Production and setup control policy for unreliable hybrid manufacturing-remanufacturing systems

Abstract

This paper addresses the production planning and control problem within hybrid manufacturing-remanufacturing systems where demand can be met via two alternative sources of production: manufacturing of new items (manufacturing mode) and remanufacturing of returned items (remanufacturing mode). Despite its importance and economic impact, this problem remains scarcely explored for systems composed of one unreliable common facility using setup operations to switch between the two modes. Compared to traditional manufacturing systems, the development of adaptive strategies to manage simultaneously the manufacturing, remanufacturing, disposal and setup operations as well as the determination of appropriate storage spaces, becomes more challenging. The main objective is to elaborate a new control policy for an effective and efficient coordination of these operations. It also aims to determine the storage space sizing of both finished products and returns, while minimizing the total incurred cost. Observing the complexity of analytical and numerical solutions, three joint production and setup control policies found in the literature are adapted to our context and then analyzed. The proposed control policy is then derived by using a simulation-based optimization approach that offers a powerful technique to control the considered system, while better reflecting the industrial reality. It identifies the conditions under which the manufacturer should produce new products, or remanufactured products to gain cost savings. An in-depth study comparing the considered control policies across a wide range of system parameters is also conducted. It gives insights to the related production managers and shows that the obtained control policy leads the best results in terms of costs.