High amounts of waste paper are disposed of every year in Iran posing the health hazard and environmental damages instead of being recovered. Collection, recovery and proper disposal of waste paper without damaging the environment need to design an efficient closed-loop supply chain network. The main objective of this paper is introducing a bi-objective, multi-echelon, multi-product and single-...

Nowadays, in highly competitive global markets and constant pressure to reduce total costs, enterprises consider group technology and Supply Chain Management (SCM) accordingly and usually separately as the key elements for intra and inter facilities improvement. Simultaneous consideration of the elements of these two disciplines in an integrated design can result in higher efficiency and ...

Streamlining information flows across the physical supply chain is crucial for successful supply chain management. This study examines different structures of e-networks (i.e., virtual supply chains linked via electronic information and communication technologies) and their maximum capabilities to gain e-network benefits. Further, this research explores four levels of e-network integration base...

In this study a supply chain network design model has been developed considering both forward and reverse flows through the supply chain. Total Cost, environmental factors such as CO2 emission, and social factors such as employment and fairness in providing job opportunities are considered in three separate objective functions. The model seeks to optimize the facility location proble...

A radio frequency identification device (RFID) is a type of information technology used to improve supply chain management through an enhanced visualization of products. The RFID market in the U.S healthcare industry has been projected to be approximately $297 million and has been expected to grow at a rapid speed. RFID had a great impact on the hospital supply chain. It has been demonstrated t...

The design of closed-loop supply chain networks has attracted increasing attention in recent decades with environmental concerns and commercial factors. Due to the rapid growth of knowledge and technology, the complexity of the supply chain operations is increasing daily and organizations are faced with numerous challenges and risks in their management. Most organizations with limited resources...

Information technology is changing the business value chain and business systems. This situation is due to the business value chain and the value creation factors in business. Technology companies and researchers are developing new businesses, but many companies and researchers cannot find successful ways to analyze and develop a business in a specific way. In this paper, the following will be ...

Supply chain pressures have caused some firms to reexamine their processes. In doing so, firms are exploring emerging technology such as RFID to enable seamless exchange of information within their supply chain. While RFID promised to “revolutionize” the way business processes are managed today, the impact and benefits of the technology are still unclear and ambiguous concepts such as “intellig...

This chapter explores how a mobile tracking technology is able to further streamline the integrated supply chain. Previous technologies which have attempted to integrate suppliers, manufactures, distributors and retailers have lacked the flexibility and efficiency necessary to justify the prohibiting costs. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology however enables various organizations a...

Implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology stands to save WalMart $750 million dollars per year. The retail giant has mandated that its top 100 suppliers begin using RFID by 2005. It is believed that other retailers will follow Wal-Mart’s lead. RFID holds the promise for a more efficient supply-chain, however, the industry struggles to comply with the cost and logistics ...