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In reverse supply chain with IERs (Inspection Error Rates) and competition, which consists of one remanufacturer and two competing collectors, the two collectors collect the used-products from used-product market competitively, and then they carry out inspection activity with IERs. The competition means supply amount competition. Considering the competition, we study the optimal price decisions for reverse supply chain members by game theory. We present the optimal collecting prices for two collectors and the optimal reclaiming price for remanufacturer. By numerical example, we analyze the impacts of competitions on the optimal results under supply amount competition. The research results show that: under supply amount competition, when one collector reduces IERs, the other one can get small increasing of profits even though he does not reduce his IERs; the remanufacturer can get more profits.

In manufacturing/remanufacturing Collection-Disassembly-Production-Distribution (CDPD) network which consists of manufacturer/remanufacturer, wholesaler, retailer and disassembly center, the retailer is responsible for collecting the used-products from its sales region and inspecting the collected used-products. Considering the inspection errors when the retailer inspects the used-products, and based on the relationship between inspection error rates and inspection cost, the optimization model of manufacturing/remanufacturing CDPD network with inspection errors is developed. By numerical examples, the optimal decisions for manufacturing/remanufacturing CDPD network with different inspection error rates are presented. The research results can offer support for the successful operating of manufacturing/remanufacturing CDPD network.

In reverse supply chain under our study, IERs and UIC are the inspection-error-rates and the unit inspection cost respectively. This reverse supply chain consists of two members: remanufacturer and collector. The collector is responsible for collecting the used-products from the used-product market and inspecting the collected used-products. In order to reduce the IERs, the collector increases investment, namely, the unit inspecting cost increases. In this paper, considering IERs and UIC, we focus on the price decisions for reverse supply chain by game theory. We present the optimal price decisions, and analyze the impacts of IERs and UIC on the optimal results by numerical example. The research results can help the remanufacturer and the collector make their optimal price decisions for reverse supply chain considering both IERs and UIC.

The reverse supply chain with inspection-error-rates (IERs) under our study consists of two members: remanufacturer and collector. The collector is responsible for collecting the used-products from the end consumers, and inspecting the collected used-products. Owing to technical or non-technical factors, the collector may make inspection errors. In order to decrease the IERs, the collector will add more investment, namely, the unit inspecting cost will increase. In this paper, we focus on the dynamic analysis for reverse supply chain with IERs. The causal loop diagram for the reverse supply chain with IERs is developed using system dynamics methodology. We simulate the impacts of IERs and cost-share-ratio on profits of remanufacturer and collector. Based on the simulation results, the analyses of cost-sharing in the reverse supply chain with IERs are presented: under which conditions the remanufacturer should share the inspection cost with the collector so as to control the IERs.

In reverse supply chain under our study, there are four supply disruptions. As the source of the reverse supply chain, the supply disruption of used-products between end-consumers and collector will largely affect the profits of the reverse supply chain. In order to manage the profits of the reverse supply chain, we give an expanded stock-flow diagram with this supply disruption of the reverse supply chain by using system dynamics methodology, show the simulation results of collector's profit, disassembly center's profit, remanufacturer's profit and the mean of their profits under different disruption periods. By analyzing the simulation results, we present a strategy to ensure the members positive profits. The strategy is adding another channel of purchasing used-products for the collector. We show the simulation results of the members profits and their mean after using the strategy, and give the suitable range of purchase quantity of used-products for the strategy.

In order to stimulate private spending and curb pollution, the Chinese government has decided to offer financial subsidy to carry out home-appliance replacement from June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010. Because the financial subsidy can be offered until May 31, 2010, the manufacturer must face the problem: if the government stops to offer the financial subsidy, whether to continue the home-appliance replacement or not? If continue to carry out the homeappliance replacement, the manufacturer should give the payment to the replacement consumer. In this case, there is a potential risk for the manufacturer: the unit cost of the new product will increase. In this paper, we studied the price decisions for the manufacturer and the retailer under two cases: case I, the government offers the financial subsidy which is depended on the retail price; case II, the government stops to offer the financial subsidy, the manufacturer will share the payment with the retailer. At the same time, we analyze the impacts of the subsidizing rate and the sharing ratio on the optimal results by a numerical example.

