immense importance as a profitable and sustainable business strategy. A systematic decision-making model is required to guide organization wanting to engage in the reverse logistics business for market competence and environmental obligation. The main reverse logistics functions can be categorized as: collection of the returns; dismantling of the unwanted products; repair and refurbishment of the recovered products and components. In this study, a mathematical model is developed which can assist the decision makers of a company to assess the possibility of choosing one of the following three logistics operating channels (LOC) for managing each of the above reverse processes: the company takes control of the process itself; it completely outsources the services related to the process to third party service provider (3PRL); it coordinates the process through collaborative partnership with 3PRL. To evaluate the above three operating channels, the Analytical Hierarchy Process-Quality Function Deployment (AHP-QFD) methodology is used to incorporate the voice of the stakeholders. The requirements of the stakeholders determine the evaluating criteria using a series of house of quality (HOQ) in which the weights of the evaluating criteria are achieved using AHP. The criteria for assessment are therefore based on the strategic goal of implementing a sustainable RL system. The result from the AHP-QFD approach along with other quantitative data is used to parameterize the mathematical model which determines the most appropriate alternative for each of the RL activity. A case study is included to validate the proposed method.