A System Dynamics Framework for an Integrated Forward-Reverse Supply Chain with Fuzzy Demand and Fuzzy Collection Rate under Possibility Constraints

摘要

Reverse supply chain management has been an area of growing attention during the last decade in industry as well as in academia due to its high economic impact, increasing social awareness and strict legislations. In this paper, we develop a simulation model based on system dynamics methodology to analyze the long-term behavior of a multi-echelon forward-reverse supply chain with fuzzy demand and fuzzy collection rate by incorporating various recycling activities, namely; collection, product refurbishing, component reuse and refurbishing, and raw material recovery. The uncertainty issues associated with acquisition and collection of used product in the proposed reverse logistics network has been quantified using possibility measures. In the proposed model, it is assumed that the customer can exchange their old used product with a fresh new product in a primary market or a relatively better refurbished product in a secondary market at a discounted price. In the simulation study, we compare the bullwhip effects of different logistics participants over time with and without product exchange policy. Our results suggest that the inclusion of product exchange policy in the primary as well as in the secondary market reduce the order variation and bullwhip effect at both retailer and distributor level. Finally, sensitivity analysis is performed to examine the impact of various parameters on recovery process and bullwhip effect.