A heuristic approach to logistics network design for end-of-lease computer products recovery

Abstract

This paper discusses the logistics network design for end-of-lease computer products recovery by developing a deterministic programming model for systematically managing forward and reverse logistics flows. Due to the complexity of such network design problem, a two-stage heuristic approach is developed to decompose the integrated design of the distribution networks into a location-allocation problem and a revised network flow problem. The applicability of the proposed method is illustrated in a numerical study. Computational experiments demonstrate that high-quality solutions are obtained while modest computational overheads are incurred. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.