Developing a Theory of Reverse Logistics

Reverse logistics, a fairly new concept in logistics, has gained increasing importance as a profitable and sustainable business strategy. I describe a holistic view of reverse logistics and distill 11 insights for successful implementation of reverse logistics from the existing literature and published case studies. The strategic factors consist of strategic costs, overall quality, customer service, environmental concerns, and legislative concerns. The operational factors consist of cost-benefit analysis, transportation, warehousing, supply management, remanufacturing and recycling, and packaging. Insights about these factors together form the state-of-the-art knowledge about the keys to successful design and use of reverse-logistics systems.

[1]  P. Murphy.  A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF TRANSPORTATION AND WAREHOUSING ASPECTS OF REVERSE DISTRIBUTION , 1986 .

[2]  Donald A. Fuller,et al.  Materials Recycling and Reverse Channel Networks: The Public Policy Challenge , 1996 .

[3]  Erwin van der Laan,et al.  Quantitative models for reverse logistics: A review , 1997 .

[4]  Noan Walley,et al.  It's not easy being green , 1994 .

[5]  Jodi E Melbin.  THE NEVER-ENDING CYCLE , 1995 .

[6]  Donald A. Fuller.  Recycling consumer solid waste: A commentary on selected channel alternatives , 1978 .

[7]  A. Lockamy.  A Conceptual Framework For Assessing Strategic Packaging Decisions , 1995 .

[8]  Marianne Jahre.  Household waste collection as a reverse channel , 1995 .

[9]  Terrance Pohlen,et al.  Reverse Logistics in Plastics Recycling , 1992 .

[10]  Patrick M Byrne,et al.  LOGISTICS MUST MEET THE "GREEN" CHALLENGE. , 1993 .

[11]  Tom Andel,et al.  ADVANCE WITH REVERSE LOGISTICS. , 1995 .

[12]  P. M. Ginter,et al.  Reverse Distribution Channels for Recycling , 1978 .

[13]  C. Carter,et al.  REVERSE LOGISTICS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE INVESTIGATION , 1998 .

[14]  William A. Wheeler,et al.  The Revival in Reverse Manufacturing , 1992 .

[15]  Paul R. Murphy,et al.  MANAGEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN LOGISTICS: CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE POTENTIAL , 1994 .

[16]  R. Uzsoy,et al.  Production planning for companies with remanufacturing capability , 1995, Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment ISEE (Cat. No.95CH35718).

[17]  D Graham,et al.  There's Power in Numbers , 1984, Nursing management.

[18]  Leo Kroon,et al.  Returnable containers: an example of reverse logistics , 1995 .

[19]  Marc Salomon,et al.  Strategic Issues in Product Recovery Management , 1995 .

[20]  L. H. Shu,et al.  Considering remanufacture and other end-of-life options in selection of fastening and joining methods , 1995, Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment ISEE (Cat. No.95CH35718).

[21]  William J. Stanton,et al.  Recycling Solid Wastes: A Channels-of-distribution Problem , 1971 .