Link between sustainable circular supply chain and Internet of Things technology in electric vehicle battery manufacturing industry: A business strategy optimization for pickup and delivery

Abstract

Modern industries use advanced technological solutions to efficiently manage waste and increase the sustainability of supply chain (SC) networks. Technologies in SC networks can achieve this by establishing a link between circular economy principles and Industry 4.0. Therefore, in this study, for the first time, a novel bi‐objective mixed‐integer linear programming model is developed to design a sustainable SC network by considering circular economy practices, the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, and the location‐routing problem with a simultaneous pickup‐and‐delivery (P&D) strategy in the electric vehicle (EV) battery industry. The proposed model locates distribution and recycling centers and considers the routing problem with the P&D strategy between the distribution centers and service providers. By applying the augmented epsilon‐constraint method, a balance is established between minimizing total costs and carbon emissions, and a set of Pareto‐optimal solutions is provided. It should be noted that the P&D strategy reduces the total costs and carbon emissions, and the IoT technology provides conditions for designing a secure and traceable network. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated using data from an EV battery module manufacturing company in the Far East. A sensitivity analysis of the parameters related to operational costs, carbon emissions, and demand demonstrated the accuracy of the performance of the proposed model.