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In light of a circular economy, to encourage core returns, the remanufacturer charges a deposit and refund it to the customer based on quality inspection of cores. Generally, two types of classification errors exist and interact with each other during the inspection process: either low-quality cores are sorted as remanufacturable, or high-quality cores are sorted as non-remanufacturable. The remanufacturer needs to choose refund policies and determine a reasonable deposit value, considering customers potential responses. This paper firstly develops analytical solutions for these issues within a game theory framework. The effect of inspection information transparency is evaluated by comparing two settings: the information of inspection errors is available to customers or not. The study results show the advantage of inspection information transparency from the remanufacturers perspective. The analysis indicates the importance of avoiding overestimating customers payoff of products and the significance of inspection accuracy. The study also highlights that the salvage value of different cores significantly influences the remanufacturers profits, and the improvement of inspection accuracy does not necessarily reduce the customers return of low-quality cores.

In light of a circular economy, to encourage core returns, the remanufacturer charges a deposit and refund it to the customer based on quality inspection of cores. Generally, two types of classification errors exist and interact with each other during the inspection process: either low-quality cores are sorted as remanufacturable, or high-quality cores are sorted as non-remanufacturable. The remanufacturer needs to choose refund policies and determine a reasonable deposit value, considering customers potential responses. This paper firstly develops analytical solutions for these issues within a game theory framework. The effect of inspection information transparency is evaluated by comparing two settings: the information of inspection errors is available to customers or not. The study results show the advantage of inspection information transparency from the remanufacturers perspective. The analysis indicates the importance of avoiding overestimating customers payoff of products and the significance of inspection accuracy. The study also highlights that the salvage value of different cores significantly influences the remanufacturers profits, and the improvement of inspection accuracy does not necessarily reduce the customers return of low-quality cores.

In light of a circular economy, to encourage core returns, the remanufacturer charges a deposit and refund it to the customer based on quality inspection of cores. Generally, two types of classification errors exist and interact with each other during the inspection process: either low-quality cores are sorted as remanufacturable, or high-quality cores are sorted as non-remanufacturable. The remanufacturer needs to choose refund policies and determine a reasonable deposit value, considering customers potential responses. This paper firstly develops analytical solutions for these issues within a game theory framework. The effect of inspection information transparency is evaluated by comparing two settings: the information of inspection errors is available to customers or not. The study results show the advantage of inspection information transparency from the remanufacturers perspective. The analysis indicates the importance of avoiding overestimating customers payoff of products and the significance of inspection accuracy. The study also highlights that the salvage value of different cores significantly influences the remanufacturers profits, and the improvement of inspection accuracy does not necessarily reduce the customers return of low-quality cores.

In light of a circular economy, to encourage core returns, the remanufacturer charges a deposit and refund it to the customer based on quality inspection of cores. Generally, two types of classification errors exist and interact with each other during the inspection process: either low-quality cores are sorted as remanufacturable, or high-quality cores are sorted as non-remanufacturable. The remanufacturer needs to choose refund policies and determine a reasonable deposit value, considering customers potential responses. This paper firstly develops analytical solutions for these issues within a game theory framework. The effect of inspection information transparency is evaluated by comparing two settings: the information of inspection errors is available to customers or not. The study results show the advantage of inspection information transparency from the remanufacturers perspective. The analysis indicates the importance of avoiding overestimating customers payoff of products and the significance of inspection accuracy. The study also highlights that the salvage value of different cores significantly influences the remanufacturers profits, and the improvement of inspection accuracy does not necessarily reduce the customers return of low-quality cores.

