A multi-plant tolerance allocation model for assembled electronic products in green supply chain management

Due to increased environmental consciousness, customers are aware of the world´s environmental problems in the last few decades. The green principles have been expanded to many departments within organization, including supply chain. Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) covering every stage in manufacturing from the first to the last stage of life cycle has emerged in the last few years. In this research, GSCM is the concept for manufacturing that minimizes waste through product and process design, including the definition of the product construction, production, and recycling. To achieve the concept of GSCM, tolerance allocation for assembling a product needs to consider how a product can be disassembled and recycled before the product is planned to be assembled. In this research, a multi-plant tolerance allocation model for assembled electronic products is presented. Firstly, tolerance allocation model is presented to determine the working tolerance of each of the components. A mathematical programming model is presented to assign the components to the suitable plants with the cost objectives of manufacturing costs and GSCM costs. An example product is tested and illustrated.