Definition And Meaning Of Reverse Logistics

International trade is defined by shipping commodities and finished goods between countries, including both exporting commodities and goods from the U.S. as well as importing commodities and goods from around the world. Logistics is the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient flow of goods and services through the supply chain from producer to consumer. Distribution comprises all freight carriers (water, air, trucking, and intermodal) and warehousing. Until recently, most manufacturing organizations took responsibility for the warehousing

It is the responsibility of every organisation to minimize its waste and in the case of “Ourtyres4U” they must consider three factors to minimize their waste and this process can be known as Reverse Logistics. They are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (Handfield, 2008).

In reverse logistics, the design, control, and operation of a recovery value system will reflect the whole life cycle of a product. This is the concept of closed-loop supply chains, in which zero-waste is achieved in the “forward flows of materials (from suppliers to end customers) and the reverse flow of products (post consumption) back to the manufacturing or distribution supply chains” (Book p.151-152). Reverse logistics supports closed-loop supply chains and coordinating the chains to achieve (or maintain) competitive advantage. A fragmented chain, where each member is only focused on its own processes, is considered a key Supply Chain Management problem. It is not wise for Sandvik to fragment, or decouple the forward and reverse supply chains.

There are many challenges being faced by the logistics industry today as the companies strive for sustainability. This is because the providers of logistics services have, over a period of several years, found them being integrated into the production processes of their customers, while at the same time, governments and businesses have continued to carefully weigh the issue of logistics in their investment and business decisions. Some of the previous trends and the forces of the operations of logistics that drive the transformation of a Freight forwarding company will be examined. It will focus on theories, conceptual models and frameworks that explain logistic operations. The gaps in the logistics operations and the dangers of not addressing

A total of 228 SME’s (85.1 percent) answered that they Never had Reverse logistics for the reasons of ‘End of useful life’. 36 SME’s (13.4 percent) responded that sometimes material moved in reverse direction for reason of ‘End of useful life’. 4 SME’s (1.5 percent) said this reverse movement happens mostly for this reason.

Reverse logistics and the return portion of the supply chain is often an overlooked and mismanaged process. Companies tend to focus their efforts on the forward portion of supply chain management, while failing to take advantage of the many opportunities that reverse logistics presents (Benton, 2007). What these companies do not realize is that the effective management of reverse logistics has the potential to make them more profitable, and to add value to many other parts of their supply chain. In the case of Johnson Automotive, we will analyze their current supply chain processes to determine their effectiveness while answering the following questions:

The returned end-of-life products can be reprocessed via various routings in the graph. Closed loop supply chain models are similar to reverse supply chain cost models, but simultaneously optimise the forward and reverse supply chains. Locations may serve both as sink and source and nodes and transportation links may serve both as part of the forward and reverse supply chains, increasing efficiency but also system complexity. As a result, the structure and formulation of these models is generally somewhat more intricate. Furthermore, designing closed-loop supply chains may involve decisions as to which activities of the forward and reverse supply chain to integrate or separate.

Having characterised reverse supply chains in Section 2.1, we now address corresponding strategic design and planning issues. Strategic design and planning of reverse supply chains deal with decisions that have a long-lasting effect on the company. These include decisions regarding a choice of collection method, the number, location and capacity of sorting and reprocessing operations and corresponding inventory buffers, and definition of various transportation links in terms of sourcing, modes and capacities and so on. However, the complexity of the reverse supply chain has also led to the inclusion of several planning decisions in addition to the classical strategic design decisions (i.e. location

Inbound logistics: the receiving and warehousing of raw materials, and their distribution to manufacturing as they are required.

Identify and explain a recent theory as a driver for change with regards to logistics. What are the consequences of this theory for the present-day logistical processes?

For some countries like Vietnam, the definition of supply chain management is still not that well-known enough to apply. Some administrators have just been familiar with the term “logistics” and applied them for all the goods flows. However, supply chain system includes product development, manufacturing, purchasing, inventory, goods distribution and logistics activities. In other words, logistics is just a component of the supply chain. Ganeshan and Harrison (1995) defined that a process from purchasing raw materials, converting them to finished goods and distributing them customers. It is used in both service and manufacturing organizations. For example, a customer goes to Citymart to buy G7 3-in-1 coffee. The supply chain will start from the demand of this customer. Since Citymart has stored a certain amount of this type of coffee to supply, which may be provided from another merchant or directly from

Returnable container (RC), such as pallets, totes and barrels, is one example of reverse logistic which Kroon and Vrijens (1995) mentioned as one solution for sustainability. They also mentioned that RC, a secondary packaging, is intended to be used in multiple journeys and in the same form. The use of RC has increased because of financial, environmental and political pressures. Furthermore, RC still has room to improve its efficiency. Hence, it is essential that the use of advanced technology for the effective management of RC system is implemented. In addition, it enhances competitive advantages such as inventory investment reduction, cost reduction and strengthening brand image (Nik Abdullah and Yaakub, 2014).

Although a number of general characteristics of reverse supply chains have been identified in Section 2.1.1 and 2.1.2, reverse supply chains encountered in various cases studies are not identical. Different business environments result in different factors being dominant and hence in different forms of reverse supply chains. In the literature, several classifications have been proposed for structuring this field. A first stream of research focuses on the reverse supply chain structure and the roles of the different actors involved. In this vein, Fuller and Allen (1995) distinguish 1) manufacturer-integrated systems, 2) waste-hauler systems, 3) specialised reverse dealer-processor systems, 4) forward retailer-wholesaler systems, and 5) temporary/facilitator systems. This analysis extends earlier suggestions by Guiltinan and Nwokoye (1975) and Pohlen and Farris (1992).

Various researches have RC as the sub-set of reverse logistic which according to Govindan et al. (2015), is to manage used products and packaging from customers such as recycling, repairing, remanufacturing and disposing. RCs, such as pallets, crates and barrels, are secondary packaging that are used for packaging products and are returned for future usage. Synonyms for the term are returnable container (such as Kroon and Vrijens (1995), Hanebeck et al. (2008) and Reza et al. (2011)), returnable transport item (such as Hellstrom (2009) and Kim et al. (2014)), returnable packaging (such as Rosenau et al. (1996) and Silva et al., 2013)). Kroon and Vrijens (1995) summarized that there are three returnable container systems: switch pool systems, systems with return logistics and systems without return logistics. They differentiate these three systems as the followings:

Forward logistics (or conventional logistics) is the regular distribution channel followed by the manufactures from time immemorial. Forward logistics concentrates on the products (goods or services) reaching the consumer end and deals with the line of flow from the manufacturer’s end to the consumer’s end. It deals with the very essence of Supply Chain Management and logistical activities of an organization. It has a significant impact on the primary operations carried out, which act as the basic revenue generating aspect of a business. In this logistical system, the flow is a “one-to-many” type and the forecasting or traceability is quite simple.