Optimized closed-loop supply chain configuration selection for sustainable product designs

Decision support models for coordinating sustainable product and supply chain (SC) design can help a company identify the best product designs that will bring highest sustainability benefits to the entire SC at the product development stage. This paper presents a multi-stage decision support model (developed using a hierarchical approach) that evaluates alternate product designs and their SC configurations to identify the best product design and their closed-loop SC configuration that maximizes profit and also minimize adverse environmental and societal impacts. The model considers a total life-cycle approach and promotes closed-loop flow over multiple product life-cycles. Particularly, this paper provides a detailed description of the mixed integer linear programming model developed to evaluate the impact of alternate product design on their corresponding SC configuration to identify for each design an optimal closed-loop SC configuration that maximizes the profit. The application of the model to an example problem is presented.