Research On The Closed Loop Supply Chain

According to the definition by logistics'administrative association, supply chain means the process from production to consumption which is to satisfy consumer's demands. It contains planning, practicing and controlling raw materials, products and related information effectively and with low cost. This definition shows clearly that the flowing direction of logistics and information is from producer to consumer in the obverse supply chain.Similarly, it defines reverse supply chain a process from consumption to production which is to obtain the value again or dispose of the waste correctly. Also contains planning, practicing and controlling raw materials, products and related information effectively and with low cost.We can find from the definitions above that there are two differences between reverse and obverse supply chain: one is the different aims; two is the opposite flowing direction between logistics and information.Since the aim of obverse supply chain is to achieve the value of products and service, the reverse supply chain is to explore the potential value of the defected products and the waste, this paper defines that: the closed loop supply chain is a complete ring-like supply chain system which contains reverse process on the traditional obverse logistics. Through the product's obverse payment and reverse recycling, the split-ring process called "the resources-production-expense-the abandoned" turned to the closed loop feedback cyclic process of "the resources-production - expense-regeneration resources".This definition contains double directions' move of logistics and information in the supply chain. The closed loop supply chain is divided into four types of operational model, namely based on recycling, on reuse, on repair/refurnishing/cannibalization and on remanufacturing. The eff-ecttive management to the closed loop supply chain not only may promote the ecological environment optimization, social economy sustainable development, simultaneously also may bring the obvious economic efficiency for the enterprise, strengthen his/her competitive advantage.With the awareness of environment protection and sustainable development, the reverse logistics management is increasingly being recognized. Manu- factures' product take-back models can be classified into three types: Third Party Take-back, Retail Take-back and Manufacturing Take-back. This paper analyzes and compares these three models and obtains some elementary conclusions.The closed-loop supply chain between the manufacturer and the retailer is studied in this paper. The price decisions are analyzed by game theory. A non-cooperative model equilibrium and a cooperative model equilibrium are obtained. Efficiencies of every decision are further analyzed. On the basis we also discuss the result of the recycling twice by retailer. Than we focus on the effect of channel coordination on brand. In a two-stage supply chain with one manufacturer and two retailers ,customer demands are deterministic and depends on retail prices, recycling quantity depends on recycling price. We discuss the optimal princing and inventory policies for the following three cases : 1) Retail prices and recycling prices are determined by retailers respectively , competitions occur between members of the supply chain ; 2) Retail prices and recycling prices are determined by the manu- facturer ; 3) Prices are made according to channel coordination. With analysis and comparison of the above three cases , this chapter pay attention to the affects of transfer pricing and inner-brand competitions on channel performance and brand in a newsvendor problem , and presents an incentive scheme in a decentralized supply chain.