Effects of advanced preservation policy on primary and secondary supply chain management

Food products' wholesomeness is affected due to continuous degradative changes with time, resulting in reduced quality of products. The degradation is caused by several factors, which have been frequently studied by several researchers. Various policies have been adopted to improve lifetime of deteriorating products. The recent innovations in this regards include several types of preservation technologies to reduce the deterioration rate as waste reduction policies. Use of such technologies for such fixed lifetime products eludes lost sales and increases the supply chain profit as well. Several researchers proposed continuous reduction in rates of deterioration with investment in preservation technology. Unlike their theories, this research work focuses on more real circumstances. It proposes such models of preservation policy that magnitude of decrease in deterioration reduces for additional investment in preservation technology. Despite of application of preservation, food products become unfit for human consumption after a certain period of time. Recycling of such stale products into secondary products is an urgent need of sustainable supply chains, which not only conserves natural resources and protects environment, but also supports the economy. The existing closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) and reverse logistic models contain remanufacturing or recycling of waste products into raw material of the same products. There is a prospect to model such supply chain systems, where the decayed products are converted into entirely different secondary products. In this context, the proposed study investigates such supply chain models with application of the advanced preservation policy for such fixed lifetime deteriorating products, which, after expiration, are converted into secondary products. The research is carried out in three phases. The hypothesis, proposed within each phase, is mathematically modelled and is concluded through numerical experiments. In the first phase, a two-echelon supply chain model is formulated with the application of advanced preservation policy (APP) for a single type of deteriorating products. Preservation of products is carried out in two phases: adding preservatives and applying preservation conditions. Effect of preservation on product's lifetime and rate of deterioration is modelled mathematically in such a way that the decrease in deterioration reduces for additional preservation cost. Reduced deterioration minimizes the waste. Moreover, this model introduces a variable component of selling-price, which depends on maximum lifetime of products. A nonlinear mathematical model is provided to represent profit of the proposed supply chain system, which is maximized on optimal values of investment in preservation technology and cycle time. An analysis is provided to demonstrate the effect of lifetime of a product on optimal investment in preservation for waste reduction. The results of the numerical experiments exhibit improvement in several parameters while adopting the APP. These results provide an insight about the significance of investment for preservatives and preservation conditions. In the second phase, a secondary supply chain is incorporated within the first model to design a primary and secondary supply chain system with APP for a single type of deteriorating products to reduce the waste at a minimum level. Conferring the practical aspects of a secondary product, its lifetime is considered longer as compared to that of the primary product. A mathematical model for the joint profit of primary and secondary supply chains is provided, which is maximized on the optimal values of investment in preservation technology within both the supply chains and their common cycle time for reducing waste. A comparative analysis, between first and second phase, of investment in preservation for primary product, is provided to reveal that how the incorporation of secondary supply chain affects the optimal investment in preservation for primary product to reduce waste. The comparison of profit between both the models validates the hypothesis of incorporating a secondary supply chain for such deteriorating products. Another mathematical model is provided within this phase for the same system without application of preservation policy. The comparative results recommend the adoption of the proposed preservation policy. Effect of a product's lifetime on optimal investment in preservation is provided by comparing these results for primary and secondary product for waste reduction. In the final phase, multiple products are considered within primary and secondary supply chains to reduce waste. These multiple products are manufactured at multiple manufacturers and are vended at a common retailer of their respective supply chains. Lifetime of each product is considered as different. Similarly, the rate of deterioration and effectiveness of preservation is dissimilar for each product. In order to solve the complexity, added by such considerations, a nonlinear mathematical model of joint profit of both the supply chains is provided, which is maximized by finding the optimal values of investment in preservation within both the supply chains and their cycle time, through analytical optimization method. Comparison of investment in preservation, cycle time, and profit between single product system and multiple product system is provided, which concludes very useful insights for the managers and practitioners.Docto