Two-echelon closed-loop supply chain deterministic inventory models in a batch production environment

This paper considers a two-echelon closed-loop supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a remanufacturer at the upper echelon and a retailer at the lower echelon. The retailer faces a constant demand from customers, which is satisfied through recovered and new products received from the remanufacturer and the manufacturer, respectively. The manufacturer produces the product with finite rate, whereas the recovery of returned product is instantaneous at the remanufacturer. We develop three models to determine the optimal production-inventory policy of the players for minimizing the joint total cost of the system. In the first model, the retailer receives the product in batches from the manufacturer and the remanufacture simultaneously, whereas in the second and third models, the batches are received alternatively. In the third model, however, the procurement of raw material at the manufacturer is also considered. Numerical illustration is presented to examine the impact of certain key parameters.     

Future aspect of acquisition management in closed-loop supply chain

This paper reviews the current development and practices in closed-loop supply chain under content analysis of the published literatures. A comprehensive literature review of recent and state-of-the-art paper is vital to draw a framework and to shed light on the future direction. We have reviewed here articles on remanufacturing with special emphasis on literature related to acquisition management of returned items. For review of articles, various web-based search engine, books, journal and conference proceeding are selected and reviewed. The research papers are then analysed and categorized to construct useful foundation of past research. The review shows that current researchers are focusing on devising pricing policies to attract used products from customers. Finally, gaps in the literature are identified to suggest future research opportunities.     

Impact of incorporating customer preference in sustainable remanufacturing of commercial returns

This paper investigates optimum production parameters for a reverse supply chain for manufacturing of primary products and remanufacturing of commercial returns (products returned by customers for refund or exchange). The market for the product consists of two categories, the primary and remanufactured products. The demands for these markets are independent and considered to be random variables following a normal distribution function. The approach presented in this work differs from many previously published works because the acceptability of products varies among customers. The interaction between the designed quality and variable customers’ preferences determines the likelihood of a product being returned. Two major decision variables targeted in this study are the production cycle time and the targeted quality for production of parts used in the product. Through an analytical formulation and numerical examples, a relationship between the total profit of the system and the two decision variables is developed and optimised. The analysis demonstrates that the total profit of the hybrid system could be increased significantly by targeting the optimum targeted (not necessarily the highest) values for quality of parts and the optimum cycle length. And this objective could be accomplished with significant gain with respect to sustainability and waste reduction.     

Closed-loop supply chain system with energy,transportation and waste disposal costs

Energy usage and consumption play important and strategic roles in modern manufacturing, inventory and logistics systems. The literature on inventory models for closed-loop supply chains reveals that, for no clear reasons, energy costs were ignored along with transportation and disposal costs. This paper introduces a closed-loop supply chain model that considers the economic value and energy content of products. It also offers a novel framework for studying lot-sizing policies of production processes in that context. Thus, a mathematical model for a closed-loop supply chain system with energy, transportation and disposal costs is developed. Numerical examples are provided with their results discussed. The developed model was also compared to that of Richter (1996) to stress the importance of accounting for the three noted costs. The numerical results emphasise that accounting for energy, transportation and disposal costs in supply chain modelling increases the sustainability of a production-inventory system due to the strong interdependence of the three costs on one hand, and their relationship to the environment on the other hand.     

The study of production and inventory policy of manufacturing/remanufacturing environment in a closed-loop supply chain

The life cycle of electronic and electrical equipment has been ruthlessly shortened due to the rapid promotion of new products. Such a phenomenon has thereby resulted in serious environmental pollution and damages to the natural ecology. In order to reduce electronic wastes and increase recycling products, a manufacturing/remanufacturing simulation model was constructed through a series of inventory management policies. The model included the use of the traditional supply chain structures for the forward movement of goods to consumers, as well as a number of specialised operations required to perform reverse supply chain activities. Such a model took into account all the supply chain members such as the suppliers, manufacturers, logistics centres and customers at the same time. Finally, a case study on the application of the model was conducted.     

