1.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Reverse logistics (RL) stands for all the operations related to the reuse of used products, excess inventory of products and materials including collection, disassembly and processing of used products, parts, and/or materials. Over the past few years, RL has received much attention because many companies are using it as a strategic tool to serve their customers and can generate good revenue. An efficient reverse distribution structure may lead to a significant return on investment as well as a significantly increased competitiveness in the market. Therefore, analysis of barriers hindering the successful implementation of RL is a crucial issue. These barriers not only affect RL but influence each other also. In existing models, the holistic view in understanding the interrelation between the barriers is not accounted for but is diagnosed independently. This paper utilizes the Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methodology to understand the mutual influences among the barriers so that barriers that are at the root of some more barriers (called driving barriers) and those which are most influenced by the others (called driven barriers) are identified. Conventionally people have been defining logistics as a means of getting manufactured goods from the manufacturer to the customer. It is often viewed as a system of delivering goods to the customers but seldom the reverse. Here the concepts of reverse logistics are discussed and compared to that of forward logistics. The field of forward or conventional logistics is well covered. The delivery models have been studied in detail and well researched. But in reverse logistics these very models are not established. This is an opportunity of explore some of the ideas as to when and where reverse logistics comes into play. We all know the supply chain that flows in the forward direction, but, what happens when the customers want to return the goods? What happens when the Government is breathing down your neck to be environmental friendly? What happens when you fear that the knowledge intensive parts might end up with you competitors? Thats when reverse logistics comes into picture. In spite of some very intriguing questions raised above, many companies are not capable of or are unwilling to enter the reverse logistics market. The aim of this article is to analyze the interaction among the major barriers, which hinder or prevent the application of reverse logistics in automobile industries. Existing models have focused on diagnosing these barriers independently. As a result, we lack a holistic view in understanding the barriers that hinder reverse logistics. This project utilizes the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methodology to understand the mutual influences among the barriers so that those driving barriers, which can aggravate few more barriers and those independent barriers, which are most influenced by driving barriers are identified. By analyzing the barriers using this model, we may extract crucial barriers that hinder the reverse logistics activities. It can be observed that there are some barriers, which have both high driving power and dependency, thus needing more attention. An actual example of a small case automobile company provides some managerial insights into the methodology. Finally, the implications for practice and future research are discussed.

2. COMPANY PROFILE

2.COMANY PROFILE
MARUTHI SHIPPING AND LOGISTICS Pvt Ltd
Maruthi Shipping and Logistics is a technology-based company providing customized solutions that transform distribution to a source of competitive advantage. Main motive is to provide integrated solutions from managing transportation, inventory, and distribution centres to sophisticated forecasting, information management, and network consulting services. Today, Maruthi Shipping and Logistics have more than 35 client companies, globally, in an array of different market sectors. The organization mission is to provide best value, integrated freight and logistics solutions to clients in time-sensitive, service-critical businesses. Organization tries to leverage and continuously improve the capabilities. 2.1 Vision and Mission Maruthi Shipping and Logistics: Best People. Best Processes. Best Value. Vision To become a leading freight, transportation, clearing and logistics company in the Hyderabad. To be the recognized industry leader, through total commitment to customer service, by maintaining our uncompromising integrity, in the support and development of our People, Communications and Systems in sustained growth and profitability. Mission To set the standard for excellence in global logistics through total commitment to quality in people and customer service, with superior financial results. To solve reliable transportation and logistics services to the needs of the business community. Reliable services means on-time delivery, undamaged goods, and correct documentation in case of deviations. To perform continuous business improvement in order to meet and exceed customer expectation, to create sustainable business growth in order to enhance the prosperity of employee and benefit shareholders. Decisions can impact the success of the company as much as the performance of the supply chain. No matter what industry or region of the world other organization do business in, the supply chain is an integral part to the success as same as the products, the services, and the people. In 2002, Maruthi Shipping and Logistics was formed to build on the global distribution experience to help other companys lower distribution costs while improving customer service and brand loyalty. 2.2 Organization Structure Organization is headed by Organization Head, and all other employees report to him. Firm comprises of 12 employees for internal works and other team for activities including freight forwarding, logistics, clearing and forwarding. Organization acts as a 3PL for other firms on behalf of carry/ forward, logistics. Warehouse activities are being outsourced based 3

