Network design for reverse logistics

Collection and recycling of product returns is gaining interest in business and research worldwide. Growing green concerns and advancement of green supply chain management (GrSCM) concepts and practices make it all the more relevant. Inputs from literature and informal interviews with 84 stakeholders are used to develop a conceptual model for simultaneous location–allocation of facilities for a cost effective and efficient reverse logistics (RL) network. We cover costs and operations across a wide domain and our proposed RL network consists of collection centers and two types of rework facilities set up by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or their consortia for a few categories of product returns under various strategic, operational and customer service constraints in the Indian context.     

Issues in end-of-life product recovery and reverse logistics

There is a fundamental shift in waste management responsibility from the private waste management industry and local governments towards manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. In recent years the responsibility of manufacturers has been extended to cover the entire life of certain products. This also includes responsibility for the products safe disposal. As the enforcement of environmental legislation becomes more stringent and an increasing number of customers are demanding take-back of their old products, companies are beginning to focus on possible distribution channels for the return of their products i.e. reverse logistics. The aim of this paper is to examine the emerging issues in reverse logistics, in particular the information requirements for reverse logistics within the Extended Enterprise. A study of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) will illustrate the specific information flow between the key players within the automotive industry. This paper addresses the initial development of possible distribution channels, their key operational decisions and supporting information systems for the recycling of end of life products.     

逆向供应链的非合作代价分析

为衡量基于价格合同的逆向供应链运作效率,将非合作代价(PoA)概念引入逆向供应链.考虑废旧产品供应的不确定性,分析了推式和拉式两种结构的两级和多级逆向供应链在分散决策时效率损失的上界.研究表明,逆向供应链并非正向供应链的简单逆过程,这是由于逆向供应链的不确定性主要来自上游端,从而需要考虑废旧产品供应不足导致的缺货风险;推式与拉式两种结构下具有一致的PoA,即分散决策下的效率损失与谁来承担风险无关.此外,逆向供应链级数的递增会加剧供应链效率损失,但逆向供应链级数一定时PoA趋于定值.     

逆向供应链的非合作代价分析

小微企业不仅是推动中国经济发展的重要力量,也对中国民生具有重要意义。然而,目前中国大部分小微企业生存状况并不乐观,这一现实矛盾引发了大量学者的研究兴趣。但已有关于新创小微企业营销绩效的研究被割裂从属为创业研究和营销研究两个领域,一方面,创业研究者过多地强调新创小微企业的新创弱性,忽视了企业因为新创可能具有的优势特征对企业绩效的积极影响;另一方面,新创小微企业因其特殊的组织结构和管理方式导致以成熟大中型企业为研究对象的传统营销理论部分失灵。因此,缺乏专门针对新创小微企业营销绩效的系统研究。 从顾客合法性感知视角出发,整合创业领域的新创企业特征理论和营销领域的市场导向理论,以工具-象征框架为理论框架,构建新创小微企业营销绩效影响因素的系统模型。利用中国4个城市的629家新创小微企业的问卷调查数据,采用结构方程模型方法开展实证检验。研究结果表明,充分利用新创企业资产和实施市场导向是新创小微企业提升营销绩效的两种有效途径。新创企业资产对新创小微企业意义尤其重大,它不仅对新创小微企业营销绩效具有显著的直接影响,还通过提升顾客关于企业的适应合法性感知给新创小微企业营销绩效带来积极影响;竞争导向对新创小微企业的营销绩效具有直接积极影响,也以顾客的适应合法性感知为部分中介对营销绩效产生间接影响;顾客导向对顾客的创新合法性认知有积极作用,但顾客导向和顾客的创新合法性认知对新创小微企业的营销绩效没有显著影响。 关注顾客合法性感知对新创小微企业的重要意义,从顾客感知视角提供了新创小微企业战略选择的方向,研究结果对于新创小微企业改善和提升营销绩效实践提供了新的视角和方向。     

A model for reverse logistics entry by third-party providers

Reverse logistics has become an important entity in the US economy. Nonetheless, many companies are not capable of or are unwilling to enter the reverse logistics market. Such reluctance appears to be attributed to lack of knowledge of reverse logistics. This paper reviews current industry practices in reverse logistics. Specifically, we examine the issues and processes that an organization has to address to engage in the reverse logistics business. A reverse logistics decision-making model is developed to guide the process of examining the feasibility of implementing reverse logistics in third-party providers such as transportation companies. The purpose of this model is to help those companies who would like to pursue reverse logistics as a new market. A field study was conducted with a larger US transportation company to validate the proposed model.     

