What is ‘Reverse Logistics’?
A relatively new term that we hear of today is ‘Reverse Logistics’. Although the term may sound new, the basic concept has existed for decades. It was quite common earlier, for distribution centers to have a returns processing function. Business dislike and consider it a major hassle, to deal with returns. The hard reality is that they range anywhere in the number of 10-30 percent or more of merchandise, which is returned annually. Handling all this falls within the realm of ‘Reverse Logistics’. Besides this the function also includes the responsibility for such R-factors as:
- Repairs and Refurbishment
- Recycling
- Recovery
- Recalls
Reverse Logistics managers face several unique challenges which may pertain to such factors as ‘zero warning’ of RL arrivals, shipping quantities of one as against the more economical truckloads, shipping goods to destinations other than the manufacturing source. They must also design the network and decide how to collect returns, where to process them and how to redistribute them.
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