Issues in reverse supply chains, part I: end‐of‐life product recovery and inventory management – an overview

TLDR

Recovery of used products has become increasingly important in reverse supply chain management, involving collection, inspection, disassembly, reconditioning, remanufacturing, and recycling, yet the collection of end‑of‑life items remains tedious, time‑consuming, and amplified by shortened product life cycles that raise return rates and necessitate value recovery. This paper reviews the literature on end‑of‑life product recovery and inventory management in reverse supply chains and outlines future research directions. The authors synthesize existing models for product recovery network design, optimal inventory, production planning, remanufacturing, recycling, and disposal, and propose avenues for further study. The review demonstrates that companies have realized the value recoverable from end‑of‑life products through remanufacturing or recycling.

Abstract

Recovery of used products has become a field of rapidly growing importance in reverse supply chain management. Product recovery includes collection, inspection/separation, disassembly, reconditioning/reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling. In real time situations, the collection of end‐of‐life (EoL) products from the customer and their return to the manufacturer is tedious and time consuming. Reduced product life cycles have increased the rate of product returns and disposals. Owing to shortened product economic life cycles, the recovery of value from EoL products is becoming a necessity. Companies have realised the value that they could recover by remanufacturing or recycling EoL products. Researchers have developed various models for product recovery network design, optimal inventory, production planning and control, remanufacturing, recycling, disposal, etc. The main purpose of this paper is to review the literature on EoL product recovery and inventory management issues in reverse supply chains and to outline some future directions for research on these issues.