Cost-effective smart autonomation policy for a hybrid manufacturing-remanufacturing

This study focuses on an imperfect production process of assembled products, in which various spare parts of an assembled product are produced in a single stage. Generally, a production system may experience an “out-of-control” state due to machine failure or labor problems and begin to produce imperfect or defective parts, which are considered waste. In the “out-of-control” state, these parts tend to be produced at a random rate that follows a specific distribution. In this study, six different distributions are considered for the case, and a smart autonomation policy is introduced to detect such waste products. The autonomation policy enables error-free inspection and increases the brand image and product demand, which directly increases the total system profit. The defective products are remanufactured within the same production cycle. The order quantity, backorder size, and investment for autonomation are optimized to minimize the total cost. Numerical scenarios, various sensitivity analyses of critical parameters, and comparisons with existing studies are discussed. An industrial case study is performed to demonstrate the applicability of this research. The results prove that the autonomation policy reduces waste and optimized profit up to 78%.