Product structure complexity and scheduling of operations in recoverable manufacturing

Recoverable manufacturing is becoming an increasingly important alternative to firms as they develop environmentally sound strategies aimed at minimizing waste and resources. Remanufacturing helps minimize costs and conserve resources through methods such as extending product life cycles via refurbishments and technical upgrades which require the use of only a fraction of the resources and energy associated with a new product. In this study the impact of product structure complexity on other managerial operating decisions is examined in a remanufacturing environment. It is shown that in the remanufacturing environment, with its greater inherent uncertainty, product structure complexity significantly affects the choice of scheduling policies used. Recommendations as to the scheduling policy to use for a dominant product structure in a given environment are made.