Design Integration and Coordination of Closed-Loop Supply Chains for Sustainable Manufacturing

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The depletion of natural resources and their negative impacts on the society and economy are forcing governments, industry, and academia to address social and environmental concerns as well as for radical changes in the way manufacturing and supply chain systems are to be designed. Facing such heightened environmental concerns, coordination, integration, and design of Sustainable Manufacturing Systems operating within a framework of Closed-Loop Supply Chains become particularly important. Sustainable Manufacturing is defined as "the creation of manufactured products that use processes that minimize negative environmental impacts, conserve energy and natural resources are safe for employees, communities and consumers and are economically sound" by the US Department of Commerce. The term "Closed-Loop Supply Chain" is defined as the system that takes back products directly or indirectly from customers and recovers added value by reusing the entire product or some of its components or parts by Guide and Van Wassenhove in their 2009 article. It should be noted that achieving sustainable manufacturing requires a holistic approach encompassing not only of the product and the manufacturing processes but also the entire supply chain including the logistics and manufacturing systems across multiple product life-cycles. In view of these, this research program addresses several coordination, integration, and design problems of Sustainable Manufacturing Systems operating within a framework of Closed-Loop Supply Chains where a simultaneous consideration is given to the design of Sustainable Manufacturing Systems and Closed-Loop Supply Chains with inclusion of the impact of product design, environmental impact, cost accounting and quality issues into the overall system.