Abstract
We study the dynamic behaviour of a hybrid system where manufacturing and remanufacturing operations occur simultaneously to produce the same serviceable inventory for order fulfilment. Such a hybrid system, commonly found in the photocopier and personal computer industries, has received considerable attention in the literature. However, its dynamic performance and resulting bullwhip effect, under push and pull remanufacturing policies, remain unexplored. Relevant analysis would allow considering the adoption of appropriate control strategies, as some of the governing rules in a push-based environment may break down in pull-driven systems, and vice versa. Using nonlinear control theory and discrete-time simulation, we develop and linearise a nonlinear stylised model, and analytically assess bullwhip performance of push- and pull-controlled hybrid systems. We find the product return rate to be the key influencing factor of the order variance performance of pull-controlled hybrid systems, and thus, to play an important role towards push or pull policy selection. Product demand frequency is another important factor, since order variance has a U-shaped relation to it. Moreover, the product return delay shows a supplementary impact on the system's dynamics. In particular, the traditional push-controlled hybrid system may be significantly influenced by this factor if the return rate is high. The results highlight the importance of jointly considering ordering structure and product demand characteristics for bullwhip avoidance.
Highlights
Background and contributionClosed-loop supply chains (CLSCs) can generate profits by taking back products from customers and recovering the remaining value, as well as providing environmental benefits by avoiding sending endof-life products into landfill (Guide and Van Wassenhove 2009)
We study the dynamic performance of a hybrid CLSC, focusing on the bullwhip effect with pushand pull-controlled remanufacturing policies
Contribution Motivated by the theoretical gaps and practical observations, this paper aims to study the system dynamics performance of hybrid CLSCs, focusing on the bullwhip effect, under pull and push controlled remanufacturing environments
Summary
Background and contributionClosed-loop supply chains (CLSCs) can generate profits by taking back products from customers and recovering the remaining value, as well as providing environmental benefits by avoiding sending endof-life products into landfill (Guide and Van Wassenhove 2009). We study the dynamic performance of a hybrid CLSC, focusing on the bullwhip effect with pushand pull-controlled remanufacturing policies. The hybrid CLSC refers to a system where manufacturing and remanufacturing operations occur simultaneously to produce the same serviceable inventory for order fulfilment (van der Laan et al 1999). The bullwhip effect refers to a phenomenon in which low variations in marketplace demand cause significant changes in upstream production for suppliers, with associated costs such as the ramping down and ramping up of machines, hiring and firing of staff, and excessive inventory levels (Wang and Disney 2016; Ponte et al 2020). Understanding the dynamics of CLSCs and reducing their bullwhip levels can help improve their operational performance and economic viability (Hosoda and Disney 2018)
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