Yes / The role of closed loop supply chains (CLSC) for creating and recovering value is widely acknowledged in supply chain management and there are many examples, mainly in the business-to-business sector, of successful OEM remanufacturing. The integration of value creation and recovery activities into retail customer value propositions is, however, under researched and raises many challenges, especially in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) retail where few real world examples have been published. The recent emergence of the term ‘circular economy’ has initiated further debate about closed loop value propositions and closed loop supply chain implications. This paper selects four circular economy-led closed loop product case examples from a major European FMCG company, and assesses, at a high level, how these cases created value, for whom value was created, and key challenges in their implementation. The findings highlight that each case is different. Closing loops and creating successful value propositions is complex and requires simultaneous reconfiguration of key building blocks to ensure customer acceptance and business viability. The paper proposes the term ‘circular supply chain’ for cases where circular economy principles are explicitly incorporated in CLSC for value creation.

Purpose: This thesis’ purpose is to identify a CLSC model of flat glass, including actors,waste sources, and what can be done with recycled flat glass. In addition, this researchaims to propose a cost structure of a flat glass CLSC. Thus, this thesis’ research questions(RQ) are: RQ1: How can closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) for the purpose of flat glasslook like? RQ1.A: What actors are a part of a flat glass CLSC? RQ1.B: What are thewaste sources of flat glass in a flat glass CLSC? RQ1.C: What are the uses of flat glassas secondary material? RQ2: How can a cost structure for a closed-loop supply chain(CLSC) for the purpose of flat glass look like?  Method: For this purpose of this thesis the researchers chose to employ a pragmatistresearch philosophy. The thesis is an exploratory qualitative study using an abductiveapproach. A case study strategy was used, and data was collected through semi-structuredinterviews and a literature review. Seven interviews were conducted with the six casecompanies. Findings: A flat glass CLSC consists of three phases: manufacture, use, and secondary(raw) material. The main actors are float glass manufacturer, flat glass processor/refiner,flat glass distributor, construction and demolition company, flat glass recycler, and freighthauler. Sub-actors of a flat glass CLSC are raw materials supplier, government, thirdparty contractors, container glass manufacturer, and glass wool manufacturer. Secondarymaterial occurs during flat glass manufacturing, distribution/transport, construction, anddemolition. It can be divided into three types, i.e., pure, high quality cut-offs,contaminated flat glass, and end-of-use flat glass. The possible uses of flat glass assecondary material are float glass, container glass, and glass wool manufacturing. Thecost structure for a flat glass CLSC divides cost elements into the three phases of a flatglass CLSC and six supply chain cost categories, which include manufacturing cost,distribution cost, warehousing cost, administration cost, capital cost, and installation cost. Theoretical Implications: This master’s thesis helps in adding to two research areas: flatglass and CLSC. By reviewing existing literature and conducting the case studies inChina, Germany, and Norway, the researchers can reflect the current practices of flat glassCLSCs in different countries, thereby adding to existing scientific research to close theresearch gap of flat glass CLSCs. Practical Implications: This master’s thesis contributes to practice by providing a flatglass CLSC model and cost structure which can be used as a starting point of developinga flat glass CLSC and its cost structure. In addition, this thesis is connected to anotherbigger research project in collaboration with the Linnaeus University and the city ofVäxjö, the findings from this thesis are beneficial for improving the situation of flat glassin Sweden. Societal Implications: By researching circularity in CDW, this master’s thesis helps notonly the city of Växjö but also other Swedish cities to improve the situation of flat glassand strive towards a full circular economy, further contributing to an increase insustainability in Sweden.

