Dr. Amini Published in the Omega: The International Journal of Management Science

For release:  December 7, 2015

Dr. Mehdi Amini, George Johnson Professor of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, has published a paper entitled "Closed-Loop Supply Chain Configuration for New and Reconditioned Products: An Integrated Optimization Model," in Omega: The International Journal of Management Science. Coauthors included Drs. Jighyasu Gaur and K. Rao, professors at the Department of Operations & IT, ICFAI Business School (IBS) Hyderabad, ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education (IFHE) University.

The authors researched and developed an integrated multi-period optimization model for a closed-loop supply chain that depicted tactical decisions regarding sourcing, manufacturing, and launching of a new product and also collection, reconditioning, and launching of the reconditioned product at the end of its life cycle. Based on the integrated optimization model and the data gathered from a real life case study the researches established, they comprehensively conducted and validated a set of computational experimentations to explore profitability of a forward supply chain versus a closed-loop supply chain.

The Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) was defined as "the design, control and operation of a system to maximize value creation over the entire life-cycle of a product with dynamic recovery of value from different types and volumes of returns over time." In the context of CLSC, product reconstruction demanded supply chain partners to be involved in recycling, remanufacturing, and reconditioning of products offered to the marketplace. The extended value creation resulted from product reconstruction benefits both supply chain sustainability and profitability.