Sustainable Closed-loop Supply Chain Research Articles

Sustainable closed-loop supply chain network optimization for construction machinery recovering

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>With regard to environmental pressures and economic benefits, some original construction equipment manufacturers, have focused on collecting and recovering construction machinery at the end of their life. The present study aimed to focus on Sustainable closed-loop supply chain network optimization for construction machinery recovering. To this purpose, different recovery options such as remanufacturing, recycling and reusing were implemented. A mixed integer linear programming model (MILP) including three objective functions was proposed in this regard. Based on the model, all three dimensions of sustainability including economic, environmental, and social dimensions were considered and could successfully determine the optimal values of the flow of used products, remanufactured products, recycled parts, re-usable parts. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model, a numerical example was used with the help of GAMS software to obtain the supply chain structure with the lowest cost and reduce the pollution caused by CO₂. Finally, the model could maximize fixed and variable job opportunities.

A multi-objective mixed-integer linear model for sustainable fruit closed-loop supply chain network

PurposeThis paper aims to present a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) optimization problem for a perishable agricultural product to achieve three pillars of sustainability, including minimizing total network costs and carbon dioxide emissions from different network activities and maximizing responsiveness to demands simultaneously.Design/methodology/approachThe research problem is formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model, and classical approaches, including the LP-Metric and weighted Tchebycheff method, have been applied to solve the optimization model. A set of test problems has been proposed to validate the model, and the results are presented.FindingsComputational time to find Pareto optimal solutions by using the weighted Tchebycheff method was twice as much as that of the LP-Metric method. Also, the result of the study is a mathematical model that can be applied to other products that are close to the fruit, such as vegetables.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study is limited to fruits supply chains and the inventory is considered at the distribution centers only. The study also considers only one type of transport.Practical implicationsThe paper can assist supply chain managers to define strategies to achieve a sustainable CLSC network configuration for the fruits.Originality/valueThis study is one of the early studies to consider environmental indicators in fruits supply chain design along with two other indicators of sustainability, namely, economic and social indicators. Therefore, this can help supply chain managers to achieve sustainability by optimizing location decisions, inventory quantities and flow between facilities.

Sustainable closed-loop supply chain design for the car battery industry with taking into consideration the correlated criteria for supplier selection and uncertainty conditions

Based on the concept of Sustainability and sustainable development, focusing only on economic and profitable issues is not sufficient, and companies need to pay attention to environmental and social impacts of car industry. In this regard, in this research, a mathematical model for designing a sustainable closed-loop supply chain multi-Surface and multi-product for car battery industry under uncertainty conditions, considering the correlation between supplier selection criteria presented. The study of supply chain network is including suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, customers, recycling centers and destruction centers. The proposed model is able to locate the levels of producers, distributors, Recycling and disposal centers As well as the flow of materials between the different levels of the supply chain to minimize the total costs, minimize overall environmental impact, And maximize social utility and maximize utility of supplier selection In view of the set criteria correlated. Then Lexicography method was introduced to solve the mode and finally, in order to assess the proficiency and validity of the proposed model, a problem as a numerically issue for different priorities in goals is solved, and the results have been analyzed. The solution outcomes represent that the proposed model and method of solution have the required efficiency and validity

Closed loop location routing supply chain network design in the end of life pharmaceutical products

ABSTRACT Considering the main pillars of sustainable development, this paper proposes a new multi-objective model to design a sustainable closed-loop location routing supply chain network taking the pharmaceutical products life cycle as a case study. This model aims at generating economic gains, increasing the social responsibility of companies in terms of job creation and reducing the risk arising from the transport of end of Life products (medical waste from the expiry of pharmaceutical products and their use in the healthcare centres). The multi-objective model expressed as mixed integer linear program was solved by an exact approach, this resolution allowed us to take strategic and operational decisions. Besides, the tuning of objective’s weight helps us to analyse the trade-off possibility between the different objectives and to highlight the impact of social responsibility on the design of closed-loop routing supply chain networks.

