Abstract
Increasing attention has been given to reverse supply chains because of the increasing value of technology and products at the end of direct supply chains and the impact of new green legislation. Design strategies for reverse supply chains have remained relatively unexplored and underdeveloped. Meanwhile measuring performance has become important.The research described in this Dissertation investigated several industries with reverse supply chains: manufacture of aircraft, computers and carpets, and telecommunications, and retail. From that investigation, a new model was created that combined forward and reverse chains and then a general mathematical model was created to describe it. Specific models (including mathematical models) could then be created for specific companies. The new models allowed performance of both forward and reverse supply chains to be measured at the same time so that different modes of operation could be compared by testing with different data sets.
From an initial investigation of two case studies about an aeroplane company dealing with returned machines and a telecommunications company dealing with end of life products, a first initial model to describe their forward and reverse supply chains was created. This was the first time that an attempt had been made to create a general model that could be used in more than one industry and general models that included both the forward and reverse supply chains did not exist.
A general mathematical model was created to represent the new general model and from that two specific mathematical models were created to represent the computer manufacture and general retail companies. The model was modified to include new aspects found in the two new companies and then verified against another (fifth) industry, carpet manufacture.
The models were tested with sets of data including a high number of returned products and a low number of returned products, and companies were categorised according to the results. Six types of company were identified and are presented.
| Date of Award | Sept 2016 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | David Sanders (Supervisor) |