In light of a circular economy, to encourage core returns, the remanufacturer charges a deposit and refund it to the customer based on quality inspection of cores. Generally, two types of classification errors exist and interact with each other during the inspection process: either low-quality cores are sorted as remanufacturable, or high-quality cores are sorted as non-remanufacturable. The remanufacturer needs to choose refund policies and determine a reasonable deposit value, considering customers potential responses. This paper firstly develops analytical solutions for these issues within a game theory framework. The effect of inspection information transparency is evaluated by comparing two settings: the information of inspection errors is available to customers or not. The study results show the advantage of inspection information transparency from the remanufacturers perspective. The analysis indicates the importance of avoiding overestimating customers payoff of products and the significance of inspection accuracy. The study also highlights that the salvage value of different cores significantly influences the remanufacturers profits, and the improvement of inspection accuracy does not necessarily reduce the customers return of low-quality cores.

In light of a circular economy, to encourage core returns, the remanufacturer charges a deposit and refund it to the customer based on quality inspection of cores. Generally, two types of classification errors exist and interact with each other during the inspection process: either low-quality cores are sorted as remanufacturable, or high-quality cores are sorted as non-remanufacturable. The remanufacturer needs to choose refund policies and determine a reasonable deposit value, considering customers potential responses. This paper firstly develops analytical solutions for these issues within a game theory framework. The effect of inspection information transparency is evaluated by comparing two settings: the information of inspection errors is available to customers or not. The study results show the advantage of inspection information transparency from the remanufacturers perspective. The analysis indicates the importance of avoiding overestimating customers payoff of products and the significance of inspection accuracy. The study also highlights that the salvage value of different cores significantly influences the remanufacturers profits, and the improvement of inspection accuracy does not necessarily reduce the customers return of low-quality cores.

Remanufacturing is an important product recovery option that benefits our sustainable development. Cores, i.e. the used products/parts, are essential resources for remanufacturing. Without cores, there will not be any remanufactured products. Challenges in the core acquisition process are mainly caused by the uncertainties of: return volume, timing and core quality. Core Acquisition Management actively attempts to reduce these uncertainties and achieve a better balance of demand and return for the remanufacturers. The aim of this dissertation is to extend the knowledge of Core Acquisition Management in remanufacturing, by investigating the current status of research and industrial practice, and developing quantitative models that assist the decision making in the core acquisition process. In the dissertation, a literature review is firstly conducted to provide an overview about the current research in Core Acquisition Management. Possible further research interests, for example, more studies based on non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution assumption are suggested. Through an industrial survey carried out in a fast developing remanufacturing market - China, environmental responsibility and ethical concerns, customer orientation and strategic advantage are identified as the most important motives for the remanufacturers, while customer recognition is their most serious barrier at present. Suggestions for further improving the Chinese remanufacturing industry from the policy-makers’ perspective are provided. After the above investigation, mathematical models are then developed to assist the acquisition decisions in two aspects: to deal with the uncertainties of return volume and timing, and to deal with the uncertainties of core quality. Acquisition decision about volume and timing is firstly studied from a product life cycle perspective, where the demands for remanufactured products and the core availability change over time. According to indus

Core acquisition is essential for the success of remanufacturing business. To describe the current status of the quantitative research in Core Acquisition Management and to indicate possible future research directions, a literature review is conducted in this paper about the quantitative modeling in Core Acquisition Management research area. The activities included in Core Acquisition Management are categorized into topics such as acquisition control, forecasting return, return strategies, quality classification and reverse channel design. While most of the studies focus on acquisition control, studies on return strategies and return forecast are relatively limited. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the research papers according to the key assumptions such as, hybrid/non-hybrid remanufacturing systems, acquisition functions, quality classification methods and perfect/imperfect substitutions. In conclusion, studies based on the assumptions of non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution should gain more attentions, since these situations frequently occur in practice but are less investigated in the existing literature. In addition, empirical validation of the various forms of the acquisition function (relations between acquisition incentives and acquisition volume) should be important for further investigations., At the time for thesis presentation publication was in status: Manuscript

