A Reverse Production System is a network of transportation, logistics and processing functions that collect, recycle, refurbish, and demanufacture end-of-life products. Our research captures the issues and decisions with which current stakeholders are grappling, and translates them into formal mathematical models to both highlight the significant tradeoffs and to help in decision making. Read more »

Enterprise Strategies for Remanufacturing under Competition and Regulation
Related Researchers: Bras, Ferguson, Toktay

There is a growing market for remanufactured products in the US and globally. Examples of remanufactured products include automotive parts, cranes and forklifts, furniture, medical equipment, pallets, personal computers, photocopiers, telephones, televisions, tires and toner cartridges, among others. The Xerox Corporation demonstrated early on that remanufacturing can be a very lucrative prospect. Read more »

Sustainable Global Logistics
Related Researchers: McGinnis, Zhou, Guldberg

Global sourcing requires global logistics, and has major environmental implications, both in terms of packaging materials and energy.  In a project with a major US automobile manufacturer, we have developed an extended value chain mapping approach to integrate analysis of alternative parts packaging systems with regard to cost and environmental footprint.  Significant improvements in packaging were identified.

Product and Material Reuse and Recycling: Information Technology, Product Self-Management, and Second-Hand Markets
Related Researcher: Thomas

This research explores the potential to make product recycling and reuse easier by shifting responsibility for product management toward the product itself.  Examples range from barcode-enabled Internet sales of used products to RFID-enabled garbage trucks that identify items and provide rebates.  This research also explores how growth in sales of used products through the Internet and other markets affects the demand for new products.