Topics in product remanufacturing, repair and disposal

This dissertation studies the impact of extended product life cycle responsibility on the management and coordination of supply chains, motivated by problems observed in different industries. The first chapter analyzes the economics of technology selection and market segmentation for remanufacturable products. The analysis delineates the product and market characteristics that dictate whether producing a remanufacturable product is profitable, and reveals the importance of the integrated management of new and remanufactured product lines. The second chapter analyzes the role that capacity plays when the service provider is an ‘expert’ (for example a car repairer) and recommends the amount of ‘treatment’ or ‘service’ that is appropriate for the customer. The analysis shows that restricting capacity can be used as a strategic tool to signal that no unnecessary service is advised. Motivated by the scrap tire problem, the third chapter identifies research issues that arise in mass industries with difficult product disposal. A description of the generic structure of tire supply chains and the incentives of legislators to control for the negative environmental externality of scrap tire disposal highlights two areas for research: The problem of developing new markets for scrap tires and the problem of organizing the scrap tire collection channel.