ABSTRACT
The production planning function in remanufacturing is responsible for planning how much and when to disassemble, how much and when to remanufacture, how much to produce and/or order for new materials, as well as coordinating disassembly and reassembly. Production planning in remanufacturing is more complicated than in a traditional manufacturing system due to the high level of uncertainty associated with the condition, quantity, and arrival time of product returns-the main input to a remanufacturing system. In a manufacturing system, the quality of inputs (i.e., materials and/or components) is homogenous since they are provided by the suppliers of the company under strict quality requirements. However, used products are returned by consumers who do not have any responsibility or concern about the condition of the product. This nonhomogenous structure of product returns makes lead times of remanufacturing operations very erratic. In addition, forecasts are less accurate since the number of product returns shows wide variation from period to period.
