Determining cost effectiveness index of remanufacturing: A graph theoretic approach

Remanufacturing is a powerful product recovery option which generates products as good as new ones, from old discarded ones. Growing concern for energy conservation and waste reduction led to the augmentation of this technique. However, like any other business, remanufacturing also considers cost saving as an important aspect before it can be adopted in any industry. Cost effectiveness of any business depends upon a number of economic and operational factors. This paper evaluates the economic viability of remanufacturing by using the graph theoretic approach. Several qualitative and quantitative parameters have been enlisted, based on which, the digraph and matrix technique has been applied, to calculate the maximum and minimum values of cost effectiveness index. In addition, the cost effectiveness index for, five common products, that is, automobile engine, photocopy machine, industrial machinery, mobile phones and electronic household goods like television and music system have been calculated to illustrate the industrial applicability of this model. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.