on the demand situations, as goods are being stocked in different warehouses, and is based on the customer requirements. MSL provide these services around globally and main focus to UAE and Indian markets Maruthi Shipping and logistics, focus on main areas they are: a. Customer service to a higher level. b. Partnering to seeking the right answers. c. Finding solutions that optimize cost and service. d. And always asking, how can we serve you better? e. Analysing every opportunity, every challenge to provide a custom solution that works best for customer.

2.3 Organization Functions: a. Freight Forwarding

Departments typically arrange cargo movements to an international destination. This department has the expertise that allows them to prepare and process the documentation and perform related activities pertaining to international shipments. A freight forwarder organizes the safe efficient movement of goods on behalf of an exporter, importer or another company or person, sometimes including dealing with packing and storage. Taking into account the type of goods and the customers delivery requirements, freight forwarder array, the best means of transport, using the services of shipping lines, airlines or road and rail freight (Indian Markets) operators. Functions: I. Researching and planning the most appropriate route for a shipment. Taking account of the perishable or hazardous nature of the goods, cost transit time and security. Arranging appropriate packing. Taking account of climate, climate, terrain, weight, nature of goods and cost, delivery or warehousing of goods at their final destination. Obtaining, checking and preparing documentation to meet customs, excise and insurance requirements, packing specifications and compliance with overseas countries regulations and fiscal regimes. Offering consolidation services by air, sea, and road.

II.

III.

IV.

Ensuring cost effective and secure solutions to small shippers with sufficient cargo to utilize their own dedicated units. Liaising with third parties to move goods by road, air or sea in accordance with customer requirements. Arranging insurance and assisting the client in the event of a claim. Arranging payment of freight and other charges or collection of payment on behalf of the client. Transmitting data by internet and satellite systems, enabling real time tracking and tracing of goods. Arranging charters for large volumes out of gauge or project movements by air and sea. Acting as broker in customs negotiations worldwide to guide the freight efficiently through complex procedures Arranging courier and specialist hand carry services Maintaining visibility and control through all phases of the journey, including the production of management reports and statistical and unit cost analysis Acting as consultant in customs Maintaining current knowledge of relevant legislation, political situations and other factors that could affect the movement of freight At more senior level, the role may also involve managing staff and overseeing activities within a department or specializing in a particular area, such as sea freight or air freight.

b. Logistics Field: Bulk Operations The main function in this department includes identifying the customers and collecting information about the amount of material to be exported, the product, place of exports. The department also undertakes cargo booking, provides information on the rates, the schedules, the arrival, departure time, name of the ship, trans-shipment details and does the follow up. Functions i. Identifying the customers by the marketing person of this department. ii. Convincing the shipper of the services that company provides to be better than the other shipping service providers.

iii. Enquire about the place or commonly referred to as the destination port to which the shipper would like to export the cargo. iv. Enquire about the type and quantity of the cargo that he would like to export. v. The type of container and the number of containers that the shipper would like to take. vi. Analysing the rate the shipper expects from his cargo movement. vii. Informing the shipper the rate and negotiating with him. viii. Scheduling the arrival and department time of the vessel

ix. Listing out the trans-shipment details and do the follow up. c. Clearing and Forwarding (C & F) The main function of C&F department is to undertake the customs formalities on behalf of the exporters or importers. The documentation process and clearing activities are done by this department. Functions i. Preparation of various kinds of bill of entry and shipping bill. ii. Arrival and clearance of vessels. iii. Determination of value for assessment. iv. Conversion of currency. v. Nature and description of documents to be filed with kinds of bills of entry & shipping bill. vi. Procedures for assessment and payment of duties. vii. Examination of merchandize at the customs stations. viii. Prohibitions on imports and exports items.

ix. Re-importation and conditions for free re-entry. x. Check offences under the act xi. Refund procedures, appeals and revision petitions. d. Network Design A Logistics Network Design initiative is a strategic analysis of entire supply chain. Some of the strategic questions are: To ensure enough facilities to meet future capacity requirements 6

Which facilities should be closed and/or consolidated? Is there an opportunity to make changes to the network to reduce logistics costs?

