As a concern with manufacturing industries, circular economy (CE) practices—often labeled “circular manufacturing (CM)”—are industrial tasks through which several circular economy principles have ...been integrated. Among these circular manufacturing strategies, “3R” (recycle, refurbish/remanufacture, and reuse/redistribute) is the key strategy that assists the manufacturing industry with closing the loop for sustainability. An effective inclusion and management of 3R lead a firm to a greater likelihood of successfully integrating CE and CM. In recent years, remanufacturing has gained greater prominence, especially with the emergence of technology, including cyber‐physical systems. These technologies assist the remanufacturing firm with efficient take‐back systems through tracking. However, data transferred through these technologies among value chain partners in remanufacturing are not reliable. Due to the lack of trust and transparency, value chain partners are hesitant to participate in remanufacturing supply chains. To address the limitation of technologies in remanufacturing, blockchain has been introduced to secure the data. Despite the advantages of blockchain technology, practitioners face difficulties in integrating these blockchain technologies into the remanufacturing context. Several earlier studies addressed the challenges of implementing blockchain, but no earlier studies have specifically examined remanufacturing industries, which are entirely different from forward supply chain industries. Concerning the fact, this study identifies the barriers that exist with the implementation of blockchain technology in the application of the remanufacturing sector. A framework has been proposed and validated in a Danish automotive parts remanufacturing company. Multi‐criteria decision‐making method has been used to identify the effective and most influential barriers among common barriers. Results reveal that “scaling of technology” (B6) is the key barrier of BCT implementation in remanufacturing context. This study concludes with useful discussions based on the results along with the recommendations to eradicate those influential barriers and their respective impacts on SDGs (SDG4, SDG8, SDG9, and SDG17). Finally, this study sheds light on future enhancements on the integration of blockchain technology in remanufacturing to reap several benefits of circular manufacturing.
Today, the task of developing reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chains in both developed and developing industries is accepted as a vital need in our societies. The growing interest in reverse ...issues can be clearly seen in the large number of publications, especially the ones that consider case studies in various industries. Based on its missions, Journal of Cleaner Production (JCP) is one of the most active journals in this field. Therefore, a comprehensive review is undertaken of the publications in the field of reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chains; the selection process is based on the articles accepted online in the Journal of Cleaner Production. The aim of this paper is to review, categorize, and evaluate the related papers in order to provide a systematic view of past work and an appropriate vision for future study. A total of 83 accepted online papers up to 31 December 2014 have been selected and reviewed. The selected papers are then analyzed based on their content and the appropriate developed categories. The results clarify the main trends in reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chain subjects for the Journal of Cleaner Production and the evaluations reveal some suggested opportunities for new directions of research for the journal.
This study analyses the green channel coordination problem in a two-echelon supply chain where demand is a function of the selling price and the product's green quality. The retailer decides on the ...selling price while the manufacturer regulates the green quality of the product. To initiate the channel coordination and to establish a win-win outcome for both parties, a hybrid of 'greening cost sharing' and 'revenue sharing' contract (HGRS) is developed. This study contributes to the literature by providing an analytical approach to address the channel coordination and pricing issues in a green supply chain under the consumer environmental awareness while the manufacturer has the ability of enhancing, with investments, the product's green quality. Our study reveals that: (a) the proposed HGRS contract is capable of achieving channel coordination while both supply chain members gain more profit than in decentralised decision making, (b) the new suggested contract enhances the product's green quality, reduces the selling price, and stimulates the market demand, and (c) HGRS contract results in more satisfied customers (by offering low prices) as well as more sustainable operations (by increasing greenness level) at the same time.
•Reviewed 382 scientific papers on reverse logistics and closed loop supply chain.•Content analysis is employed to ensure the scientific rigor of this review.•Gaps of related research is identified ...and future research opportunities are identified.
Based on environmental, legal, social, and economic factors, reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chain issues have attracted attention among both academia and practitioners. This attention is evident by the vast number of publications in scientific journals which have been published in recent years. Hence, a comprehensive literature review of recent and state-of-the-art papers is vital to draw a framework of the past, and to shed light on future directions. The aim of this paper is to review recently published papers in reverse logistic and closed-loop supply chain in scientific journals. A total of 382 papers published between January 2007 and March 2013 are selected and reviewed. The papers are then analyzed and categorized to construct a useful foundation of past research. Finally, gaps in the literature are identified to clarify and to suggest future research opportunities.
ABSTRACT
We address the dynamic design of supply chain networks in which the moments of demand distribution function are uncertain and facilities’ availability is stochastic because of possible ...disruptions. To incorporate the existing stochasticity in our dynamic problem, we develop a multi‐stage stochastic program to specify the optimal location, capacity, inventory, and allocation decisions. Further, a data‐driven rolling horizon approach is developed to use observations of the random parameters in the stochastic optimization problem. In contrast to traditional stochastic programming approaches that are valid only for a limited number of scenarios, the rolling horizon approach makes the determined decisions by the stochastic program implementable in practice and evaluates them. The stochastic program is presented as a quadratic conic optimization, and to generate an efficient scenario tree, a forward scenario tree construction technique is employed. An extensive numerical study is carried out to investigate the applicability of the presented model and rolling horizon procedure, the efficiency of risk‐measurement policies, and the performance of the scenario tree construction technique. Several key practical and managerial insights related to the dynamic supply chain network design under uncertainty are gained based on the computational results.
•Studies on supply chain network design under uncertainty are reviewed.•Uncertain decision-making environments and uncertainty sources are categorized.•The studies are investigated in terms of supply ...chain management and optimization aspects.•Literature's gap and a list of future research directions are highlighted.
