Research on Capacity-constrained Manufacturing/Remanufacturing Hybrid System with Outsourcing

The purpose of our research is to develop a decision-making model for manufacturing and remanufacturing hybrid system with the goal of maximizing corporate profit. Under a random market environment, we assumed that the remanufacturing operation was outsourced and both the manufacturing process and remanufacturing process had capacity constraints. By analyzing the relations between manufacturing/remanufacturing production batch sizes and inventory level, we established a multi-period capacitated manufacturing/remanufacturing hybrid decision-making model. A heuristic genetic algorithm was designed and a numerical example demonstrated the validity of the model and the algorithm. We conclude that the manufacturing/remanufacturing quantities decision is affected by both market parameters and capacity limitations. This study is useful for manufacturers to make strategy and plan in manufacturing/remanufacturing operations.