Collaborative Research: Analytical Approaches for the Design and Operation of Closed-Loop Supply Chains

这笔拨款为可再制造产品行业中闭环供应链的设计和运作建模框架的开发提供资金。再制造扩展了传统制造和物流活动的范围，包括正向和逆向流动以及相应的正向和反向渠道活动。因此，传统的单向供应链需要转变为闭环供应链。为了确保成功转型，本研究将开发分析模型和有效的计算程序，以优化闭环供应链系统中出现的网络设计和库存/生产计划决策。结果将提供分析和计算工具，用于比较i)替代网络设计策略和ii)不同播种和产品收集实践下的库存/生产计划政策对成本和其他物流性能的影响。如果成功，本研究的结果将拓宽物流理论应用于闭环供应链问题。研究结果还有望引发对闭环供应链的有效设计和运作的见解，从而促进工业中再制造实践的成功和广泛实施。此外，由于研究议程是与业界合作制定的，该项目将促进业界与学术合作伙伴之间更紧密的互动。

This grant provides funding for the development of a modeling framework for the design and operation of closed-loop supply chains in remanufacturable product industries. Remanufacturing extends the scope of traditional manufacturing and logistics activities to include forward and reverse flows as well as the corresponding forward and reverse channel activities. As a result, the traditional unidirectional supply chains need to be transformed into closed-loop supply chains. To ensure a successful transformation, this research will develop analytical models and efficient computational procedures for the optimization of network design and inventory/production planning decisions arising in the context of closed-loop supply chain systems. The results will provide analytical and computational tools for a comparison of cost and other logistical performance implications of i) alternative network design strategies, and ii) inventory/production planning policies under different seeding and product collection practices.If successful, the results of this research will broaden the theory of logistics as applied to closed-loop supply chain problems. The results are also expected to elicit insights into the efficient design and operation of closed-loop supply chains, and, hence, facilitate successful and widespread implementation of remanufacturing practices in industry. Moreover, as the research agenda has been developed in collaboration with industry, the project will foster the development of stronger interactions between the industry and academic partners.