Looping in a multistage production system

Abstract Multistage production systems have been an important quest of researchers over many years. While much work has been reported in this area little appears to have been done when recycling, an inevitable factor in any production system, is present. In this paper, a model for optimal production batch quantity as well as optimal recycling lot size has been developed with a view to minimizing the total operational cost of such situations, where recycling takes place only from the last stage to the first. The model has been validated using sample data from a glassworks, located in Western India. The effects of changes of model parameters were also studied and practical guidelines arising out of the same have been provided.