Hierarchical Optimization for Green Product Line Design

Green product design is recognized as one of the important approaches to improve environmental and social performance and achieve sustainable development. In the context of constraints of carbon emission, this article proposes a bilevel joint optimization (BJO) approach to optimize the green product line design with the consideration of the interactive relationship between firms in a competitive marketplace. A nonlinear, integer bilevel programming model with the consideration of carbon emission is developed based on the leader-follower decision framework. A bilevel nested genetic algorithm is presented to solve this optimization model. A case study of notebook computer involving one leader and one follower is developed to test the proposed optimization model. It is concluded that the presented BJO method can achieve a relatively better optimal solution to increase the profit of the product line while decreasing the amount of carbon emission for both leader and follower.