A hybrid model for remanufacturing facility location problem in a closed-loop supply chain

Traditional supply chain design is merely based on the open loop or forward flow of materials, neglecting reverse flow for recovery of materials despite the recent concerns of customers and governments about environmental and production cost reductions. New supply chain design should be closed loop which implements traditional supply chain concepts with reverse flow or a material recovery system to reduce production cost and enhance customer satisfaction about environmental consciousness and to meet legal requirements. In our research, we designed a closed-loop supply chain which consists of recovery options such as collection centres and remanufacturing plants (reverse flow) in addition to traditional supply chain tiers (forward flow), and tried to find the best location for these facilities in a discrete space based on decision makers' opinions. Since there are uncertainties about decision parameters in an uncapacitated facility location problem, we implemented the fuzzy TOPSIS method to solve the location decision problem and find the best place to locate a remanufacturing facility.     

Management of two competitive closed-loop supply chains

The two competitive closed-loop supply chains under our study include three members: two manufacturers and one retailer. In this paper, we focus on the management of the wholesale prices, the retail prices and the collecting prices for the two competitive closed-loop supply chains. On the assumption that the return rate of the used-products is an increasing function of the collecting price, we obtain the optimal wholesale prices, the optimal retail prices and the optimal collecting prices based on the following models: Model MMC (two manufacturers for collecting), Model MRC (manufacturer one and retailer for collecting) and Model RRC (retailer for collecting). Furthermore, by comparing the optimal results, we find that the retailer for collecting is the best channel for the two competitive closed-loop supply chains if the two manufacturers would like to transfer all of their cost savings from remanufacturing to the retailer. At the end, we illustrate a numerical example to analyse the impacts of the market share ratio and the substitute ratio of the two products on the optimal results.     

The impact of government subsidy and tax policy on the competitive decision-making of remanufacturing supply chains

In this paper, we consider a two-period competition model of a remanufacturing supply chain consisting of three members: a new product manufacturer, a recycler and a remanufacturer. The manufacturer supplies new products in the first period and the remanufacturer participates in the competition in the second period. We consider three scenarios in the second period: (1) there is no government subsidy in the competition; (2) there is only government subsidy in the competition; (3) there are both government subsidy and tax in the competition. First, we give the optimal decision-making of the manufacturer, the remanufacturer and the government in the three scenarios; second, we analyse changes in the decision-making of the manufacturer and remanufacturer in the three scenarios and compare their results. We analyse the effects of government subsidy and tax and their asymmetric use on manufacturers’ and remanufacturers’ decision-making variables and competitive performance. We also take consumer awareness of environmental protection into account and examine its impact on subjects’ decisions. Lastly, we operate a numerical example to show the results.     

Production disruption management for R/M integrated supply chain using system dynamics methodology

The impacts of production disruption in Remanufacturing/Manufacturing (R/M) integrated supply chain on the sales and the methods of production disruption management were studied. A system dynamics model for the R/M integrated supply chain with production disruption was improved by system dynamics methodology. The numerical examples were shown to illustrate the simulation results. The impacts of different recovery times of production disruption on the sales were presented. In order to mitigate the disruption risks and ensure the sales at the needed sales ratio, the methods for setting multi-echelon inventory levels before the occurring of the production disruption and the methods for making back-up plans after the production disruption occurs were given.     

两次订购机会下南水北调东线供应链优化

论文研究了准市场条件下南水北调东线供应链两次订购优化决策问题,在降水服从随机分布条件下,分别建立了需求与降水无关、需求与降水相关两种情形下的供应链报童优化模型,并分别考虑了一次订购机会和两次订购机会情形,最后进行了算例分析.研究表明:提高降水利用率,有助于减少系统抽水量,节约能源和水资源.两次订购机会的存在使得外地分销商初次订购的水资源量小于只有一次订购机会情形.两次订购机会情形下,二次订购批发价越高,则外地分销商初次订购的水资源量越大.     

