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S. Okumura et al.
16.1 Introduction
In recent years, manufacturers encounter two primary problems. The first problem is
that the life-cycle of various products is shortened owing to the rapid improvement
of technological innovation. The demand for products typically increases immediately after launch, and the demand for products declines as new products with new
functions emerge. Such situations cause various problems, e.g., excessive inventory,
increasing disposal, over-ordering. The second problem is the environmental impact
caused by consuming a large number of resources and producing waste. Among the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) stipulations for environmental
management systems, environmental audits, environmental labels, and life-cycle
assessments are in progress to preserve the global environment. Many manufacturers
that adopt ISO 14001 are expected to reduce the environmental impacts caused by
them. In there, reusable units extracted from used products are incorporated into new
products to reduce both environmental impact and costs. Remanufacturing requires
inventory control for remanufactured and newly manufactured products.
Some reviews were published regarding inventory control in remanufacturing
(Mahadevan et al. 2003; Konstantaras and Papachristos 2007; Lage and Filho 2012;
Bazan et al. 2016). Kiesmüller (2003) studied a recovery system for a single
product, in which inventories for collected/reusable items and serviceable items
were included, and determined the optimal manufacturing, remanufacturing, and
disposal rates. Dobos (2003) found the optimal inventory policies in a reverse logistics system under the assumption that demand was a known continuous function in
a given planning horizon and the return rate of used items was a given function. van
der Laan and Teunter (2006) studied the push-and-pull remanufacturing policies and
showed closed-form formulae approximating the optimal policy parameters. Reiner
et al. (2009) developed a new stochastic demand model and investigated optimal
service levels in terms of customer satisfaction and life cycle profit. El Saadany and
Jaber (2010) developed a production/remanufacturing inventory model, in which the
flow of returned items was variable and was controlled by the purchasing price for
returned items and their acceptance quality levels, and showed mathematical models
for multiple remanufacturing and production cycles. Ahiska and King (2010) investigated the optimal inventory policies over the life cycle of a remanufacturable product
and determined the optimal or near-optimal policy characterizations by Markov
decision analysis. Chung and Wee (2011) investigated green product designs and
remanufacturing efforts based on an integrated production inventory model with
short life-cycles, and showed new technology evolution, remanufacturing ratios and
system’s holding costs were critical factors for decision making in a green supply
chain inventory control system. Zhou and Yu (2011) studied the integration of supply
and customer demand with inventory management for a production/remanufacturing
firm, and optimized total discounted profit over a finite planning horizon by implementing production, remanufacturing, product acquisition, and pricing strategies.
Hsueh (2011) studied inventory management policy of remanufacturing in four stages
depending on the elapsed time since shipment to the market, i.e., an introductory
S. Okumura et al.
16.1 Introduction
In recent years, manufacturers encounter two primary problems. The first problem is
that the life-cycle of various products is shortened owing to the rapid improvement
of technological innovation. The demand for products typically increases immediately after launch, and the demand for products declines as new products with new
functions emerge. Such situations cause various problems, e.g., excessive inventory,
increasing disposal, over-ordering. The second problem is the environmental impact
caused by consuming a large number of resources and producing waste. Among the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) stipulations for environmental
management systems, environmental audits, environmental labels, and life-cycle
assessments are in progress to preserve the global environment. Many manufacturers
that adopt ISO 14001 are expected to reduce the environmental impacts caused by
them. In there, reusable units extracted from used products are incorporated into new
products to reduce both environmental impact and costs. Remanufacturing requires
inventory control for remanufactured and newly manufactured products.
Some reviews were published regarding inventory control in remanufacturing
(Mahadevan et al. 2003; Konstantaras and Papachristos 2007; Lage and Filho 2012;
Bazan et al. 2016). Kiesmüller (2003) studied a recovery system for a single
product, in which inventories for collected/reusable items and serviceable items
were included, and determined the optimal manufacturing, remanufacturing, and
disposal rates. Dobos (2003) found the optimal inventory policies in a reverse logistics system under the assumption that demand was a known continuous function in
a given planning horizon and the return rate of used items was a given function. van
der Laan and Teunter (2006) studied the push-and-pull remanufacturing policies and
showed closed-form formulae approximating the optimal policy parameters. Reiner
et al. (2009) developed a new stochastic demand model and investigated optimal
service levels in terms of customer satisfaction and life cycle profit. El Saadany and
Jaber (2010) developed a production/remanufacturing inventory model, in which the
flow of returned items was variable and was controlled by the purchasing price for
returned items and their acceptance quality levels, and showed mathematical models
for multiple remanufacturing and production cycles. Ahiska and King (2010) investigated the optimal inventory policies over the life cycle of a remanufacturable product
and determined the optimal or near-optimal policy characterizations by Markov
decision analysis. Chung and Wee (2011) investigated green product designs and
remanufacturing efforts based on an integrated production inventory model with
short life-cycles, and showed new technology evolution, remanufacturing ratios and
system’s holding costs were critical factors for decision making in a green supply
chain inventory control system. Zhou and Yu (2011) studied the integration of supply
and customer demand with inventory management for a production/remanufacturing
firm, and optimized total discounted profit over a finite planning horizon by implementing production, remanufacturing, product acquisition, and pricing strategies.
Hsueh (2011) studied inventory management policy of remanufacturing in four stages
depending on the elapsed time since shipment to the market, i.e., an introductory