Article ID: | iaor20101979 |
Volume: | 41 |
Issue: | 1 |
Start Page Number: | 5 |
End Page Number: | 20 |
Publication Date: | Feb 2010 |
Journal: | Decision Sciences |
Authors: | Galbreth Michael R, Blackburn Joseph D |
Keywords: | networks |
We consider the acquisition and production decisions of a remanufacturer who acquires used products of variable condition and allocates remanufacturing activity to domestic and offshore facilities. The problem is formulated as a multicommodity network flow model with economies of scale and product obsolescence. We show that the remanufacturer's optimal strategy can be chosen from a finite set of simple policies in which each product is routed to a facility based on its condition. We then numerically investigate the impact of key parameters on optimal decisions regarding offshore remanufacturing.