Development of a closed loop supply chain network considering environmental factors and location-inventory decisions under uncertainty

Many researchers have simultaneously investigated location and inventory decisions. Furthermore, environmental factors in the design of supply chain networks have been studied. In this paper, a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model for the forward / reverse location-inventory problem with limited capacity considering production, distribution and recycling chain of automotive tires as a case study has been proposed. Compared to the previous research, a number of distribution centers, inspiring the real world situations, between factories and demand markets are considered and inventory decisions in those centers are also integrated in the model. Furthermore, the model in the uncertainty situation of key parameters such as demand and rate of return of products have been examined and analyzed. For more comprehensiveness of the model, environmental factors are considered in order to make the model closer to the real world situations. The developed model is investigated and analyzed utilizing different methods of multi-objective programming techniques.