Controlling Waste and Carbon Emission for a Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain Management under a Cap-and-Trade Strategy

Considering the increasing number of end-of-life goods in the context of improving the ambience and health of a population and their destructive impacts, recycling strategies are important for industries and organizations. In this article, a closed-loop supply chain management containing a single manufacturer, a single retailer, and a third party is introduced in which the manufacturer first propagates newly finished goods and then dispatches some of the finished goods to the retailer considering a single-setup multi-delivery policy. Due to shipping, carbon emission is taken into account as well as a carbon emission trading mechanism to curb the amount of carbon emissions by the retailer. For recycling through collection, inspection, remanufacturing, and landfill, the third party collects the end-of-life goods from its customers and ships perfect products to the manufacturer after a two-stage inspection. In this model, major sources of emissions such as shipping, replenishment orders, and inventory have been taken care of. The minimizing of the total cost relating to the container capacity, shipment numbers, and replenishment cycle length is the main objective of the closed-loop supply chain management for making the system more profitable. Expository numerical explorations, analysis, and graphic representations are conferred to elucidate this model, and it is observed that this model saves some percentage of the cost compared to the existing literature.

Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain Design Problem: A Hybrid Genetic Algorithm Approach

In this paper, we propose a solution to the sustainable closed-loop supply chain (SCLSC) design problem. Three factors (economic, environmental, and social) are considered for the problem and the three following requirements are addressed while satisfying associated constraint conditions: (i) minimizing the total cost; (ii) minimizing the total amount of CO2 emission during production and transportation of products; (iii) maximizing the social influence. Further, to ensure the efficient distribution of products through the SCLSC network, three types of distribution channels (normal delivery, direct delivery, and direct shipment) are considered, enabling a reformulation of the problem as a multi-objective optimization problem that can be solved using Pareto optimal solutions. A mathematical formulation is proposed for the problem, and it is solved using a hybrid genetic algorithm (pro-HGA) approach. The performance of the pro-HGA approach is compared with those of other conventional approaches at varying scales, and the performances of the SCLSC design problems with and without three types of distribution channels are also compared. Finally, we prove that the pro-HGA approach outperforms its competitors, and that the SCLSC design problem with three types of distribution channels is more efficient than that with a single distribution channel.

A novel transportation location routing network for the sustainable closed-loop supply chain considering the quality of returns

The current paper aims to design a closed-loop supply chain network which maximizes the productivity and the asset recovery by focusing on the location-routing decisions. A practical network is presented using quality-based routing and segmentation policies. Moreover, a novel social index is provided based on the sustainability reporting guidelines. The forward chain includes the manufacturers, the depots, the distributors and the customers. In the backward chain, the distributers collect and sort the returns into three groups to be sent out either to the emerging markets, the decomposition centre or the secondary chain facility. The resultant model is then validated and tested via a numerical example under the different scenarios from single-objective and multiple-objective approaches. A comprehensive analysis is presented to test the impacts of the return rates, the location of the receiver facility, and the transport fleet. The results show the effectiveness of the model under different scenarios.

A multi-stage stochastic programming model for sustainable closed-loop supply chain network design with financial decisions: A case study of plastic production and recycling supply chain

This paperproposes a multi-objective, multi-stage programming model to design a sustainable closed-loop supply chain network considering financial decisions. A multi-product, sustainable closed-loop plastic supply chain network design problem which encompasses economic, environmental and social objectives is modeled in a mathematical manner. The decisions to be made are concerned with location of facilities; the flow of products, loans to take and investments to make. Uncertainty issue is about demand of customers and investment's rate of return. The decision making model is formulated as a multi-objective, multi-stage mixed integer linear programming problem and is solved by implementing path formulation and augmented Ɛ-constraint methods. Computational analysis, is provided based on the subject company to determine the significance of the proposed model and the efficiency regarding integrating financial decisions with supply chain network design decisions.