Remanufacturing is an important product recovery option that benefits our sustainable development. Cores, i.e. the used products/parts, are essential resources for remanufacturing. Without cores, there will not be any remanufactured products. Challenges in the core acquisition process are mainly caused by the uncertainties of: return volume, timing and core quality. Core Acquisition Management actively attempts to reduce these uncertainties and achieve a better balance of demand and return for the remanufacturers. The aim of this dissertation is to extend the knowledge of Core Acquisition Management in remanufacturing, by investigating the current status of research and industrial practice, and developing quantitative models that assist the decision making in the core acquisition process. In the dissertation, a literature review is firstly conducted to provide an overview about the current research in Core Acquisition Management. Possible further research interests, for example, more studies based on non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution assumption are suggested. Through an industrial survey carried out in a fast developing remanufacturing market - China, environmental responsibility and ethical concerns, customer orientation and strategic advantage are identified as the most important motives for the remanufacturers, while customer recognition is their most serious barrier at present. Suggestions for further improving the Chinese remanufacturing industry from the policy-makers’ perspective are provided. After the above investigation, mathematical models are then developed to assist the acquisition decisions in two aspects: to deal with the uncertainties of return volume and timing, and to deal with the uncertainties of core quality. Acquisition decision about volume and timing is firstly studied from a product life cycle perspective, where the demands for remanufactured products and the core availability change over time. According to indus

Core acquisition is essential for the success of remanufacturing business. To describe the current status of the quantitative research in Core Acquisition Management and to indicate possible future research directions, a literature review is conducted in this paper about the quantitative modeling in Core Acquisition Management research area. The activities included in Core Acquisition Management are categorized into topics such as acquisition control, forecasting return, return strategies, quality classification and reverse channel design. While most of the studies focus on acquisition control, studies on return strategies and return forecast are relatively limited. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the research papers according to the key assumptions such as, hybrid/non-hybrid remanufacturing systems, acquisition functions, quality classification methods and perfect/imperfect substitutions. In conclusion, studies based on the assumptions of non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution should gain more attentions, since these situations frequently occur in practice but are less investigated in the existing literature. In addition, empirical validation of the various forms of the acquisition function (relations between acquisition incentives and acquisition volume) should be important for further investigations., At the time for thesis presentation publication was in status: Manuscript

Remanufacturing is an important product recovery option that benefits our sustainable development. Cores, i.e. the used products/parts, are essential resources for remanufacturing. Without cores, there will not be any remanufactured products. Challenges in the core acquisition process are mainly caused by the uncertainties of: return volume, timing and core quality. Core Acquisition Management actively attempts to reduce these uncertainties and achieve a better balance of demand and return for the remanufacturers. The aim of this dissertation is to extend the knowledge of Core Acquisition Management in remanufacturing, by investigating the current status of research and industrial practice, and developing quantitative models that assist the decision making in the core acquisition process. In the dissertation, a literature review is firstly conducted to provide an overview about the current research in Core Acquisition Management. Possible further research interests, for example, more studies based on non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution assumption are suggested. Through an industrial survey carried out in a fast developing remanufacturing market - China, environmental responsibility and ethical concerns, customer orientation and strategic advantage are identified as the most important motives for the remanufacturers, while customer recognition is their most serious barrier at present. Suggestions for further improving the Chinese remanufacturing industry from the policy-makers’ perspective are provided. After the above investigation, mathematical models are then developed to assist the acquisition decisions in two aspects: to deal with the uncertainties of return volume and timing, and to deal with the uncertainties of core quality. Acquisition decision about volume and timing is firstly studied from a product life cycle perspective, where the demands for remanufactured products and the core availability change over time. According to indus

Core acquisition is essential for the success of remanufacturing business. To describe the current status of the quantitative research in Core Acquisition Management and to indicate possible future research directions, a literature review is conducted in this paper about the quantitative modeling in Core Acquisition Management research area. The activities included in Core Acquisition Management are categorized into topics such as acquisition control, forecasting return, return strategies, quality classification and reverse channel design. While most of the studies focus on acquisition control, studies on return strategies and return forecast are relatively limited. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the research papers according to the key assumptions such as, hybrid/non-hybrid remanufacturing systems, acquisition functions, quality classification methods and perfect/imperfect substitutions. In conclusion, studies based on the assumptions of non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution should gain more attentions, since these situations frequently occur in practice but are less investigated in the existing literature. In addition, empirical validation of the various forms of the acquisition function (relations between acquisition incentives and acquisition volume) should be important for further investigations., At the time for thesis presentation publication was in status: Manuscript

