Robust closed-loop global supply chain network design under uncertainty: the case of the medical device industry

Aliakbar Hasani, Seyed Hessameddin Zegordi and Ehsan Nikbakhsh

International Journal of Production Research, 2015, vol. 53, issue 5, 1596-1624

Abstract: Improving performance of global supply chains requires careful consideration of various factors including distance from markets, access to resources, exchange and tax rates, import tariffs, and trade regulations. In this paper, a comprehensive optimization model is proposed to maximise the after-tax profit of a closed-loop global supply chain for medical devices under uncertainty. The uncertainty of the decision-making environment is modelled using the budget of uncertainty concept in interval robust optimization. International financial issues due to the Economic Cooperation Organisation Trade Agreement as well as national regulations including transfer pricing limitations, exchange rates, tax rates, and import tariffs are considered. The proposed model considers various realistic assumptions pertaining to medical device supply chains such as multiple products, multiple periods, multiple echelons, and limited warehousing lifetime. In addition, reverse flows of perished and defective products are considered to address environmental concerns and customers’ requirements as well as to gain economic advantages. To tackle this problem, an efficient memetic algorithm is developed that incorporates adaptive variable neighbourhood search as its local search heuristic. Computational results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed model in dealing with uncertainty in an agile manufacturing context. In addition, several managerial insights are discussed based on the results.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00207543.2014.965349 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:tprsxx:v:53:y:2015:i:5:p:1596-1624

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/TPRS20

DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2014.965349

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Production Research is currently edited by Professor A. Dolgui

More articles in International Journal of Production Research from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().