A novel digital watermarking algorithm is proposed in this paper, which is based on Linear Regression Constrains and Wavelet Lifting Scheme. Firstly we define a fixed matrix Q and use matrix Q MOD (Modulus after Division) the low-frequency data. The data is extracted from the 1-level wavelet decomposition of each sub-image. According to the remainder matrix, we can embed and extract watermark. The simulation results show that watermarked image can obtain a large value of PSNR and demonstrate that the algorithm has strong robustness to resist noise and clipping attacks, it also can greatly reduce carrier image distortion.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the collecting price decisions of used products in reverse supply chains based on the following cases: manufacturer for collecting and processing, third party for collecting and manufacturer for processing, retailer for collecting and manufacture for processing, and third party for collecting and processing.Design/methodology/approachThe paper considers a recycling channel whereby a manufacturer collects and processes the used products or delegates collecting (or processing) to the retailer or a third party; characterizes the steps of processing a returned used product; gives a collection function of used products which is an increasing function of the collecting price, since the quantity of returned used products is affected by the end customer's willingness and the end customer's willingness is affected by the collecting price. The optimal results were obtained by game theory.FindingsBy investigating the pricing decisions for different cases, the manufacturer prefers to collect the used products rather than delegate to others if manufacturer for processing, and a third party joining the reverse supply chains hopes to collaborate more deeply, not only collecting but also processing the used products.Research limitations/implicationsThe main implication is that the reusing ratio of the returned used products and the remanufacturing ratio of the key parts have impacts on the optimal pricing decisions of reverse supply chains.Practical implicationsThe paper describes a very useful method for managers to make collecting price decisions for reverse supply chains.Originality/valueThe paper provides the optimal results of collecting price decisions. The paper contributes to the reverse supply chains researches and managers who are responsible for the reverse supply chains.

A closed-loop supply chain includes the forward supply chain and the reverse supply chain. In a reverse supply chain, the used products are collected from the end-customers. Hence, the return rate of used products is affected by the end-customer's willingness, and the end-customer's willingness is affected by the collecting price. In a forward supply chain, the wholesale price and the retail price will be affected by the collecting price. In this paper, we focus on the managements of the collecting price, the wholesale price and the retail price for the closed-loop supply chain. On the assumption that the return rate of the used products is an increasing function of the collecting price, we obtain the optimal collecting price, the optimal wholesale price and the optimal retail price based on the following models: Model CMRC (The manufacturer for collecting), Model CRMRC (The retailer for collecting) and Model CTMRC (The third party for collecting). By comparing the optimal pricing and the profits of the models, we find that the manufacturer for collecting is the best choice, and the retailer for collecting is another choice if the manufacturer has decided to transfer all its cost saving to the retailer. At the end of the paper, a numerical example is given to illustrate the optimal results.

In a reverse supply chain which consists of the collector, the disassembly center and the remanufacturer, the collecting of used-products is very important. When a disruption risk occurs in the area of used-products market, the collector can't collect any used-products from the end-consumers during this disruption. We consider a mitigation strategy for this risk: the collector collects used-products from other areas by paying a higher collecting price. The question is how much the higher collecting price should be. Our goal is to investigate the reasonable scope of the higher collecting price. By expending our previous works, we find the reasonable scope of the collecting price is [p, 1.48p]. Herein, p is the collecting price of used-product without supply disruption. As a result, if the duration of supply disruption of used-products trends to be more than four periods, and the increasing rate of collecting price is no more than 48%, the collector should adopt the strategy: collecting. Otherwise: not.

The supply disruption of used-products between end-consumers and collector is one supply disruption of the reverse supply chain under our study. In order to analyze the impacts of this supply disruption on the reverse supply chain, we give an expanded stock-flow diagram with supply disruption of the reverse supply chain by using system dynamics methodology, show the simulation results of the collector's profit, the disassembly center's profit and the remanufacturer's profit, and analyze the simulation results and the mean of their profits. This simulation model and the results can help the members of the reverse supply chain make appropriate decisions to ensure positive profits under different supply disruption periods.

In R/M integrated supply chain, the collecting time, the quality and the quantity of the used-products are uncertain. All of these uncertainties have great impacts on the management of R/M integrated supply chain. By using the technology of Internet of Things, these uncertainties can be reduced efficiently. However, the R/M integrated supply chain based on IoT must face another problem: a unit product is made up of many parts, the product and each part have their own EPC, how to obtain the information of the product and each part by their EPC when the inside parts' EPC are invisible directly? In order to solve this problem, in this paper, we give the definition of product DNA and present a new operational mode of R/M integrated supply chain based on IoT by using product DNA.

RFID-EPC plays an important role in Internet of Things which will be the new environment of application of the reverse supply chain. By using RFID-EPC, the reverse supply chain under Internet of Things will have some characteristics. In order to analyze the impacts of RFID-EPC on reverse supply chain, on the assumption that RFID-EPC can reduce the collection uncertainty of the used-products, we present a system dynamics model and show the changing of the inventories, the service levels, and the profits. By analyzing the simulation results of the reverse supply chain with and without RFID-EPC, we can obtain that the service levels and the profits of the collector, the disassembly center, and the remanufacturer will increase even though their inventories increase when RFID-EPC is used in reverse supply chain.

