Doctoral thesis of Philosophy: System dynamics modelling of closed loop supply chain systems for evaluating system improvement strategies

The purpose of this research is to model the factors affecting a production and inventory system that combines returns and remanufacturing, and to evaluate effective control strategies in order to improve the performance of the system. In this regard, the main steps adopted to conduct the modelling process initially involved an investigation of reverse logistics and closed loop supply modelling as reported in the literature. An investigation of previous models developed contributed to our research by increasing the knowledge required to conduct the modelling.