The closed loop supply chain concept has been argued to be one vital sustainability solution to prevent waste and aid humanitarian concerns. At the same time, over a third of the food resources for human consumption is being converted to food waste, contributing to malnutrition, starvation and countless deaths. Previous studies have indicated problematic barriers and constraints preventing corporations to engage in CLSC in the perceived absence of urgency and financial motives.   The purpose of this thesis is to identify how companies within the food retail industry utilise closed loop supply chain solutions to reduce waste, and contribute with knowledge in the area of CLSC solutions applicable to the food retail industry. Our study investigates the use of CLSC in the food retail industry in Sweden, and the possible constraints and advantages of CLSC in the context of reducing food waste. A qualitative study was deemed most suitable in order to try to understand and explore the complexity of the CLSC concept in a different industry environment. Three Swedish companies active in the food retail industry participated in semi-structured interviews to expand our understanding of CLSC use and incentives applicable to reducing food waste. The findings of this thesis indicates that the firms in the Swedish food retailing industry are cognisant and aware of CLSC processes. However, in the perspective of the store managers, sustainable processes and activities that theoretically constitute core components within CLSC were simply identified as fundamental processes, incentives and activities in their daily operations towards working more sustainably to minimise food waste. Advantages of CLSC included the interplay and cooperation between corporate efforts and societal stakeholders, serving as a beacon for a brighter and more sustainable future benefiting not only firms and customers but arguably everyone. However, standards, policies and regulations were identified as a limiting factor, regarding to what extent companies can engage in certain CLSC activities. Although, it was identified that all of the case companies were eager to continue their work towards CLSC and sustainable operations, arguably indicating a long-term commitment to circular activities and endeavours.

Environmental concerns are increasing in today's marketplace as well as the pressure for companies tobe as efficient as possible in order to retain and gain market share. This has led to a need forstandardized processes. A process that has become increasingly more common in companies is thesales and operations planning (S&OP) process which aims to match demand with supply. With theenvironmental concern growing in interest it is becoming more important for companies to reuse aproduct in order to utilize the remaining value of the product. This if often only done if there isfinancial gains from the commitment. This is done in a closed loop supply chain where OriginalEquipment Manufacturers (OEM) takes back and remanufacture, refurbish and repair used products.With a growing interest in closed loop supply chains it is becoming increasingly more important forcompanies to be efficient in this area as well. The focal company of this study is working with theirsales and operations planning process as well as with remanufactured products in order to becomemore efficient with their processes they want to integrate the remanufactured products, in this studycalled R2 products into the already existing S&OP process. The aim of this study was hence toinvestigate what complexities that may arise when remanufactured products are integrated into anS&OP process, i.e. what challenges that would occur when remanufactured products were brought into the S&OP process. The case design included semi-structured interviews as the main data source. The results of the studyshowed that complexities may arise in all five steps of the S&OP process. The main findings showedthat the biggest impact of integration would be in the first two stages of the five step process, havingthe most complexities. This study has both academic and managerial implications. In academia thestudy contributes with knowledge in an interface which at the time of this study has been paid verylittle attention in research. This study also provides researchers with a conceptual framework whichcan be tested in other settings and used as a basis for further evaluation of this interface. Themanagerial implications comes from having the possibility by this study to know potential areas thatwill need extra attention before an integration of remanufactured products is conducted. Theframework presented in this study can provide managers with a checklist to follow in the integrationprocess. / Den miljömässiga medvetenheten på dagens marknader ökar och likaså trycket på företag att vara så effektiva som möjligt för att behålla och vinna markandsandelar. Detta har lett till att behov av att standardisera processer där en mer vanligt förekommande process är sälj- och verksamhetsledningsprocessen (Sales and Operations Planning) som har till uppgift att balansera utbud och efterfrågan. Med den ökande miljömässiga medvetenheten blir det mer och mer viktigt för företag att öka längden på produktens livscykel genom att ta tillvara på det resterande värdet när den initiala kunden nått sitt slut på användandet. Detta görs dock ofta endast om det även är lönsamt för företaget. Detta görs i en så kallad sluten försörjningskedja (closed