Internet of Things (IoT) will be the new environment for the application of R/M integrated supply chain that includes the forward supply chain and the reverse supply chain. Under this new environment, the R/M integrated supply chain based on IoT will have some new characteristics. In order to investigate these new characteristics, we present the structure of R/M integrated supply chain based on IoT, introduce three stages (without RFID/EPC, with RFID and with RFID/EPC) of R/M integrated supply chain, and compare the third stage with the other two stages. The study results can help the managers to carry out the R/M integrated supply chain under IoT environment successfully.

To manage R/M integrated supply chain information more conveniently, and forecast the risks from the risk information, we designed the base functions for the early warning system according to its desires. Then combined with the characteristic of R/M integrated supply chain to develop the design, emphasizing on data analysis, we divide the data module. And then design the overall structure.

According to the relationship of the members in reverse supply chain and the members in forward supply chain, R/M integrated supply chain can be divided into two kinds: the strongly integrated R/M supply chain and the weakly integrated R/M supply chain. In the reverse supply chain of weakly integrated R/M supply chain, the manager of disassembly center wonder about the trend of future situation, including the collection amount, the inventory of the used-product, the collection price and the total profit. In this paper, we present the simulation of the latter reverse supply chain with different policies by system dynamics methodology, and give the analysis of the simulation results. By our simulation and analysis, the fluctuations of the used-product inventory, the collection amount and the collection price in policy II are smaller than that in policy I; the total profit of the reverse supply chain by policy II is better than that of policy I. As a result, the disassembly center should choose the policy II.

In this paper, a verifiable copyright-proving scheme based on lifting wavelet transformation is proposed. Our scheme uses lifting wavelet transform (LWT) and chaotic system on the protected image in order to generate a verification map. Using the verification map, anyone can publicly verify the copyright of the protected image without needing the original image. Experiments show that the scheme can resistant geometric distortions and some intentional attacks. Without modifying the original image, the scheme is not only a robust method but also a lossless one.

The Remanufacturer/Manufacturer will face some market risks when he sells the new and remanufactured products in the same market. There are two cases in the same market: Case I, the remanufactured product is indistinguishable from the new product; Case II, the remanufactured product is distinguishable from the new product. The different case has the different market risks. In this paper, we focus on the pricing decisions for new and remanufactured products considering the market risks in the same market. Based on the market risks, the optimal selling prices of the new and remanufactured products were given. In the end of the paper, a numerical example is given to illustrate the optimal results.

This paper proposed an algorithm for image authentication and verification. The algorithm is based on public key. The owner of image extracts the information as watermark information from the image which he wants to transmit to others. The owner embeds the watermark information into the image with public key. Anyone can judge the valid of the watermarked image, and locate the place which has been tampered. Experimental results show that the algorithm is better than the approximate image message authentication codes (IMACs).

MC/MP mode means an enterprise simultaneously implements mass customization (MC) and mass production (MP). The EPQ model of MC/MP mode was studied. The production- inventory cost function is derived for the EPQ model of MC/MP mode, and the total cost includes the holding cost and shortage cost for MP-products, the setup cost, and the item cost of MC- products and MP-products. The economic production quantity and economic production period as well as the maximum on- hand inventory level, maximum shortage level and the minimization total cost were deducted by using the differential calculus techniques. By investigating a numerical example, we show that the optimal values of production interval, economic production quantity and the minimized total cost will increase when the average customization rate increases, but the optimal values of maximum on-hand inventory level and maximum shortage level will increase first and then decrease. The fluctuating of the optimal values will be violence if the average customization rate is nearly up bound, especially in the up bound point. This indicates that the MC/MP enterprise should carry out MC and MP in another mode if the average customization rate increases near to the up bound.

A key aspect to recognize reverse flows is that the collection of used goods from the marketplace is a supply-driven flow. This supply-driven flow creates a great deal of uncertainty with respect to the quantity, timing and condition of items. Due to the uncertainty, a stochastic programming model for the logistic network that incorporates the remanufacturing into the manufacturing system is put forward, in which quantities of recycled products are considered as random parameters. The corresponding crisp equivalences of chance constraints are obtained. The impact of variance of returns and flexibility requirements of disassembly centers are studied based on numerical examples.

Binary image is first transformed, and then is embedded in the coefficients of subband of host image imperceptibly, which is divided into different parts, coefficients of band are found out based on adaptive algorithm. The extracting process is carried out by combining watermarking extracted from different sections of the image based on correlation coefficient between original watermark and derived one. The scheme proposed here by utilizing multi-address embedding and extracting based on adaptive algorithm is extremely robust to wide variety of regular cropping, and the derived watermark is still readily recognizable even if it is cropped randomly. Experiments show the good effectiveness of the algorithm normalized electronic documents in order for readers to search and read papers conveniently.