有色金属国际价格波动的影响因素研究

有色金属作为国际上流通量较大的大宗产品,近年来其价格的频繁剧烈波动受到学界和业界的高度关注。从有色金属国际贸易的交易量数据看,中国、美国、巴西等20个国家是有色金属国际贸易的主体,贸易量较大的是铜、铝、铅、锌四种有色金属。本文选取了国际贸易中铜、铝、铅、锌四种有色金属的主要进口国和出口国,在已有研究的基础上,从供需、实体经济和货币金融三个维度选取变量,运用国家之间构成的面板数据,建立PVAR模型,分析四种有色金属价格的波动及其影响因素;通过铜、铝、铅、锌四种有色金属价格的脉冲响应函数,比较分析铜、铝、铅、锌四种有色金属价格波动影响因素的不同。研究发现:(1)铜、铝、铅、锌四种有色金属价格波动均受国内生产总值和货币供应量的影响,供需因素对有色金属价格产生长期的影响,货币供给量对有色金属价格的影响短暂而剧烈;(2)国内生产总值和贸易量与铜价的波动密切相关,货币供应量和消费者价格指数与铝、铅、锌价格的波动密切相关;(3)有色金属主要贸易国的各个变量对铜、铝、铅、锌价格波动的贡献程度不同。铜贸易国的贸易量对铜价波动的贡献度要高于其他有色金属贸易国家;铝、铅、锌贸易国家的金融因素对铝、铅、锌价格的影响要强于铜贸易国家。最后,本文从进口国角度对中国有色金属进口提出了建议:中国是铜、铝、铅、锌四种有色金属的最大进口国,应密切关注有色金属价格走势,建立健全有色金属价格的实时监测和预警机制,加快对有色金属价格波动的反应速度,利用金融手段避险趋利。     

Eco-design practices towards sustainable supply chain management: interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach

Due to increasing emphasis on sustainable practices, many organisations have attempted to leverage their supply chain performance towards balancing triple bottom line dimensions (economic, environmental and social perspectives). This paper, therefore, determines the priorities of sustainable supply chain management focusing on eco-design. Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) and Matriced’ Impacts Croise’s Multiplication Appliquée a UN Classement (MIMAC) are used to identify the hierarchical structure of the relationships among eco-design dimensions, and to analyse characteristics power of each dimension on supporting eco-design practices. The relationships and characteristics power of each dimension are used to determine indicators that are effective in enhancement of eco-design practice, evaluated through sustainable supply chain performance. Results indicate that product deployment is an important approach for improving eco-design practice towards sustainable supply chain management. This emphasises the purpose and impact of eco-design on sequential supply chain activities at deployment phase. Further research is required to make an overall assessment of eco-design practices across range of manufacturing industries, given the current research is based on inputs from a limited number of experts of selected organisations.     

Developing a fuzzy linear programming model for locating recovery facility in a closed loop supply chain

In this research a closed loop supply chain is designed which incorporates reverse logistics and forward logistic system simultaneously. In the design of reverse logistic system, recovery options are embedded in traditional supply chain for treating returned products. The recovery system includes collection centres, remanufacturing plants and disposal centres. Since the product return is supply driven, there is an uncertainty about it. In the proposed configuration for closed loop supply chain, the optimised configuration for supply chain in terms of locating recovery plants is developed. Accordingly, a fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model develops to deal with the uncertainty of returning products by customers. A general-purpose solver (LINGO 8.0) and a Meta heuristic approach (genetics algorithm) are implemented to solve the proposed model. The answers are compared by defining indexes and then the optimal answer, configuration and variables are identified. This solution will suggest a new design of supply chain network in which waste of materials is minimised and the new raw materials are necessary only when the used products may not be recovered by recovery options.     

