Abstract
Numerous literature reviews and research studies have highlighted the increasing environmental concerns of supply chain stakeholders (managers, legislative bodies, customers, etc.). Guaranteeing environmentally conscious supply chain operations is closely linked to an organization’s sustainability and success. A large part of this is the responsible management of product return flows in production and inventory environments. Reverse logistics is inevitable in today’s business environment with the most common reasons being product returns, incorrect product delivery, damaged products, and product exchange programs. Green concepts and should be operationalized in a supply chain context. The literature emphasizes that the modelling of reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chains from a green and/or environmental aspect lacks investigation and development. Mathematical modelling of such systems will assist decisionmaking processes and provided a better understanding of environmentally responsible inventory models. This thesis reviews the literature on the modelling of reverse logistics inventory systems that are based on the economic order/production quantity (EOQ/EPQ) and the joint economic lot size (JELS) settings so as to systematically analyse the mathematics involved in capturing the main characteristics of related processes. The literature is surveyed and classified according to the specific issues faced and modelling assumptions. Special attention is given to environmental issues. There are indications of the need for the mathematics of reverse logistics models to follow current trends in ‘greening’ inventory and supply-chain models. The modelling of waste disposal, greenhouse-gas emissions and energy consumption during production is considered as the most pressing priority for the future of inventory models. Mathematical models for two-level supply chains with different coordination policies, a manufacturing-remanufacturing inventory model and a two-level closed-loop supply chain model with remanufacturing under different coordination are developed in this thesis. Numerical examples are presented and discussed presenting managerial insights and implications. Input-Output system analysis and multi-objective optimization modeling are suggested future research directions.
Highlights
4.2 Base model IClassical coordination4.3 Base model IIConsignment stock agreement4.4 CO2 emissions from transporting goods4.5 Transportation cost4.6 Specific energy usage4.7 Model statement4.7.1 Classical coordination policy4.7.2 vendor-managed inventory (VMI) with CS policy4.7.3 Optimization model and programming
In a similar approach to the available reverse logistic mathematical models that are based on the economic order quantity (EOQ) setting, the fundamental objective is to operate at minimum cost
The results show that the environmental costs are sensitive to the manufacturing rate, suggesting that the savings in the total cost from applying Vendor Managed Inventory with Consignment Stock (VMI-CS) is in the traditional supply chain cost components
Summary
4.2 Base model IClassical coordination4.3 Base model IIConsignment stock agreement4.4 CO2 emissions from transporting goods4.5 Transportation cost4.6 Specific energy usage4.7 Model statement4.7.1 Classical coordination policy4.7.2 VMI with CS policy4.7.3 Optimization model and programming. There has been a push for businesses and organizations to be accountable and responsible for environmental and social impacts of their operations This drive has been derived from various internal and external stakeholders leading to new regulations being imposed. Such responsibilities have accounted for the introduction and application of various concepts, programs, and efforts (Richards, 1997). The focus of this study is to include environmental implications present in a reverse logistic model For this reason, the consideration of a limited number of times for which an item can be recovered directly affects the number of returned items that are disposed. This consideration is presented in El Saadany et al (2013) and for its environmental importance, which is considered in the development of the proposed model in this paper
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
