Reverse Supply Chain Network with Return Products Quality Consideration

Reverse logistics activities can be implemented as an agile solution in response to the shortage in production capacity of certain products during the pandemic and a convenient alternative to the raw materials extraction in post pandemic course. However, collecting and inspecting returned products for different reverse logistics activities is a complex process due to the different conditions in which the products has been kept. We designed a reverse supply chain network with competing collection centers, 3rd party remanufacturers, and recyclers to define the minimum quality of return products based on customer demands in different situations. The equilibrium condition is governed using a variational inequality model. We applied the modified projection method to solve the model. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors.

Automated summary

Reverse logistics activities serve as an agile solution for addressing production capacity shortages during the pandemic and as a convenient alternative to raw materials extraction in the post-pandemic era. However, the complexity of collecting and inspecting returned products arises from varying storage conditions. To address this, we propose a reverse supply chain network with competing collection centers, 3rd party remanufacturers, and recyclers, which defines minimum quality requirements based on customer demands in different situations.