A conceptual framework for Jatropha seed yield estimation using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) modelling

Jatropha seed yield prediction is one of the most important influencing factors for developing a supply chain modelling of Jatropha seed. The oil from this Jatropha seed is used to blend with diesel to obtain biofuel (Hiromi, Yamamoto, Junichi Fujino, and Kenji Yamaji. 2001. “Evaluation of Bioenergy Potential with a Multi-regional Global-Land-Use-and-Energy Model.” Biomass and Bioenergy 21: 185–203). The Jatropha plant is easy to cultivate and produces high yield if properly maintained. The main focus of this study is to utilize uncultivable wastelands for cultivating Jatropha seeds. As suggested by Liu et al. (Liu, Xiaohong, David B. Grant, Alan C. McKinnon, and Yuanhua Feng. 2010. “An Empirical Examination of the Contribution of Capabilities to the Competitiveness of Logistics Service Providers: A Perspective from China.” International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 40 (10): 847–866), the effectiveness of prediction affects the functional characteristics of a supply chain network design. The yield prediction of Jatropha seeds has two important roles which include (i) the identification of external parameters that affects the yield and (ii) the detection of internal attributes that changes the growth characteristics of the Jatropha plant. The development of the fuzzy inference system is characterized by a large number of input variables (Dobrila Petrovic. 2001. International Journal of Production Economics 71: 429–438). A Matlab programming software was used to integrate an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system. This approach gave the numerical as well as graphical output that was used to interpret the final result. The root mean square error values were identified for the given inputs which were then compared with the trained input variables to select the best input among the given alternative variables.     

Issues in reverse supply chain,part III: classification and simple analysis

Due to growing environmental concern and increasing awareness among customers, reverse supply chain (RSC) has received much attention among researchers and practitioners. Therefore it is necessary to provide a comprehensive list of references for other researchers (or readers), who are interested in RSC research to help stimulate further interest. In this paper, we present classification schemes and a simple analysis for the reverse supply chain. This literature review was mainly based on journal articles but also included web based documents, conference materials, working papers, etc. A total of 543 articles were reviewed, of which 506 were published between 1967 and 2008 from 100 reputed international journals. Based on the literature review carried out and the nature of research observed in RSC, we have introduced two classification schemes to systematically organise the published articles. The first classification scheme is based on the content related issues on RSC and the second one is based on the solution methodology followed by the researchers. These classification schemes indicate that there is considerable research potential for RSC. The results also show that there is strong growth in RSC research.     

The application of system dynamics in different practices of a waste management system

The continuous increase in waste generation warrants global management of waste to reduce the adverse economic, social, and environmental impact of waste while achieving goals for sustainability. The complexity of waste management systems due to different waste management practices renders such systems difficult to analyze. System dynamics (SD) approach aids in conceptualizing and analyzing the structure, interactions, and mode of behavior of the complex systems. The impact of the underlying components can therefore be assessed in an integrated way while the impact of possible policies on the system can be studied to implement appropriate decisions. This review summarizes various applications of SD pertinent to the waste management practices in different countries. Practices may include waste generation, reduction, reuse/recovery, recycling, and disposal. Each study supports regional-demanding targets in environmental, social, and economic scopes such as expanding landfill life span, implementing proper disposal fee, global warming mitigation, energy generation/saving, etc. The interacting variables in the WMS are specifically determined based on the defined problem, ultimate goal, and the type of waste. Generally, population and gross domestic product can increase the waste generation. An increase in waste reduction, source separation, and recycling rate could decrease the environmental impact, but it is not necessarily profitable from an economic perspective. Incentives to separate waste and knowledge about waste management are variables that always have a positive impact on the entire system.

     

Fundamental issues and solutions in the design of China's ETS pilots: Allowance allocation,price mechanism and state-owned key enterprises

This paper analyzes the three main fundamental issues in the design of China’s ETS pilots,including allowance allocation,price mechanism and state-owned key enterprises,and proposed suggested solutions.For the issue of allowance allocation,we suggest that the gradual hybrid mode could be applied at the beginning,which starts with mainly free allocation and then increases auction ratio gradually.And grandfathering is a suitable method of free allocation.For the issue of price mechanism,we suggest a price floating zone with open market operation to reduce the uncertainty of prices.For the issue of state-owned key enterprises,we suggest a good coordination with SASAC,defining the state-owned property right and supervision right when state-owned key enterprises are involved into the carbon market,and the local government can set rules of allocation and transaction to limit their potential market power.     

