A modeling approach to analyze variability of remanufacturing process routing

Remanufacturing is a practice of growing importance due to increasing environmental awareness and regulations. However, little research focuses on stochastic remanufacturing process routings (RPR). This paper presents an analytical method, where four Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT)-based RPR models are proposed to mathematically represent and analyze the variability of remanufacturing task sequences. In particular, with the method, the probability of individual processes being taken in a remanufacturing system and the time associated with them can be efficiently determined. The proposed method is demonstrated through the remanufacturing of used lathe spindles and telephones, and verified by Arena simulation. Numerical experiments that investigate the relationships between RPR dynamics and other system parameters (such as inventory control for due-time performance and time buffer size for bottleneck control) are included.