Innovation is increasingly considered as an enabler of business competitive advantage. More and more organizations focus on satisfying their consumer s demand of innovative and qualitative products and services by applying both technology-supported and non technology-supported innovative methods...

The complexibility of distribution systems is augmented by various trends: the globalization of the business of most manufacturers, the increasing dynamics of the customer demands and the reverse flows within closed-loop systems. The need for "advanced" planning methods, based on quantitative...