Date of Award

2012

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering

Keywords

Applied sciences, Closed-loop supply chain, Operations research, Reverse logistics, Supply chain management

Supervisor

Gouqing Zhang

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Because of cost and environmental concerns, reverse supply chain (RSC) has received a lot of attention. RSC is defined as the activities of the collection and recovery of product returns in supply chain management. The integration of forward supply chain (FSC) and RSC results in a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC). In this dissertation, FSC, RSC, and CLSC are introduced. Then, the research objectives are mentioned. The objective of this dissertation is to develop effective approaches to support closed-loop supply chain configurations and analyses, especially develop methodologies to examine impacts of multi-objectives, and uncertainty on CLSC. In Chapter 2, literature of CLSC configuration is reviewed including deterministic and uncertain models. In addition, gaps in the literature are mentioned. In Chapter 3, a facility location model is examined. After problem definition, a mixed-integer linear programming model is proposed. Then, the model is developed to consider multi-objectives under uncertain demand and return. In Chapter 4, a CLSC network is examined. In this chapter, an integrated model for CLSC configuration and supplier selection is proposed and a solution approach is developed for the multi-objective model. A numerical example is used to validate the model. In Chapter 5, a three stage model for closed-loop supply chain configuration is proposed based on a general network. It is supposed that demand is an uncertain parameter. Besides, an illustrative example is applied to show the three-stage model. In addition, managerial insights are discussed in this chapter. In Chapter 6, a mixed-integer linear programming model is proposed to configure a CLSC network. The network has been designed based on product life cycle. The objective is to maximize profit by determining quantity of parts and products in the network. We also extend the model for the condition that the remanufactured products are sent to the secondary market. Finally in Chapter 7, conclusions and future works are provided.

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