Abstract
Abstract: This article addresses the joint aggregate planning of a system for manufacturing new units and remanufacturing used units to obtain items that are indistinguishable from the original product. A variety of used conditions are taken into account. A forecast of the number of items at the end of their useful life in each period is assumed to be available and the proportion of items that are returned is a non-linear function of the price paid for them. The case deals with products such as copiers, printers and scanners, and with containers that require a complex refilling process. A mathematical program is obtained whose constraints and objective function have non-linear terms that are linearised by means of piecewise functions. The solution of several instances is addressed and one example is examined in detail.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Spanish MCyT Project DPI2007-61588, co-financed by the ERDF.