Halal value creation: its role in adding value and enabling logistics service

Abstract

The need to implement halal value creation into logistics and supply chains has been recognised recently. Yet, there is a lack of efforts to leverage resources and capabilities in contributing to the halal value creation for competitive advantage and subsequently firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to understand the halal value creation of current practices and its role in adding value and enabling logistics service. A structure interview of seven third-party logistics (3PL) providers is conducted to provide more precise perception about works by viewing with the lens prescribed by practitioners rather than reviews. The results draw the novel practices of halal value creation in logistics, that have not been revealed and further identifies five emerging resources of ‘resource-based halal logistics’. These create innovation capability (ability to launch successful halal goods/services) in logistics services, which are transformed into benefits of profits for 3PLs and value for customers.     

An integrated closed-loop product lifecycle management approach for reverse logistics design

Nowadays, reverse logistics is gaining importance for many companies in different industries. This importance is rooted in the fact that it generates profit and decreases the environmental impacts of products. Even though the decrease of environmental impacts is an indispensable requisite, reverse logistics design is only driven by cost indicators. The main reason behind this high cost is access to environmental information is difficult and is directly linked to data all along the lifecycle of the product. This paper presents a method by which reverse logistics design integrates environmental impacts based on the management of closed-loop product lifecycle. This method is divided into two processes: from beginning of life to end of life and from end of life to beginning of life. The first process integrates product data in order to calculate environmental impacts of the potential reverse logistics networks, whereas the second process selects the most appropriate reverse logistics network before optimising the product based on this particular network. The proposition is illustrated by a case study on a recycled aluminium automotive part.     

基于第3方逆向物流的闭环供应链模型及应用

在价格敏感的随机需求量与回收努力敏感的随机回收量条件下,建立了基于第3方逆向物流服务提供商(3PRLP)从事物料回收的多级闭环供应链模型.设计了制造商与第3方之间的目标奖惩合同,讨论了分散闭环供应链系统中制造商为主方、销售商和第3方为从方的一主多从 Stackelberg 对策及集成闭环供应链的联合优化策略,并从供应链合同协调的角度进行了对比分析.最后结合上海宝钢公司废钢回收的实际运作情况进行了仿真计算与分析.     

A multicriteria decision making model for reverse logistics using analytical hierarchy process

Product recovery activities such as recycling, refurbishing and direct reuse are becoming integral to manufacturing supply chains. This study presents a multicriteria decision making model for reverse logistics using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The AHP model evaluates a hierarchy of criteria and subcriteria, including costs and business relations, for critical decisions regarding network design. Using sensitivity analysis with AHP, the work provides insights into the preference ordering among eight alternative network configurations. For instance, the choice of test sites is largely dependent on the potential for cost savings on testing procedures and transportation of scrap, and this decision is not sensitive to the importance of business relations. By contrast, the choice of collection sites is largely determined by the relative importance of business relations considerations vs. cost considerations. As well, the processing location decision favors a third-party reprocessor if there is little need to protect proprietary product knowledge and cost savings is very important. The model is demonstrated using three case studies of real-world applications.     

