A Mixed 0-1 Model Plan for Reverse Logistics Job Shipments

Traditionally, reverse logistics has been viewed as unavoidable cost of doing business, forfeiting any chance of cost savings. In the recent past years, possible cost reductions, more rigid environmental legislations and increasing environmental concerns of consumers have led to more attention to reverse logistics. As cost pressures continue to mount in the competitive logistics industry, a growing number of third-party logistics providers (3PLs) have begun to explore the possibility of managing reverse logistics in a more cost-efficient manner. In this paper, we formulate a mixed 0-1 LP model to solve the reverse logistics shipping problem. We also provide an illustrative case to examine the model with a customized tabu-search algorithm.