Optimization of manufacturing systems under environmental considerations for a greenness-dependent demand

In this work, we show that the optimization models for manufacturing systems should evolve to consider the environmental impacts of manufacturing activities and to integrate the environmental performance of finished products. In particular, the selection of manufacturing processes (technologies) and input items (components) should be revised with environmental consideration. With this scope in mind, we develop two optimization models where we consider the selection of production processes and the choice of input products. In the first model, a single product is offered by the firm and the demand of this product depends on its greenness. In the second model, the market is segmented between ordinary and green customers and the firm offers a different variety of the output product to each segment. In this case, both the demand and the price depend on the product greenness. In both models, the greenness of the output product is a decision variable that is simultaneously determined along with the other decisions. In addition, the models integrate environmental legislations. We conduct numerical experiments on a case study from the textile sector in order to show how the integration of the product greenness impacts on the system profit and decisions.