Ever more companies are recognizing the benefits of closed-loop supply chains that integrate product returns into business operations. IBM has been among the pioneers seeking to unlock the value dormant in these resources. We report on a project exploiting product returns as a source of spare...

Reverse logistics (RL) refers to a set of programs or competencies aimed at moving products in the reverse direction in the supply chain (i.e., from consumer to producer). It entails more than the mere re-use of containers and the recycling of packaging materials. It is the process of moving a...

Product recovery is increasingly being recognised with the awareness of environment protection and sustainable development. In the past, many researchers paid more attention to reverse logistics only. In e-commerce, a noticeable ratio of product enters the reverse supply chain. It is urgent to...

Ever more companies are recognizing the benefits of closed-loop supply chains that integrate product returns into business operations. IBM has been among the pioneers seeking to unlock the value dormant in these resources. We report on a project exploiting product returns as a source of spare...

Die deutsche Entsorgungswirtschaft entwickelt sich immer mehr in Richtung einer Kreislaufwirtschaft weiter, denn die Verwertung von Abfällen und die Bereitstellung von Sekundärrohstoffen rückt immer mehr in den Mittelpunkt. Zwar hat diese Bewegung im Rezessionsjahr 2009 einen Rückschlag...

Stetig wachsende Mengen an Siedlungsabfällen und die damit verbundenen Umweltprobleme sind ein zentrales Thema in der von Politikern und Abfallexperten geführten internationalen Diskussion. Der Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über die aktuellen ökonomischen Instrumente zum Abfallmanagement,...

Eines der Hauptziele der EU-Roadmap für ein ressourcenschonendes Europa besteht darin, bis zum Jahr 2020 aus Abfällen wieder Rohstoffe zu machen. Von den in der Europäischen Union im Jahr 2012 angefallenen etwa 2,5 Mrd. Tonnen Abfall waren rund 10% Siedlungsabfälle. Der Beitrag gibt einen...

The role of product architecture modularity is commonly in increasing product reusability and minimizing waste. This paper designs a decision support system to determine optimal product architecture modularity in closed loop supply chains. The objective is to investigate if remanufacturing and...

The role of product architecture modularity is commonly in increasing product reusability and minimizing waste. This paper designs a decision support system to determine optimal product architecture modularity in closed loop supply chains. The objective is to investigate if remanufacturing and...

We consider the production/inventory control for a recoverable system with stochastic demand and returns where stock is replenished by manufacturing new items or remanufacturing returned items. The optimal control policy found by solving a Markov decision process (MDP) for a given problem...