A new integrated forward and reverse logistics model: A case study

Abstract

The increment of the number of activities related to recycling and recovery of products are determined mostly, by the legal regulations, but also, by the needs of users. As a result, there is a large quantites of materials and products that have been returned from the market for a specific reason. This requiers brand new decision-making with which the managers had not met before. This paper presents new integrated forward and reverse logistics model (IFRL). It is supposed that capacities of locations are limited. Mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem with the aim to minimize total cost is presented. Total costs include opening, shipping, operation and penalty costs. The results are obtained with CPLEX solver. We present test problems and case study based on the real instances gathered in one Serbian company which produces electrical household devices. Finally, we present sensitivity analyses.

Keywords:

• integrated forward/reverse logistics (IFRL)
• reverse logistics
• supply chain
• waste management