oa A Framework For Green Supply Chain Of Steel Industry

An initial generic framework for steel industry supply chain sustainability is proposed and enhanced later to reflect the reality of supply chain operations. The Green Supply Chain (GL-SC) framework is based on a simultaneous implementation of environmental and green practices across the supply chain. It also involves methods to recover the product from customer or scrap and to re-use it or re-use part of it through recycling, repair, remanufacturing, or refurbishment. Recovered items can be sent to customer or to another customer (second grade) or even returned to supplier. The framework covers the key supply chain components and operations, specifies their environmental impacts, and assigns potential green practices. The Framework specifies green SC practices that can mainly contribute to the sustainability of the steel supply chain. This is expected to result in a green focus across the supply chain and establishes for a green assessment of various SC functions. A set of green supply chain (G-SC) metrics will be developed to assess the sustainability of steel supply chain. These metrics will be used to assess the effectiveness of current and proposed green practices within the supply chain while revealing the effects of these initiatives and their potential opportunities. The proposed framework includes both qualitative and quantitative performance measurements. As green initiatives are evaluated for adoption and a set of sustainable supply chain performance measures (KPIs) will be developed then a DES simulation model of steel supply chain will be built, validated, and verified. Conflict amongst the multiple objectives and KPIs is often expected. The assessment of such initiatives/alternatives translates into a multi-objective optimization problem that could be modeled and potentially solved using heuristics and simulation models, and randomized search engines (e.g., Genetic Algorithms, Tabu Search, and Simulated Annealing). Practically, it is difficult and in some cases impossible to include all aspects of SC green practices in the solution achieved with such methods. The proposed framework recommends managerial decision support tools, namely Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), for selecting an applicable strategy for attaining a green and lean supply chain. To this end, AHP is utilized to determine an overall score of combined green proposals based on the ratings and relative importance of the selected green KPIs. This is essential in order to arrive at realistic and comprehensive assessment of the proposed strategies.