loop supply chain) där originaltillverkare tar tillbaka produkter och omarbetar dem för att ge dem nytt liv. Med ökande intresse och globalt tryck om hållbarhet är även detta ett område där företag börjar sträva mot att bli mer effektiva. Fallföretaget i denna studie arbetar med sälj och verksamhetsledning, tillika med omarbetade produkter. För att blir att öka effektiviteten i deras processer vill de därför integrera deras omarbetade produkter i den befintliga sälj och verksamhetsledningsprocessen. I denna studie kallas dessa produkter för R2. Syftet med denna studie var således att undersöka vilka komplexiteter som kan uppkomma vid denna integrering. Det vill säga, vilka oväntade utmaningar som kan framkomma när R2 produkterna integreras i sälj och verksamhetsledningsprocessen. Fallstudiens utformning inkluderade semistrukturerade intervjuer som huvudsaklig datakälla. Resultaten av studien visade att komplexiteter kan uppkomma i alla fem delar av sälj- och verksamhetsledningsprocessen. De huvudsakliga resultaten visade dock att den största påverkan skulle hamna i de första två stegen av den fördefinierade femstegsprocessen. Denna studie har både akademiska och praktiska implikationer. För akademin bidrar studien med kunskap i gränssnittet mellan sälj- och verksamhetsledning och omarbetade produkter. Den bidrar också med ett konceptuellt ramverk som kan användas av forskare för att vidareutveckla och utvärdera gränssnittet. De praktiska implikationerna kommer från att denna studie ger möjlighet för beslutsfattare i företage att förstå potentiella områden som behöver extra uppmärksamhet före en integration av omarbetade produkter genomförs.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T10:40:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MARINA MEIRELES PEREIRA.pdf: 5021994 bytes, checksum: 7b9170817bc15d6c6c8810e83ac1330e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-15 / This research aims to apply a prediction model to a tire closed-loop supply chain to estimate the volume returned of scrap tires, through the variables that influence the amount and time that these tires are returned to destination. The methodological approach applied in this research is the modeling by applying the Transfer Function Model. It starts with the analysis that the tire closed-loop supply chain of Goiás and the Federal District is structured and there is a direct relationship between sales of tires with the amount returned. Were adopted as model input variables the amount of tires placed on the market for after-market and the size of the current fleet of these places, representing the amount of tires entered the market for new cars sold. For the output variable was considered the quantity of scrap tires collected and sent for disposal. The data for the survey were collected in the organization s databases adopted as an object of study, IBAMA, DENATRAN, ANIP and AliceWeb considering a period of 54 months. Data were analyzed by the transfer function model and the results showed that the lag time after the tires were entered on the market was around 12 months for all input variables, the return probability of the after-market are greater than the return probability of the tire fleets, and the behavior of the predicted return showed an approximate behavior of the real return with a percentage deviation of 3.4%. Therefore, this study enabled us to identify the variables that influence the return of scrap tires and scale the amount of returned volume tires and the time of this return to facilitate the planning of the tires of closed-loop supply chain. / Esta pesquisa visa aplicar um modelo de previsão a uma cadeia de suprimentos de ciclo fechado de pneus, para estimar o volume de pneus inservíveis retornados, por meio das variáveis que influenciam na quantidade e no tempo que estes pneus retornam para serem destinados. A abordagem metodológica aplicada nessa pesquisa se situa na Modelagem, aplicando o Modelo de Função de Transferência. Parte-se da análise de que a cadeia de suprimentos de ciclo fechado do Estado de Goiás e Distrito Federal está estruturada e que há uma relação direta entre as vendas de pneus com a quantidade retornada. Foram adotadas como variáveis de entrada do modelo a quantidade de pneus inseridos no mercado, pelo mercado de reposição e o tamanho da frota circulante destas localidades, representando a quantidade de pneus inseridos no mercado pelos carros novos vendidos. Para a variável de saída foi considerada a quantidade de pneus inservíveis coletados e encaminhados para destinação final. Os dados utilizados na pesquisa foram coletados em bancos de dados da organização adotada como objeto de estudo, IBAMA, DENATRAN, ANIP e AliceWeb, considerando de um período de 54 meses. Os dados foram analisados pelo modelo de função de transferência e os resultados obtidos mostraram que o tempo de defasagem da entrada de pneus no mercado foi em torno de 12 meses para todas as variáveis de entrada, que as probabilidades de retorno do mercado de reposição são maiores que as probabilidades de retorno dos pneus das frotas e que a previsão de retorno apresentou um comportamento aproximado do comportamento real do retorno com um desvio percentual de 3,4%. Portanto, este estudo possibilitou identificar as variáveis que influenciam no retorno de pneus inservíveis e a dimensionar a quantidade de volume de pneus retornados e o tempo desse retorno para viabilizar o planejamento da cadeia de suprimentos de ciclo fechado de pneus.

Closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs) that integrate the activities for reclaiming residual values in postconsumer products with the traditional forward supply chain activities are important from financial and environmental perspectives. This thesis develops models and analyses on three topics novel to the field of CLSC research with a goal of advancing knowledge about effective decision-makings in CLSCs. In the first part of the thesis, we study joint control of stochastic forward and stochastic reverse material flows in CLSCs. With an application to a CLSC where postconsumer products are collected for warranty service purposes, we demonstrate that the benefit of coordinating two production activities could be significant. We develop a model that can be used to obtain an effective inventory control policy for coordinating forward and reverse material flows. Through Monte Carlo simulation and global sensitivity analysis, we identify major influential factors that affect system's warranty cost savings performance. The results indicate that joint control of forward and reverse material flows greatly improves warranty cost savings performance as well as system's robustness to uncertainties. The second part of the thesis develops a differential game model for characterizing decentralized time-varying competitive decision-making in a CLSC. The differential game model is particularly useful for studying time-varying interactive decision-making in CLSCs that involve many stakeholders who pursue different objectives in forward and reverse production activities. We identify optimal prices and production strategies that evolve over time under fluctuating market demand. Also, the model provides a quantitative scheme that can be used to obtain an efficient apportionment of product recovery processes. The third part of the thesis describes the relationship among consumers' risk-aversion, product cannibalization of new products by remanufactured products, and growth of CLSCs through price optimization models. Whereas price is one of the most effective variables for managing market demand, previous CLSC research has mainly focused on operational problems without paying much attention on the interface between CLSCs and markets. We develop models that jointly determine optimal prices in forward and reverse channels considering consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for remanufactured products, consumers' willingness-to-accept (WTA) for a buyback price, and consumers' risk aversion to uncertain quality perceptions. The results show that consumers' active participation in CLSC is an important factor for the viability and growth of a CLSC. Also, we show that companies can benefit from product remanufacturing although it may be accompanied by production cannibalization.

In this study, we focus on pricing and production decisions in reusable container systems with stochastic demand. We consider a producer that sells a single product to the customers in reusable containers with two supply options: (i) brand-new containers, (ii) returned containers from customers. Customers purchasing the products may return the containers to the producer to receive a deposit price. The return quantity depends on both customer demand and the deposit price determined by the producer. Hence, the producer has the opportunity to manipulate the return quantity via the deposit price. The unit cost of filling brand-new containers is different than the unit cost of refilling returned containers. We also consider resource restrictions on the production operations. Our setting represents certain hybrid manufacturing / remanufacturing systems where (i) the producer collects and recovers his own products, (ii) the producer supplies both brand-new and recovered products to his customers, and (iii) the customers are indierent between brand-new and recovered products. In this setting, we investigate the optimal pricing and production decisions in order to maximize the producer`s profit. Our approach utilizes non-linear optimization techniques. We characterize the optimal acquisition fee and the optimal order quantity of brand-new containers analytically and investigate the effect of parameters with an extensive computational study.

Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to set up a closed-loop supply chain model for B2C online subscription box retailers and to develop a business case evaluating the model’s sustainability. Method This explorative thesis has an abductive research approach. Multiple-case studies are conducted and data from four cases and an expert are collected by conducting interviews. The research contains both qualitative and quantitative data. Findings A closed-loop SC model is created with regards to transport packaging. The model suggests that once the package is received by the consumer it can be returned in an empty state. After being cleaned it should be reused by the 3PL. The model’s sustainability is evaluated by developing a business case. Sustainable performance measures with regards to economic, social and environmental practice are assembled. The model enhances general social performance and environmental performance. Economic performance is mostly positively influenced. Options for cost savings in order to improve the economic performance of the model are suggested by the researchers. Practical implications The work provides businesses within the online B2C subscription box retail with a model for a possible closed-loop supply chain with regards to transport packaging. The business case for sustainability can be applied as a guideline to evaluate the model or similar ones. Researchers give suggestions on adapting packaging to enhance economic performance. Societal implications This thesis points out possible environmental and social benefits that may be achieved by a closedloop supply chain model. Besides waste and emission reduction, social performance such as employee motivation is positively influenced. Theoretical implications The thesis provides a model developed from theory and empirical data. The model does not only have practical implementations but also complements theory where a gap has earlier been identified. Through the business case for sustainability researchers contribute to theory since literature is scarce.