Indexed by:Conference Paper

Date of Publication:2008-01-01

Included Journals:CPCI-S

Page Number:6373-6376

Key Words:supernetwork; return supply chain; variational inequality

Abstract:This paper proposes a new supernetwork model of a three-tier supply chain which consists of manufacturers, retailers, and ultimate consumers. In this model, the manufacturers who produce a homogeneous product can sell product not only to retailers but also directly to consumers by Internet, and only the retailers can return the unmarketable products to the manufacturers. The model gets equilibrium through optimization of each tier and its system optimization is formulated as a finite-dimensional variational Inequality problem. To illustrate the supernetwork, an example is shown. This model simulates return supply chain under electronic commerce and its equilibrium means the global optimization of the supply chain. It solves the return problem in the supply chain network under electronic commerce.