A six sigma tolerancing approach for the design of an efficient closed-loop supply chain network

Rapid technological developments and the growing desire of customers to acquire latest technology has led to a new environmental problem "waste", comprising of both end-of-life products and used products that are disposed prematurely. As a result, both consumer and government concerns for the environment are driving many original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to engage in additional series of activities stemming from the reverse supply chain. The combination of forward/traditional supply chain and reverse supply chain forms the closed-loop supply chain. Contrary to a traditional/forward supply chain, a closed-loop supply chain involves more variability. In this paper, we explore the use of Motorola's Six Sigma methodology to achieve better synchronization in a closed-loop supply chain network by tailoring the individual processes in a way that maximizes the overall delivery performance. A numerical example is considered to illustrate the approach.