https://findresearcher.sdu.dk:8443/ws/files/116118561/reverse_logistics.pdf

Reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chain: A comprehensive review to explore the future

Environmentally conscious manufacturing and product recovery (ECMPRO): A review of the state of the art

Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management: A literature review

In recent years, reverse logistics (RL) has become a field of importance for all organizations due to growing environmental concerns, legislation, corporate social responsibility and sustainable competitiveness. RL refers to the sequence of activities required to collect the used product from the customers for the purpose of either reuse or repair or re-manufacture or recycle or dispose of it. Perusal of the literature shows that research in the field of RL is in evolving phase and issues pertaining to adoption and implementation, forecasting product returns, outsourcing, RL networks from secondary market perspective, and disposition decisions have not been reviewed extensively. This study attempts to fill the existing gap through literature review on these issues, and outline the future directions for research based on research gap analysis. Total 242 published articles were selected, categorized, analyzed, and gaps in literature were identified to suggest for future research opportunities. The review may be useful for academicians, researchers and practitioners for better understanding of RL and guidance for future research.

A literature review and perspectives in reverse logistics

Purpose – The paper's purpose is to outline the potential competitive advantage firms can create through the creation of a sustainable supply chain, and to describe potential measures for managers to use.Design/methodology/approach – Arguing that firms can increase their competitive advantage as a result of a stronger triple bottom line, propositions are created from a natural‐resource‐based view of the firm perspective that is supported using accounting theory, management strategy, green logistics and supply chain literatures. Secondary data resources that could be used for testing by managers and academicians are identified.Findings – The paper finds that, as sources of competitive advantage for firm become scarcer, potential new areas of advantage must be explored.Practical implications – This research will serve to help managers in the exploration of these possible outlets.Originality/value – This paper is the first to explore the impact of a sustainable supply chain on the triple‐bottom line of a fir...

Exploring future competitive advantage through sustainable supply chains

Purpose – An effective return policy is used as an important competitive weapon in the marketplace to substantially influence product sales. However, return policy is also seen as a problem for all parties in the supply chain due to the headache in processing returned merchandise. While retailers are efficient in selling, they do not usually have the expertise in handling the reverse flow. The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of a fourth party logistics (4PL) as a return service provider, and develops optimal decision policies for both the seller and the 4PL.Design/methodology/approach – A profit‐maximization model is presented to jointly obtain optimal policies for the seller and the 4PL through the use of Stackelberg like game theory, where the seller acts as the leader and the 4PL acts as the follower.Findings – Optimal values for the seller's and the 4PL's decisions are presented. Conditions under which profits for the seller and 4PL both increase are shown.Practical implications – This pap...

The role of 4PL as the reverse logistics integrator

A dynamic model for optimal design quality and return policies

In recent years, there have been growing interests from both academicians and practitioners to study the topic of reverse logistics. We attempt to develop a research framework in the area of reverse logistics by dividing it into six research categories. We categorise these areas, provide an extensive literature survey, and show the basic research premises and scope of each of these areas. This research will help future researchers in reverse logistics to focus their work to the appropriate field. This research will also help practitioners working on reverse logistics to find managerial guidelines in making specific decisions.

A framework for research in reverse logistics

One complicating factor in a reverse logistics activity is the uncertainty in the volume of the reverse product flow coupled with uncertain demand. These uncertainties are creating a problem for the reuse businesses because, in order to have a profitable business, their plants need some minimum number of used products to operate efficiently. Several researches have indicated that there is a significant quantity of used products that failed to enter the reverse channel. Therefore finding a way to ensure supply of used products is essential for the viability of the plant. In this paper, we propose the use of financial incentives (also referred to as ‘return policy’) so that adequate supply of the used products is ensured. We present a profit-maximisation model to obtain the optimal return policy. We also obtain a number of managerial guidelines for using marketing and operational strategy variables to influence the reaction parameters so as to obtain the maximum benefit from the market.

Return policy in product reuse under uncertainty

In a direct supply chain, the seller directly sells to the final customers eliminating the need of intermediaries. Customers like the convenience, but sacrifice the benefit of physical inspection of the product increasing the probability of dissatisfaction and the likelihood of return. Many internet sellers have problems offering a clear return policy and ease of return. Basically, they design their supply chain more for the fulfillment rather that the reverse logistics. Much can be gained by the seller by way of increased sales, if they could offer an easy return policy. The trade-off here is in the increase in the cost. The profit function increases with the generosity of the return policy because the sales increases, but decreases as the cost increases. A model for obtaining the optimum return policy in conjunction with the optimum pricing policy giving the optimal strategy would be very useful. A profit-maximization model to obtain optimal return policy including price as a decision variable is presented in this paper. Managerial guidelines for making optimal decisions to influence market parameters are also developed.

Robert Setaputra

Papers

The role of 4PL as the reverse logistics integrator

A dynamic model for optimal design quality and return policies

A framework for research in reverse logistics

Return policy in product reuse under uncertainty

Optimal Return Policy for e-Business