Core Acquisition Management in Remanufacturing : Current Status and Modeling Techniques

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