Coordination of social welfare, collecting, recycling and pricing decisions in a competitive sustainable closed-loop supply chain: a case for lead-acid battery

In order to attain competitive advantage, it is of high importance for firms to move towards sustainability. In practice, an efficient sustainable closed-loop supply chain (SCLSC) can reduce the negative effects of hazardous wastes and consequently improve the environmental dimension of sustainability. Besides the environmental dimension, the social aspect of sustainability can be achieved through initiating corporate social responsibility and enhancing social welfare of customers. Different from the existing literature, this paper proposes an analytical coordination model to not only cover all three dimensions of sustainability in a SCLSC but also to align different decisions made in competitive forward and reverse logistics. The proposed SCLSC is modeled under decentralized, centralized, and coordinated decision-making structures considering different game behaviors in the forward and reverse links. The results reveal that the proposed two-way two-part tariff (TWTPT) contract is of high benefit to the sustainable CLSC as it is able to simultaneously enhance the environmental, economic, and social performances. To be more precise, the proposed model improves the collection rate, consumer surplus, social welfare, and profits of all CLSC members. In addition, our findings demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed TWTPT contract in motivating the agents of both competitive forward and reverse chains to participate in the coordination scheme.

Green and sustainable closed-loop supply chain network design under uncertainty

The continuous influence of global warming has profoundly changed the operation mode of the traditional supply chain network. The balance between costs reduction and environmental protection has become an effective attempt to improve sustainable competitiveness for enterprises. This study presents an integration perspective for developing a green and sustainable closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) network under uncertain demand. A bi-objective optimization model is proposed with two objectives for CO2 emissions and total operating cost. Decisions regarding the environmental level and the factors affecting the facilities capacity level have also been considered. The scenario-based method is adopted to represent the uncertain demand in the stochastic programming model. A Lagrangean relaxation method is developed to solve the model. The experimental results demonstrate the validity and efficiency of the proposed model and solution method. Several potentially useful managerial implications are also obtained for practitioners.

Multi-objective Fuzzy Programming of Closed-Loop Supply Chain Considering Sustainable Measures

The substantial impact of environmental and social issues on business performance highlights the significant role of sustainability in supply chain network design problems. The innate uncertainty of the problem factors such as customer demand and return rates requires an integrated approach to deal with the problem. This paper aims to design a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) network considering both sustainability and uncertainty issues. Fuzzy programming is used to address the uncertainty in this study. A fuzzy multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming is developed to simultaneously optimize a sustainable CLSC network. The objectives are considered to be the total costs and the environmental impacts minimization and social benefits maximization. Three pillars of sustainability (cost, environmental, and social) are taken into account in network design. A three-phased fuzzy solution approach is developed to solve this model. To examine the significance of the proposed model and the solution approach, a computational experiment is conducted. The results approve the applicability of the proposed approach and the feasibility of the solution methodology. Results also show that the proposed model presents a systematic framework that enables the management to obtain a satisfactory solution by adjusting the search direction.

A Novel Sustainable Closed-loop Supply Chain Network Design by Considering Routing and Quality of Products

One of the strategic decisions that can be made in supply chain is designing its network which has high impact on costs, and satisfaction level of customers. This paper focuses on designing a distribution network including determining the number and location of facilities, how to allocate the customers in network, and also determining the extent of carrying different products from different origins to different destinations; in this distribution network, according to the existing restrictions, customer demand is considered at minimum cost. In addition to secondary chain and reuse market as a retrieval option, model flexibility in defining quality and routing-locating is also among the innovation points of the model. Firstly, in forward chain the model consists of supplier, manufacturer, warehouse, distributor, and customer. In reverse chain, the model includes reuse market, secondary supply chain, collection, reprocess and disposal centers. The model could be generalized to industries with various strategies. Secondly, a sensitivity analysis was performed on a numerical example; also the non-dominated sorting algorithm (NSGA II) was used for a large-sized sample; which its performance was measured by analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. The results show that, returned products with average quality lead to lower costs and higher social benefits; and meta-heuristic NSGA II method is efficient. Because, it creates business opportunities and leads to less economic and environmental costs.

