A hybrid approach for performance evaluation and optimized selection of recoverable end-of-life products in the reverse supply chain Kai Meng a , Peihuang Lou a , Xianghui Peng b,⇑ , Victor Prybutok c a College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China b Department of Management, College of Business and Public Administration, Eastern Washington University, Spokane, WA, USA c Department of Information Technology and Decision Sciences, College of Business, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA article info Article history: Received 31 March 2015 Received in revised form 26 December 2015 Accepted 13 May 2016 Available online 14 May 2016 Keywords: Selection of used product End-of-life product Recovery performance evaluation Multi-criteria decision making Reverse supply chain abstract Performance evaluation and selection of end-of-life products have emerged as crucial issues for firms looking to adopt a product recovery strategy to achieve environmental responsibility while still meeting profit goals within the reverse supply chain. However, there is still a lack of a comprehensive methodol- ogy to address the issues because of the variety of decision factors involved and the inherent uncertain- ties associated with them. This research proposes and investigates a multiphase hybrid approach to identify the recoverable products that best meet the criteria set (such as technical feasibility, economic benefit, and environmental effect). The proposed method simultaneously considers multiple and conflict- ing goals, practical constraints, and information uncertainty. First, fuzzy logic and probability theory are utilized to estimate the quality condition of used products and subsequently conduct the cost-benefit analysis based on the product life-cycle information. Then, the modified preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluations is used as a multi-criteria decision-making tool to quantify and aggregate the linguistic evaluation items into recovery preference factors. Further, all the qualitative and quantitative data are incorporated in a goal programming model to achieve a compromise and sat- isfied solution. We present a numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness and superiority of the pro- posed approach. The results indicate that the proposed approach can provide strong and flexible support for product recovery decision-making within the reverse supply chain. Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Significant increases in the consumption of natural resources and energy have brought pressure to develop sustainability. Recently, many countries have implemented strategies to achieve environmentally conscious manufacturing and end-of-life (EOL) product recovery (Ilgin & Gupta, 2010a). Stringent regulations of government or third parties and the green awareness of consumers are forcing manufacturers to deal with EOL products in a more environmentally-friendly manner (Guide, Jayaraman, Srivastava, & Benton, 2000). There is a strong need for researchers and practi- tioners to develop methods to optimize the reverse supply chain (RSC) in order to promote sustainable manufacturing through effi- cient and effective product recovery management (Pochampally & Gupta, 2012; Xanthopoulos & Iakovou, 2009). To ensure the successful implementation of RSC management, how to evaluate the performance of EOL products and then how to select the best ones for product recovery are crucial for RSC deci- sion makers. First, deciding what EOL products to collect and fur- ther product recovery is the prerequisite step in a RSC management system. Only when the recoverable products have been determined, the RSC management decision makers can fur- ther identify the RSC facilities (such as collection centers, demand centers, recovery firms) and design the networks (Pochampally & Gupta, 2008; Ilgin & Gupta, 2010a; Lambert, Riopel, & Abdul- Kader, 2011; Pochampally & Gupta, 2012). Second, deciding what EOL product to collect and further product recovery is also an essential gatekeeping for successful EOL product operations while effectively controlling costs (Lambert et al., 2011). Although pro- duct recovery is a promising strategy for saving resources and energy, reducing environment burden, and reclaiming the remain- ing value of EOL products, it also accrues costs related to sorting returns, testing products, disassembly, reprocessing and disposal. The EOL product processing firms, especially the product recovery http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2016.05.025 0360-8352/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: nuaamk@126.com (K. Meng), mecphlou@nuaa.edu.cn (P. Lou), xpeng@ewu.edu (X. Peng), Victor.Prybutok@unt.edu (V. Prybutok). Computers & Industrial Engineering 98 (2016) 171–184 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers & Industrial Engineering journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/caie