Abstract
Background: Designing and implementation of reverse logistics (RL) network which meets the sustainability targets have been a matter of emerging concern for the electronics companies in India.Objectives: The present study developed a two-phase model for configuration of sustainable RL network design for an Indian manufacturing company to manage its end-of-life and endof-use electronic products. The notable feature of the model was the evaluation of facilities under financial, environmental and social considerations and integration of the facility selection decisions with the network design.Method: In the first phase, an integrated Analytical Hierarchical Process Complex Proportional Assessment methodology was used for the evaluation of the alternative locations in terms of their degree of utility, which in turn was based on the three dimensions of sustainability. In the second phase, the RL network was configured as a bi-objective programming problem, and fuzzy optimisation approach was utilised for obtaining a properly efficient solution to the problem.Results: The compromised solution attained by the proposed fuzzy model demonstrated that the cost differential for choosing recovery facilities with better environmental and social performance was not significant; therefore, Indian manufacturers must not compromise on the sustainability aspects for facility location decisions.Conclusion: The results reaffirmed that the bi-objective fuzzy decision-making model can serve as a decision tool for the Indian manufacturers in designing a sustainable RL network. The multi-objective optimisation model captured a reasonable trade-off between the fuzzy goals of minimising the cost of the RL network and maximising the sustainable performance of the facilities chosen.
Highlights
Resource depletion and e-waste generation through electronics use have reached an alarming stage in developing countries, posing a serious threat to the environment and human health (Wath, Dutt & Chakrabarti 2011:260)
The model seeks for a trade-off between the overall cost of the network and the sustainable performance of the selected collection centres (CCs)
A bi-objective fuzzy decision-making model is proposed in the study, which can serve as a decision tool for the Indian manufacturers in designing a sustainable Reverse logistics (RL) network for managing end-of-life and end-of-use returns
Summary
Resource depletion and e-waste generation through electronics use have reached an alarming stage in developing countries, posing a serious threat to the environment and human health (Wath, Dutt & Chakrabarti 2011:260). There has been an exponential increase in the use of electronics in India, and most of these are discarded irresponsibly by consumers (Wath et al 2011:252). In the framework of sustainable development, discarding the electronics products that are no longer in use by their original users is not a viable option (Achillas et al 2010:870). Though government regulations and policies in India require Original Electronics Manufacturers (OEMs) to incorporate sustainable recovery strategies for extending the entire life cycle of their products, consumer returns are still not managed by manufacturers but mostly by an informal sector involving ‘kabadiwallahs’, recyclers and dismantlers (Dwivedy & Mittal 2012:230). Designing and implementation of reverse logistics (RL) network which meets the sustainability targets have been a matter of emerging concern for the electronics companies in India
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