努力水平影响损耗的低值易逝品TPL协调合同

对于一类低值易逝品,损耗与物流服务价格是影响这类产品订购与销售价格决策的重要影响因素。主要研究了第3方物流服务提供商的努力水平会影响到客户企业产品的数量和质量损耗情形下的物流外包渠道优化与协调问题。通过建立动态博弈模型,分析了传统交易价格合同下双方的决策行为,结果表明双方的决策冲突会导致产品订购量和销售价格的扭曲,但不存在努力水平的扭曲,进而会导致次优渠道绩效。为了解决这一问题,设计了收入共享与努力成本共担合同,并论证了在一定条件下这一合同可以实现渠道协调、双方共赢。最后,相应的算例表明努力水平影响产品质量和数量损耗的程度会对双方、集中式系统的决策行为和绩效产生重要的影响。     

A genetic algorithm approach to developing the multi-echelon reverse logistics network for product returns

Traditionally, product returns have been viewed as an unavoidable cost of doing business, forfeiting any chance of cost savings. As cost pressures continue to mount in this era of economic downturns, a growing number of firms have begun to explore the possibility of managing product returns in a more cost-efficient manner. However, few studies have addressed the problem of determining the number and location of centralized return centers (i.e., reverse consolidation points) where returned products from retailers or end-customers were collected, sorted, and consolidated into a large shipment destined for manufacturers’ or distributors’ repair facilities. To fill the void in such a line of research, this paper proposes a nonlinear mixed-integer programming model and a genetic algorithm that can solve the reverse logistics problem involving product returns. The usefulness of the proposed model and algorithm was validated by its application to an illustrative example dealing with products returned from online sales.     

Planning a sustainable reverse logistics system: Balancing costs with environmental and social concerns

The present work aims to support tactical and operational planning decisions of reverse logistics systems while considering economic, environmental and social objectives. In the literature, when addressing such systems economic aspects have been often used, while environmental concerns have emerged only recently. The social component is the one less studied and rarely the combination of the three concerns has been analyzed. This work considers the three objectives and was motivated by the challenge of supporting decision makers when managing a real case study of a recyclable waste collection system, where strategic decisions on the number and location of depots, vehicles and containers were taken beforehand. Tactical and operational decisions are studied involving the establishment of service areas for each depot and the definition and scheduling of collection routes for each vehicle. Such decisions should represent a compromise solution between the three objectives translating a sustainable reverse logistics plan. The problem is modeled as a multi-objective, multi-depot periodic vehicle routing problem with inter-depot routes. A mathematical formulation and a solution approach are proposed. An approximation to the Pareto front is obtained for the case study and the trade-offs between the objectives are discussed. A balanced solution is proposed.     

Supply chain coordination with reverse logistics: A vendor/recycler-buyer synchronized cycles model

In this paper, we develop a synchronized cycles vendor-buyer coordination model where the single vendor is both a producer and recycler/remanufacturer, and there are multiple buyers. This model is an extension of the general single-vendor multi-buyer synchronization model to incorporate reverse logistics, and it includes costs associated with production, remanufacturing, transportation and holding inventory. The reverse logistics in the model is achieved by having the vendor pick up returned products from the buyers and then reprocess them for resale. Similar to the original synchronization model, the synchronization of our model is attained by coordinating the vendor's production cycle with both new products’ delivery cycles for transportation from the vendor to the buyers and used products’ pick-up cycles for transportation from the buyers to the vendor/recycler. A genetic algorithm is used for solving the problem. Numerical results show the benefits from this new synchronized cycles model compared to independent optimization with reverse logistics. Our findings further show that under low levels of returning products, the synchronized cycles coordination model with reverse logistics can reduce total system costs when compared with the independent optimization model without reverse logistics. Examples also show how the model with reverse logistics can perform economically better than the model without reverse logistics.     

Partner selection for reverse logistics centres in green supply chains: a fuzzy artificial immune optimisation approach

The design of reverse logistics networks has now emerged as a major issue for manufacturers, not only in developed countries where legislation and societal pressures are strong, but also in developing countries where the adoption of reverse logistics practices may offer a competitive advantage. This paper presents a new model for partner selection for reverse logistic centres in green supply chains. The model offers three advantages. Firstly, it enables economic, environment and social factors to be considered simultaneously. Secondly, by integrating fuzzy set theory and artificial immune optimisation technology, it enables both quantitative and qualitative criteria to be considered simultaneously throughout the whole decision-making process. Thirdly, it extends the flat criteria structure for partner selection evaluation for reverse logistics centres to the more suitable hierarchy structure. The applicability of the model is demonstrated by means of an empirical application based on data from a Chinese electronic equipment and instruments manufacturing company.     

