Dynamic Inventory Management in Reverse Logistics

Cover -- Contents -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Objective and Motivation -- 1.2 Inventory Management in Reverse Logistics -- 1.3 Methodology -- 1.4 Outline of the Thesis -- 2 A Basic Quantitative Model for Medium and Long Range Product Recovery Planning -- 2.1 Overview -- 2.2 A Basic Quantitative Model of Dynamic Product Recovery -- 2.3 Solution of the Model Without Initial Inventories -- 2.3.1 Solution Methodology -- 2.3.2 Necessary Conditions -- 2.3.3 The Structure of an Optimal Solution -- 2.3.4 Optimal Transitions Between Cases and Subcases -- 2.3.5 Properties of Optimal Return Collection Intervals -- 2.3.6 Solution Algorithm -- 2.4 Dealing with Initial Inventories -- 2.5 Numerical Examples -- 2.6 Comparison of Holding Cost and Discounted Cash Flow -- 2.6.1 Holding Cost Results -- 2.6.2 A Comparison of Different Approximations -- 2.7 Managerial Insights -- 2.8 Proofs and Derivations -- 3 On the Effects of Capacity Constraints in Product Recovery -- 3.1 Motivation -- 3.2 Limited Production Capacity -- 3.2.1 Changes to the Basic Model -- 3.2.2 Properties of an Optimal Solution -- 3.2.3 Pure Effects of a Manufacturing Constraint -- 3.2.4 Mixed Effects of a Manufacturing Constraint -- 3.2.5 Numerical Examples -- 3.2.6 Managerial Insights -- 3.3 Limited Remanufacturing Capacity -- 3.3.1 Changes to the Basic Model -- 3.3.2 Properties of an Optimal Solution -- 3.3.3 Pure Effects of a Remanufacturing Constraint -- 3.3.4 Managerial Insights -- 3.4 Proofs -- 4 Knowledge Acquisition and Product Recovery -- 4.1 Motivation -- 4.2 A Model with Remanufacturing Knowledge Acquisition -- 4.3 Optimality Conditions and General Results -- 4.4 Optimal Policies in Specific Situations -- 4.4.1 Optimal Policy with a Zero Interest Rate -- 4.4.2 Optimal Policy with a Positive Interest Rate -- 4.5 Numerical Examples -- 4.6 Conclusions and Managerial Insights -- 4.7 Proofs -- 5 Technology Selection in the Context of Reverse Logistics -- 5.1 Motivation -- 5.2 A Dynamic Modeling Environment for Strategic Decision Making -- 5.3 Three Investment Projects -- 5.3.1 Valuation of Investment Project (a) -- Design for Single Use -- 5.3.2 Investment Project (b) -- Design for Reuse -- 5.3.3 Investment project (c) -- Design for Reuse with Strategic Inventory -- 5.4 A Numerical Investigation -- 5.5 Effects of a Limited Remanufacturing Capacity -- 5.6 Conclusions and Possible Extensions -- 5.7 Proofs and Statistical Tests -- 6 Conclusions -- List of Symbols -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- References -- Last Page.