Reverse Logistics

Putting a Lean Spin on Reverse Logistics

Reverse logistics—the processes involved with handling products returned by customers—is often overlooked during supply chain planning. As a result, it is frequently a source of waste, because companies lack Lean procedures for handling defective, damaged, mislabeled, or incorrectly shipped items when customers return them. Recently, businesses have started paying more attention to their reverse logistics […]

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Discovering the Value of Reverse Logistics

Some people think of reverse logistics—the process of removing assets from their primary use channel to a secondary channel to maximize the assets’ value—as only handling customer returns or defective goods. But defective items account for only about 25 percent of the total value of all assets processed in reverse logistics operations. Recalled product, overstocks, […]

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Consumer Electronics and Reverse Logistics: Play It Again

Shoppers return between 11 and 20 percent of consumer electronics devices, according to industry experts. While returns are the beginning to device recovery, all the steps in the reverse logistics process, including repair/refurbishment and remarketing, can be improved. Recognizing the importance of reverse logistics in maintaining and growing profit margins, many consumer electronics manufacturers and […]

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How to Select a Returns Management Partner

As retailers turn over stones looking for ways to reduce costs, eliminate waste, become greener, and raise the bottom line, returns management is an area ripe for picking. What was once written off as a lost cost has now become a can’t-miss opportunity—and for good reason. In 2011, U.S. consumers returned more than eight percent […]

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Return to Sender: Managing Reverse Logistics

Most e-commerce businesses focus time and money on providing customers with efficient and flexible delivery options. Many companies, however, neglect to extend this attention to the return of unwanted goods. While many factors influence customer loyalty, a well-run returns process drives repeat orders and improves consumer satisfaction. Eighty-five percent of consumers surveyed by research firm […]

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Reusable Shipping Dunnage Protects Sustainability Efforts

Containers and packaging account for 30 percent of all U.S. municipal solid waste, according to a 2009 EPA study. Small wonder, considering the contribution of millions of tons of disposable corrugated and wood filler used to protect products in transit across America every day. By road and rail, goods move about in the temporary company […]

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Improving Reverse Logistics Moves Shippers Forward

Q: How can shippers improve their reverse supply chain? A: Amid today’s higher fuel and transportation costs, technology becomes critical as companies search for efficiencies within the supply chain. The reverse supply chain has historically been viewed as a cost center and is often overlooked as a place where profit can be found. In the […]

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Co-locating Reverse and Forward Logistics Unlocks Value of Returns

Q: Why is reverse logistics an important function in today’s consumer electronics supply chain? A: Companies are trying to extend product lifecycles, as well as maximize asset recovery value. If they spend money to make a product, they want to recapture as much of the original cost as possible. Consider that 65 to 70 percent […]

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The Three Pillars of Effective Returns Management

Returns management presents both challenges and opportunities for inbound logistics. Waste management regulations and non-compliance penalties are increasing. Rising commodity prices and a growing secondary marketplace, however, create an opportunity to recover value from used and scrapped materials. A cost-effective reverse logistics program connects the incoming supply of returns with the product information and demand […]

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Reverse Logistics: The Untapped Revenue Stream

Reverse logistics has become an area of high priority for companies looking to reduce costs, add efficiencies and improve the customer experience. As a result, manufacturers are uncovering the hidden value of returned assets and streamlining return, repair and product reallocation processes. Once a supply chain afterthought, reverse logistics has evolved into a highly complex […]

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Green Reverse Logistics Brings Many Happy Returns

Companies that combine the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra with the supply chain wisdom of managing costs and stamping out inefficiencies are developing reverse supply chains that help the Earth, the customer, and the bottom line.

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