Supplier evaluation and selection for sustainable supply chain management under uncertainty conditions

Abstract

With the global increasing importance of sustainable development, sustainable supply chain has gained value among both researchers and industrialists in the last decade. Nowadays, industries are facing pressure from government legislation and the global competition in addition to the pressure from their clients to carry out environmentally – conscious actions. Thus, organisations are required to implement actions to enhance their level of both environmental and economic performances. Traditionally, organisations use criteria such as cost, quality and on-time delivery to evaluate their suppliers’ performance. Although there have been numerous studies on the common criteria for these assessments, very few studies have taken sustainable criteria into consideration. Thereupon, this study tries to put forward a complete model for selection and evaluation of the suppliers, considering three criteria for sustainability, thus using the fuzzy group graph theory and matrix approach. It is an innovative approach based on fuzzy logic and group decision-making, which aims to treat lack of certainty in selection and evaluation of suppliers. We will also discuss a case study in the industry to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach.     

中国天然气价格管制的碳排放及经济影响——基于非完全竞争CGE模型的模拟研究

中国天然气产业的最大特点是垄断程度较强,政府对天然气产业的各个环节均存在价格管制。鉴于此,本文通过构建CGE模型以期全面量化分析政府对天然气产业价格管制政策变动产生的影响,从而为政府制定决策提供可供借鉴的依据。与以往的研究不同,本文构建的静态CGE模型,不仅刻画了天然气产业非完全竞争的市场结构还刻画了政府对天然气产业的价格管制行为。运用该模型,本文分别从消费侧以及供应侧的角度模拟了政府对天然气产业价格管制政策变动对我国碳排放及经济的影响,并且从经济结构以及能源消费结构的角度进一步分析了天然气价格管制政策变动的二氧化碳排放机制。模拟结果表明:1消费侧价格管制。提高天然气价格能够通过产业结构调整以及能源消费结构调整降低经济主体对天然气的消费进而降低二氧化碳的排放,同时由于天然气市场规模的缩小导致天然气产业的超额利润率有所下降。提高天然气价格提高了居民消费价格指数(CPI),降低了实际GDP以及居民福利水平。降低天然气价格对二氧化碳排放的影响、传导机制以及经济影响与提高天然气价格产生的影响类似,但是作用效果基本上相反。2供应侧价格管制。取消天然气供应侧价格管制能够通过优化要素配置促进实际GDP的增长、居民福利水平的改善并且降低居民消费价格指数(CPI),在收入效应的作用下不仅提高了经济主体对天然气的消费还提高了对能源总量的消费,从而增加了二氧化碳排放,同时由于天然气市场规模的扩大促进了天然气产业超额利润率的增长。因此,应该逐渐建立完善的天然气价格管理体制,确保天然气资源的有效利用;对天然气产业超额利润率进行管控,避免产生较大的负面收入分配效应;逐步取消天然气供应侧的价格管制,打破行政垄断,引入市场竞争机制,推动天然气产业的市场化进程。     

Minimising transportation in manufacturing supply chains

The movement of raw material, work-parts and bought-out components is an essential aspect of modern-day global manufacturing systems. It is also an expensive, non-value adding and pollution-generating activity with many undesirable consequences. These manifest themselves not only in terms of the immediate cost of transportation between suppliers, manufacturers and customers but also in the consequential effect this movement has on human health and the environment. Accordingly, modern manufacturing supply chains should be designed with great care to minimise the amount of movement required both internally within a manufacturing facility's production system and externally between the supplier, manufacturer and customer. In so doing, a good supply chain design minimises the costs associated with the transportation of goods along with the effect this has on the environment. In complex supply chains, however, minimising overall transportation movement for large sets of components is no easy task. Consequently, the contribution contained in this paper seeks to outline a technique whereby an initial supply chain design solution which does so can be identified. The method is explained in the first instance via a straightforward material movement example. The resulting solution is subsequently modified to indicate its application in the context of temporal supply chain design. By utilising this approach, the article emphasises the importance of obtaining a solution that minimises transportation movement within the supply chain together with the practical effects of doing so on flexibility, cost and environmental pollution. In addition, the work required for further development of this technique is outlined and finally suitable conclusions are drawn.