Capacitated remanufacturing with service level constraints

This research examines production planning and control for a remanufacturer that can sell returned items on a graded as-is basis or remanufacture the returned items. Using a GI/G/1 queuing network, we model the firm's decision to remanufacture an optimal product mix over the long run that maximizes profits while maintaining a desired service level. We further use simulation to explore dispatching heuristics that can be used at the shop-floor level to achieve the desired optimal product mix, while meeting the service level constraint. Our research is grounded in actual practice and the results provide key insights into the decision-making process required to maximize profits and minimize average flow times for remanufactured products.