Production planning for closed-loop supply chains with product recovery and reuse: an analytical approach

We present an analytical approach towards production planning and control for closed-loop supply chains with product recovery and reuse. This approach consists of a mathematical programming model, RAPP (Remanufacturing Aggregate Production Planning), for aggregate production planning and control. The model is designed to aid operational decision-makers in an intermediate to long-range planning environment and also may serve as a focal point for developing formal systems for production planning, inventory control, and other tactical decision-making. Key decisions include the number of units of core type with a nominal quality level that is disassembled, disposed, remanufactured and acquired in a given time period. Other decisions pertain to the inventory of modules and cores that remain at the end of a given time period. We use data from a company that remanufactures mobile telephones to validate our mathematical programming model. Managerial implications of such a closed-loop model as well as future research and conclusions are provided at the end.