Modeling and solving a sustainable closed loop supply chain problem with pricing decisions and discounts on returned products

Increasing rates of environmental and social concerns involved in various communities have recently attracted researchers' attention to consider them in proper designs of sustainable supply chains (SSCs). In this paper, the planning problem of a multi-period multi-echelon sustainable closed loop supply chain (SCLSC) is investigated. A comprehensive model that seriously takes into account the social and environmental aspects of the supply chain (SC) decisions and measures their social and environmental effects using the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) guideline indicators is proposed. The proposed planning model includes tactical decisions comprising the price of the product and logistic decisions. A discount offer is used on the returned product as an incentive policy to increase customers' willingness to return back the used products. In this offer, the discount depends on the quality of the returned products. Besides, as the discount for upcoming purchases stimulates customers to buy new products more, the product demand depends on the discount offer in addition to the product price. Moreover, two recovery approaches including remanufacturing and recycling alongside disposing of very low quality returned products are considered. Categorizing returned products according to their quality, quality-dependent recovery decisions for returned products, and the quality-dependent discount offer is the other novel points of this paper. The proposed model is implemented in a case study involving a CFL light bulbs supply chain. The TH (Torabi-Hassini) procedure is employed to solve the newly-developed three-objective optimization problem. The results of sensitivity analyses on the case-study demonstrate that the discount offer significantly improve the collecting rate of used products, which in turn helps improving sustainability. Finally, the Pareto optimal solutions show that the proposed approach provides a comprehensive planning model for SSCs which enables the decision makers to use a proper solution that considers legislation, social preference, cost, and environmental objectives.

A Coordinated Revenue-Sharing Model for a Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain

This study takes a sustainable closed-loop supply chain composed of one manufacturer and two price-competitive retailers as the object and considers the two-way risk aversion characteristics of manufacturers and retailers in examining the coordination mechanism in a closed-loop supply chain. Using game theory, optimal decision-making on wholesale prices, retail prices, and recycling prices are explored under decentralized and centralized decision-making scenarios, and representative expressions are established. By analyzing the effects of the risk aversion coefficient on players’ optimal strategies, we found that the manufacturer’s and retailers’ risk aversion coefficients have different effects on the wholesale price, retail price, and recycling price under decentralized decision-making, while in a centralized decision-making scenario, the effects are the same. The comparison also found that the wholesale price and recovery price under the centralized decision-making scenario are higher than those under decentralized decision-making. To achieve closed-loop supply chain coordination, we propose a revenue-sharing contract that we demonstrate by coordinating price competition with risk aversion and analyze a range of parameters that influence the revenue-sharing contract. The results show that the proposed contract can increase the profits of supply chain members by identifying the optimal revenue-sharing ratio.

A new sustainable closed-loop supply chain model for mining industry considering fixed-charged transportation: A case study in a travertine quarry

Mining industries in general and stone mining in particular play a vital-infrastructural role in any economy due to its vast impacts on other sectors such as construction, production, and even banking. The main purpose of this research is to investigate sustainability aspects of mining industry of decorative stone quarries in Iran in general and a specific case study in particular through a mathematical optimization approach. In this paper, a novel closed-loop approach is proposed for the first time (to the best of our knowledge) to be utilized in a real-case travertine quarry. Indeed, a stone quarry is considered and a closed-loop network is provided to determine appropriate strategies for stone wastes and end of life stones of the buildings. The quarry extracts the stone blocks from the mountain and then cut them into the appropriate pieces by wire sawing machines. Besides, at the decorative stone quarry, based on the insight observations, the outputs are in 4 grades based on their quality depend on the fractures and cleavages of the cut stones.In the presented network, by focusing on decorative stones, recycling centers are the main player of collecting, processing, and selling the wastes and end of life stones. In order to regard sustainable approach, minimizing energy consumption is considered as well as profit maximization in the objective functions of the model and service level requirements. In addition, due to the real requirements, fixed-charged is considered in transportations. Then, in order to achieve the Pareto front and the non-dominated solutions, a repetitive ε-constraint approach is developed here. The principal results prove that the sustainable closed-loop approach is able to be implemented successfully in mining industry. The major conclusion of this study specially about the case study show that closed-loop supply chain of decorative stone quarries can be both profitable and feasible.