Supply chain network design (SCND) is one of the most crucial planning problems in supply chain management (SCM). Nowadays, design decisions should be viable enough to function well under complex and uncertain business environments for many years or decades. Therefore, it is essential to make these decisions in the presence of uncertainty, as over the last two decades, a large number of relevant publications have emphasized its importance. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of studies in the fields of SCND and reverse logistics network design under uncertainty. The paper is organized in two main parts to investigate the basic features of these studies. In the first part, planning decisions, network structure, paradigms and aspects related to SCM are discussed. In the second part, existing optimization techniques for dealing with uncertainty such as recourse-based stochastic programming, risk-averse stochastic programming, robust optimization, and fuzzy mathematical programming are explored in terms of mathematical modeling and solution approaches. Finally, the drawbacks and missing aspects of the related literature are highlighted and a list of potential issues for future research directions is recommended.
The emergence of stricter environmental regulations and the growing environmental consciousness of customers have forced industries to start thinking about environmental operations management with ...the help of reverse logistics application. In this process, influential factors such as drivers and barriers have to be examined, and stakeholders' different perspectives on RL implementation and development should also be considered. This paper presents a multi-perspective framework for reverse logistics implementation using the lens of stakeholder theory. The multiple stakeholders' perspective framework was developed based upon a structured literature review process. Fifty-four papers concerning these topical areas were thoroughly assessed and classified according to their structural dimensions and analytical categories. Two extensive lists of 37 drivers and 36 barriers, categorized and analyzed against the dimensions and categories, served as a basis for the development of the referred framework. Thereby, the overall contribution of this work proposes an understanding of the factors required for employing reverse logistics from multiple perspectives, including those of the company, society, government, and customer. Additionally, each perspective is discussed separately with the aid of previous works developed in the field. Most of the encountered barriers are placed in the firm's perspective; however, these barriers may be an effect from outside impediments. On the drivers' side, the factors must be acknowledged so managers can prepare for changes by exploring these positive influential factors. A consideration of the influential factors from multiple perspectives is critical for creating a comprehensive industry strategy to successfully implement product return.
•Developed a practical decision support system for COVID-19 healthcare supply chain.•Grouped people and provided an independent classification method for each group.•Evaluated the efficiency of the ...proposed approach using real-world data.
The disasters caused by epidemic outbreaks is different from other disasters due to two specific features: their long-term disruption and their increasing propagation. Not controlling such disasters brings about severe disruptions in the supply chains and communities and, thereby, irreparable losses will come into play. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is one of these disasters that has caused severe disruptions across the world and in many supply chains, particularly in the healthcare supply chain. Therefore, this paper, for the first time, develops a practical decision support system based on physicians' knowledge and fuzzy inference system (FIS) in order to help with the demand management in the healthcare supply chain, to reduce stress in the community, to break down the COVID-19 propagation chain, and, generally, to mitigate the epidemic outbreaks for healthcare supply chain disruptions. This approach first divides community residents into four groups based on the risk level of their immune system (namely, very sensitive, sensitive, slightly sensitive, and normal) and by two indicators of age and pre-existing diseases (such as diabetes, heart problems, or high blood pressure). Then, these individuals are classified and are required to observe the regulations of their class. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed approach was measured in the real world using the information from four users and the results showed the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed approach.
The increasingly unprecedented incidents (e.g. COVID-19) have made the contemporary supply chains more vulnerable to divergent risks and disruptions. Encouragingly, the recent trend of digital ...transformation, adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies (I4Ts), could significantly improve business processes extenuating potential risks and disruptions. Yet, there is a paucity of quantitative studies on the risk or disruption mitigation and I4Ts, specifically on agri-food industry. Using a sample of 302 firms from the Australian agri-food supply chains, we explore if the firms that adopt I4Ts experience the different impact of operational risks (supply-demand mismatch, financial and transportation) compared to others. The findings unveil that albeit such risks can significantly undermine firm performance, their negative effect is non-significant for the firms that adopt I4Ts compared to those that do not adopt. We thus suggest digital transformation as an effective way to extenuate operational risks and disruptions amid unanticipated events like COVID-19. Numerous contributions to theory and practice, plus United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (1 & 2) have been discussed.
Today, tracking the growing interest in closed-loop supply chain shown by both practitioners and academia is easily possible. There are many factors, which transform closed-loop supply chain issues ...into a unique and vital subject in supply chain management, such as environmental legislation, customer awareness, and the economical motivations of the organizations. However, designing and planning a closed-loop supply chain is an NP-hard problem, which makes it difficult to achieve acceptable results in a reasonable time. In this paper, we try to cope with this problem by proposing a new and effective solution methodology. On the other hand, this research considers improving closed-loop supply chain network optimization processes through dealing with mathematical programming tools; developing a deterministic multi-product, multi-echelon, multi-period model; and finally presenting an appropriate methodology to solve various sizes of instances. Both design and planning decision variables (location and allocation) are considered in the proposed network. Besides, in order to have a reliable performance evaluation process, large-scale instances are regarded in computational analysis. Two popular meta-heuristic algorithms are considered to develop a new elevated hybrid algorithm: the genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). Analyzing the above-mentioned algorithms’ strengths and weaknesses leads us to attempt to improve the GA using some aspects of PSO. Therefore, a new hybrid algorithm is proposed and a complete validation process is undertaken using CPLEX and MATLAB software. In small instances, the global optimum points of CPLEX for the proposed hybrid algorithm are compared to genetic algorithm, and particle swarm optimization. Then, in small, mid, and large-size instances, performances of the proposed meta-heuristics are analyzed and evaluated. Finally, a case study involving an Iranian hospital furniture manufacturer is used to evaluate the proposed solution approach. The results reveal the superiority of the proposed hybrid algorithm when compared to the GA and PSO.
PDF