An integrated production and inventory model for a whole manufacturing supply chain involving reverse logistics with finite horizon period

This paper proposes a model and solution method for coordinating integrated production and inventory cycles in a whole manufacturing supply chain involving reverse logistics for multiple items with finite horizon period. A whole manufacturing supply chain involving reverse logistic consists of tier-2 suppliers supplying raw materials to tier-1 suppliers, tier-1 suppliers producing parts, a manufacturer which manufactures and assembles parts from tier-1 suppliers into finished products, distributors distributing finished products to retailers, retailers selling products to end customers and a third party which collects the used finished products from end customers, dissembles collected products into parts, and feed the parts back to the supply chain. In this system, we consider a finite horizon period. A mathematical model for representing the behaviors of the system is developed. Solution methods based on decentralized and a combination of decentralized and centralized decision making process, referred to as the semi-centralized decision making process, are proposed to solve the model while the centralized decision making process is solved by a mixed integer nonlinear programming method. A numerical example is used to demonstrate the model and the solutions based on the three types of the coordination.     

The strategic analysis of logistics service sharing in an e-commerce platform

In e-commerce, the success of hybrid online platforms is well documented where the platform not only works as a retailer but also offers online marketplace services to sellers. Logistics service is one of the most expensive operations for e-commerce and plays a critical role in promoting online purchases. In most cases, the platform builds a self-supporting logistics service system to deliver its own products, and the seller outsources the logistics service to third-party logistics service providers (TPLPs). Recently, the e-commerce market has emerged with a new trend of business-to-business logistics service sharing—the platform shares its logistics service system with the seller. In this paper, we first analyze the strategic and economic impacts of logistics service sharing. Our analysis shows that whereas logistics service sharing will lead to a lose-win situation for the platform and the seller when the TPLP's logistics service level and the market potential are low, it will lead to a win-lose situation when the TPLP's logistics service level or the market potential is very high. Furthermore, a win-win situation can be achieved when the TPLP's logistics service level and the market potential are in the middle regions. Then, we examine the equilibrium mode by considering the strategic interactions between the platform and the seller. We find that when the TPLP's logistics service level and the market potential are relatively low, the equilibrium mode is No-Service-Sharing. As the TPLP's logistics service level, the market potential, or both increase, the equilibrium mode will evolve from No-Service-Sharing to Service-Sharing.     

The price of atomic selfish ring routing

We study selfish routing in ring networks with respect to minimizing the maximum latency. Our main result is an establishment of constant bounds on the price of stability (PoS) for routing unsplittable flows with linear latency. We show that the PoS is at most 6.83, which reduces to 4.57 when the linear latency functions are homogeneous. We also show the existence of a (54,1)-approximate Nash equilibrium. Additionally we address some algorithmic issues for computing an approximate Nash equilibrium.     

The impact of distance on acquisition performance

A challenge in interpreting research is that the construct of ‘distance’ has multiple dimensions that influence acquisition performance. We expand Ghemawat's (2001) typology of distance with its dimensions of cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic distance (CAGE) from a review of 61 empirical research studies of how distance affects acquisition performance. We identify different impacts of distance dimensions on acquisition performance to find that distance dimensions are interdependent. As a result, context matters, when considering the impact of distance on acquisition performance. Supporting institutional theory, the direction of distance may matter, as the results may be different for acquirers in developed and emerging economies. Additional implications for research and management practice are identified.     

供应链环境下的物流能力构成及其特性研究

物流能力是一个系统概念,不仅包括有形能力,还包括无形能力.从供应链的角度对供应链环境下的物流能力进行了深入系统的分析,提出了供应链环境下的物流能力构成及其决定因素,并给出了物流要素能力的计算方法,对形成了供应链整体物流能力的机制进行了分析.