Optimization of a sustainable closed loop supply chain network design under uncertainty using multi-objective evolutionary algorithms

Optimization of a sustainable closed loop supply chain network design under uncertainty using multi-objective evolutionary algorithms

A Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain Decision Mechanism in the Electronic Sector

In a closed-loop supply chain for electronic products, the manufacturer’s priority is to enhance the residual value of the collected end-of-use product and decide whether to outsource this business to a retailer, a third-party service, or retain it exclusively. In this paper, we constructed three models to study the decision mechanism in a closed-loop supply chain, with different players selected to collect the used product. By comparing the three models, we characterized the conditions under which the manufacturer will benefit most, and we then aimed to determine the best choice for the manufacturer. Our findings show that, when the retailer and the third-party service provider provide equal performance in collecting the used product, the manufacturer will give priority to the third-party service provider if they choose to outsource this business. If the reverse flows managed by the retailer result in a higher payoff for the manufacturer, then the manufacturer will choose to outsource this business to the retailer who will also benefit.

Data-driven approaches to integrated closed-loop sustainable supply chain design under multi-uncertainties

Abstract In this paper, the problem of sustainable closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) design under multi-uncertainties is studied. To identify an efficient way to enhance environmental and operational benefits of CLSC, we use “Big Data and propose data-driven approaches to generating robust CLSC designs that mitigate uncertainty and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions burdens. More specifically, in addressing multi-uncertainties (i.e., buyers’ expectations, demands, and recovery uncertainties), a distributed robust optimization model (DRO) and an adaptive robust model (ARO) are developed for designing carryings and waste disposal facility locations of CLSC. Both models use historical data based on uncertain parameters for previous periods to make decisions on future stages in a robust way. Moreover, we incorporate K-L divergence into an ambiguous set of uncertain parameters to measure the value of data. The results of numerical analysis show the need to account for K-L divergence in an ambiguous set of DRO models, as GHG emission costs increase even when little K-L divergence disturbance is in place. Furthermore, from the data-driven framework, we find that government subsidies and an accurate estimation method (i.e., less K-L divergence) enhance environmental and operational benefits. Regarding model robustness levels, solutions generated from our ARO models outperform deterministic solutions not only in terms of their average objective value but also in terms of differences from ideal solutions.

Sustainable closed-loop supply chain network design with discount supposition

Supply chain network design (SCND) is one of the important, primary and strategic decisions affecting competitive advantages and all other decisions in supply chain management. Although most of papers in SCND focus only on the economic performance, this study considers simultaneously economic, social and environmental aspects. In this study, a new mixed integer nonlinear programming model is developed to formulate a multi-objective sustainable closed-loop supply chain network design problem by considering discount supposition in the transportation costs for the first time. In order to address the problem, not only traditional and recent metaheuristics are utilized, but also the algorithms are hybridized according to their strengths especially in intensification and diversification. To evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of these algorithms, they are compared with each other by four assessment metrics for Pareto optimal analyses. Although the results indicate the performance of three proposed new hybridization algorithms, KAGA achieves better solutions compared with the others, but it needs more time. At the end, we introduced a real industrial example in glass industry to verify the proposed model and the algorithms.

Heuristic-based metaheuristics to address a sustainable supply chain network design problem

Nowadays, the world faces the issue of sustainable integrated business network. Sustainable development attracts both researchers and industrial practitioners who are focused on the Supply Chain Network Design (SCND). In this regard, all economic, environment, and social factors should be considered. Contrary to previous works, this paper addresses a sustainable closed-loop supply chain network problem considering by proposing three new heuristics. To the best of our knowledge, a few related studies have developed heuristics to find best solutions via metaheuristic. In this regard, three heuristics are utilized as procedures to generate initial population to start the recent and old employed metaheuristics. Red Deer Algorithm (RDA) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) are utilized. In addition, the parameters of algorithm are tuned by Response Surface Method (RSM) with an MODM approach in order to improve the performance of algorithms. The results show the capability of proposed heuristics’ solution for RDA.