A Novel Mathematical Formulation for the Strategic Planning of a Reverse Supply Chain Network - Theoretical and Computational Results

In the last decade, literature on strategic planning of a supply chain network grew rapidly. In this paper we address a classical three-layer remanufacturing supply chain network design problem that covers sourcing, reprocessing and remanufacturing activities, in which strategic decisions regarding the number, location of reprocessing units and the flow of returns through the logistics network are made. First, we propose an alternative mixed-integer mathematical programming (MILP) formulation for this problem and provide theoretical proof of equivalence between the classical and the proposed mathematical formulation. Second, the goodness of both formulations is compared by means of a computational study, and the results for large instances of the problem are discussed. We empirically prove that the proposed formulation provides tighter linear relaxation lower bounds and obtains the integer solutions several times faster than the classical