Core acquisition is essential for the success of remanufacturing business. To describe the current status of the quantitative research in Core Acquisition Management and to indicate possible future research directions, a literature review is conducted in this paper about the quantitative modeling in Core Acquisition Management research area. The activities included in Core Acquisition Management are categorized into topics such as acquisition control, forecasting return, return strategies, quality classification and reverse channel design. While most of the studies focus on acquisition control, studies on return strategies and return forecast are relatively limited. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the research papers according to the key assumptions such as, hybrid/non-hybrid remanufacturing systems, acquisition functions, quality classification methods and perfect/imperfect substitutions. In conclusion, studies based on the assumptions of non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution should gain more attentions, since these situations frequently occur in practice but are less investigated in the existing literature. In addition, empirical validation of the various forms of the acquisition function (relations between acquisition incentives and acquisition volume) should be important for further investigations., At the time for thesis presentation publication was in status: Manuscript

Remanufacturing is an important product recovery option that benefits our sustainable development. Cores, i.e. the used products/parts, are essential resources for remanufacturing. Without cores, there will not be any remanufactured products. Challenges in the core acquisition process are mainly caused by the uncertainties of: return volume, timing and core quality. Core Acquisition Management actively attempts to reduce these uncertainties and achieve a better balance of demand and return for the remanufacturers. The aim of this dissertation is to extend the knowledge of Core Acquisition Management in remanufacturing, by investigating the current status of research and industrial practice, and developing quantitative models that assist the decision making in the core acquisition process. In the dissertation, a literature review is firstly conducted to provide an overview about the current research in Core Acquisition Management. Possible further research interests, for example, more studies based on non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution assumption are suggested. Through an industrial survey carried out in a fast developing remanufacturing market - China, environmental responsibility and ethical concerns, customer orientation and strategic advantage are identified as the most important motives for the remanufacturers, while customer recognition is their most serious barrier at present. Suggestions for further improving the Chinese remanufacturing industry from the policy-makers’ perspective are provided. After the above investigation, mathematical models are then developed to assist the acquisition decisions in two aspects: to deal with the uncertainties of return volume and timing, and to deal with the uncertainties of core quality. Acquisition decision about volume and timing is firstly studied from a product life cycle perspective, where the demands for remanufactured products and the core availability change over time. According to indus

Remanufacturing is an important product recovery option that benefits our sustainable development. Cores, i.e. the used products/parts, are essential resources for remanufacturing. Without cores, there will not be any remanufactured products. Challenges in the core acquisition process are mainly caused by the uncertainties of: return volume, timing and core quality. Core Acquisition Management actively attempts to reduce these uncertainties and achieve a better balance of demand and return for the remanufacturers. The aim of this dissertation is to extend the knowledge of Core Acquisition Management in remanufacturing, by investigating the current status of research and industrial practice, and developing quantitative models that assist the decision making in the core acquisition process. In the dissertation, a literature review is firstly conducted to provide an overview about the current research in Core Acquisition Management. Possible further research interests, for example, more studies based on non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution assumption are suggested. Through an industrial survey carried out in a fast developing remanufacturing market - China, environmental responsibility and ethical concerns, customer orientation and strategic advantage are identified as the most important motives for the remanufacturers, while customer recognition is their most serious barrier at present. Suggestions for further improving the Chinese remanufacturing industry from the policy-makers’ perspective are provided. After the above investigation, mathematical models are then developed to assist the acquisition decisions in two aspects: to deal with the uncertainties of return volume and timing, and to deal with the uncertainties of core quality. Acquisition decision about volume and timing is firstly studied from a product life cycle perspective, where the demands for remanufactured products and the core availability change over time. According to indus

