Optimal Design and Operations of Reverse Logistics Enterprises

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In order to meet basic human needs in a sustainable way our world faces some important challenges in part caused by global competition, an aging population, climate change, and scarcity of natural resources, such as water and fossil energy. These challenges and many others, increasingly affect the way manufacturers conduct their business. Traditionally, manufacturers have been concerned with well-established performance measures such as yield maximization, productivity and quality improvement. Nowadays, in addition to these traditional measures of performance, the manufacturers have to cope with tighter environmental regulations, continuously increasing levies on product consumption, and increasing demand for toxic-free substances used in the manufacturing process. Due to these additional requirements and restrictions, the proposed research program is aimed at addressing these issues with the goal of designing environmentally sound and sustainable manufacturing practices and reverse logistics systems. Sustainability can be defined as the ability to "meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Reverse logistics activities are concerned with the backward flow of used products that will be reintegrated in the supply chain at the product level (reuse, repair), the component level (remanufacturing, cannibalization), or the material level (recycling). The use of multi-objective modeling, the bi-level optimization approach, and systems dynamics techniques will be investigated and implemented to manage uncertainty created by the timing, quantity and quality of returned products. By applying these methods and by introducing modern production planning and control of (re)manufacturing systems we can help maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of reverse logistics networks. In short, the proposed research program is aimed at supporting sustainability and increasing reverse logistics enterprise profitability as well as enhancing the social or “green” image of the manufacturing sector.