Title: A robust optimisation model for remanufacturing network design problem with one-way substitution

Authors: Alireza Ghafarimoghadam; Atefeh Karimi; Mohammad Mousazadeh; Mir Saman Pishvaee

Addresses: School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran ' School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran ' College of Engineering, School of Industrial Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran ' School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: Economic exploitation of limited resources, satisfaction of customer's demands as well as the concerns about environmental impact form a broad awareness about designing and planning of closed-loop supply chain networks. Uncertainty is considered as one of the most important characteristics of remanufacturing networks, especially when strategic decisions are taken into account. In this study, a robust optimisation approach for remanufacturing closed loop network design (RCLND) problem with one-way substitution and uncertain data is proposed. First, a deterministic mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed and thereafter the robust counterpart of the proposed model is elaborated based on the robust programming methods. Finally, the efficiency and robustness of the solutions obtained from the robust optimisation model is investigated through numerical analysis.

Keywords: closed-loop supply chains; supply networks; remanufacturing; robust optimisation; one-way substitution; network design; supply chain management; SCM; mixed-integer linear programming; MILP; uncertainty.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2016.077785

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2016 Vol.24 No.4, pp.484 - 503

Received: 02 Dec 2014
Accepted: 11 Jan 2015
Published online: 15 Jul 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article