Realizing the importance of remanufacturing for sustainable development due to the large scale of the economy and its increasing pressure on the environment, the Chinese government has been strongly promoting its remanufacturing industry since 2008. The objective of this paper is to identify the motives and barriers for remanufacturing in China. According to the survey conducted among remanufacturers in China, environmental and ethical responsibility, customer orientation and strategic advantage are the three most important motives, while customer recognition is the most serious barrier at present. This survey also shows that there are many differences between car part and machinery remanufacturers in China. For example, car part remanufacturers are more motivated by subsidies, at the same time, they are also more restricted by legislation, while lack of sales channels is a more serious barrier for the machinery remanufacturers. The differences exist partly due to the Chinese remanufacturing environment, for example the policies from different government departments that regulate the related industries. Suggestions for improving the remanufacturing industry, in particular from the policy makers’ perspective, are provided according to the survey results.

Core acquisition is essential for the success of remanufacturing business. To describe the current status of the quantitative research in Core Acquisition Management and to indicate possible future research directions, a literature review is conducted in this paper about the quantitative modeling in Core Acquisition Management research area. The activities included in Core Acquisition Management are categorized into topics such as acquisition control, forecasting return, return strategies, quality classification and reverse channel design. While most of the studies focus on acquisition control, studies on return strategies and return forecast are relatively limited. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the research papers according to the key assumptions such as, hybrid/non-hybrid remanufacturing systems, acquisition functions, quality classification methods and perfect/imperfect substitutions. In conclusion, studies based on the assumptions of non-hybrid remanufacturing systems and imperfect substitution should gain more attentions, since these situations frequently occur in practice but are less investigated in the existing literature. In addition, empirical validation of the various forms of the acquisition function (relations between acquisition incentives and acquisition volume) should be important for further investigations., At the time for thesis presentation publication was in status: Manuscript

To encourage the return of cores, remanufacturers in practice commonly charge a certain amount of purchasing deposit, and refund it to the customer based on the result of quality inspection in the return process. Two types of classification errors exist and interact with each other during such an inspection process: either low quality cores are defined as remanufacturable; or high quality cores are defined non-remanufacturable. A remanufacturer has to choose a combination them and determine a proper deposit value, with the consideration of customers’ possible responses concerning purchasing and return behaviors. Within a game theory framework, the analytical solutions of these issues are firstly developed under the assumption that the customer has the inspection error information. When this information is not available, the solutions are analyzed with a given and fixed deposit. The value of information transparency in inspection errors is shown by comparing these two settings. The salvage value of different cores also has a great influence on the remanufacturer’s profit. In addition, the effect of conservatively estimating customers’ product payoff and the influences of improving inspection accuracy are investigated numerically. Interestingly, the customer may return more low quality cores when the inspection accuracy is improved.

In this paper, we develop a strategic decision model for a remanufacturer who faces the constraints of changing demands for remanufactured products and changing availability of cores. The remanufacturer decides on core collecting and remanufacturing to maximize its profit over the whole product life cycle. In the objective function, the remanufacturing cost is set as a convex decreasing function with respect to core inventory, to reflect the observations from industrial practice. Possible forms of the optimal control policies are analyzed using the optimal control theory. According to such properties and also the observations from numerical examples, a heuristic method is developed and shown to perform well. We further use this heuristic method in various numerical experiments with the background of component remanufacturing. According to the experiments, the remanufacturer should collect as many cores as possible in the beginning, with the exception of a high price of collecting cores; not all demand should be met at the beginning until enough cores are collected. In the late stage of the product life cycle, the time to stop collecting cores can be greatly affected by different remanufacturing costs and different life lengths of original products as well. Moreover, cores from failed parts need more attention than cores from disposed products, because they are more effective in balancing the demand for remanufactured products and the availability of cores.