Chaima Zormati's Thesis Defense

This dissertation falls within the field of logistics system planning in the circular economy, where the joint coordination of outbound and return flows must be ensured under significant operational constraints. It is based on the Inventory Routing Problem (IRP), specifically its Pickup and Delivery variant, which formalizes the interdependence between inventory management decisions and routing decisions, while incorporating simultaneous pickup and delivery operations.

The proposed approach employs multi-objective modeling to systematically characterize the trade-offs between economic, environmental, and social dimensions, and to compare alternative planning policies tailored to heterogeneous decision-making priorities. The analysis also incorporates a robustness perspective by evaluating the stability of policies in the face of variability in execution conditions and disruptions that could alter expected performance.

From a managerial perspective, the results provide a framework for structuring decisions related to circularity and sustainability by clarifying the influence of operational choices (stock level settings, frequency and organization of delivery routes, coordination of outbound and return flows, and degrees of flexibility) on closing loops, reducing environmental impacts, and ensuring the sustainability of operating conditions. They thus contribute to the development of logistics policies consistent with the strategic objectives of the circular economy.

Reverse Logistics, Routing and Inventory Problems, Metaheuristics, Sustainability, Circularity, Robustness, Decision Support, Operations Research.

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