Develop the Current Financial Model: Before making sensible decisions on what changes to make the network, a base case financial model needs to be developed. It should include the costs of all logistical activities such as Warehouse costs, Transportation costs, Inventory costs and Order Processing costs. Software Selection: Due to the complexity of this analysis, a network optimization software package is in order. The software selection phase may be completed concurrently with the financial modelbuilding phase above. One person on the project team should be responsible for sourcing the right software to meet the projects modelling needs. Data Gathering & Validation: This is one of the key drivers to a successful project. It is imperative that the data from your current data warehouse (transactional data) be accurate. For example, when an item is received into the warehouse, are the correct product characteristics captured accurately? Some characteristics of interest would be cube, weight, carton dimension, hazardous materials, etc. One of the activities further into the project will be to create a summary of the product flows. This is accomplished by creating family groupings of products. If the data is not clean the flows will be misrepresented and this will affect the accuracy of the model. Analyse Current State of Operations: A throughput and capacity analysis should be completed for the existing operations. This will help determine if there is additional capacity in the existing facilities or if there is excess capacity available. This will help develop the scenarios later on. The impact to the other logistical operations may then be identified. e. Warehousing A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are commonly used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They come equipped with loading docks to load and unload trucks; or sometimes are loaded directly from railways, airports, or seaports. They also often have cranes and forklifts for moving goods, which are usually placed on ISO standard pallets loaded into pallet racks. Most warehouses are completely automated, with no workers working inside. The pallets and product are moved with a system of automated conveyors and automated storage and retrieval machines coordinated by programmable logic controllers and computers running logistics automation software. These systems are often installed in refrigerated warehouses 7

where temperatures are kept very cold to keep the product from spoiling, and also where land is expensive, as automated storage systems can use vertical space efficiently. These high-bay storage areas are often more than 10 meters high, with some over 20 meters high. The direction and tracking of materials in the warehouse is coordinated by the WMS, or Warehouse Management System, a database driven computer program. The WMS is used by logistics personnel to improve the efficiency of the warehouse by directing putaways and to maintain accurate inventory by recording warehouse transactions. Modern warehouses are also used at large by exporters/manufacturers as a point of developing retail outlets in a particular region or country. This concept reduces the end cost of the product to the consumer and thus enhances the production sale ratio. Warehousing is an age old concept which can be used as sharp tool by original manufacturers to reach out directly to consumers leaving aside or bypassing importers or any other middle agencies or person. The Warehouse is to be well guarded with safety provisions to counter pilferage, fire, floods & other calamities. The Warehouses are in convenient locations & well connected by roads to facilitate on time delivery to customers. f. Crossdocking Containerization Crossdocking is a practice of logistics of unloading materials from an incoming semitrailer truck and loading these materials to outbound trailers or rail cars, with little or no storage in between. This may be done to change type of conveyance, or to sort materials intended for different destinations or to combine material from different origin. An increasing popular method of shipment is containerization. A container is a large box made of durable material such as steel, aluminium, plywood and reinforced plastics. A container varies in size material and construction. Its dimension is typically 8 foot high and 8 foot wide lengths usually varying. A container can accommodate most cargo but is most suitable to packages of standard size and shape. Containers can take case of most of 4 main packing problems. Because of container construction, a product does not have to have heavy packaging, it gives protection against: i. Breakage ii. Moisture iii. Temperature controlled iv. Pilferage and Theft There are mainly 2 types of containers v. Dry Containers vi. Special Purpose Containers

Types / Size 20 Foot Dry 40 Foot Dry 45 Foot Dry vii. Open top containers viii. Flat rack for oversized cargo

ix. 40 foot refrigerated containers/ reefers x. High cube containers (40 foot, 45 foot & Reefers)

3. INTRODUCTION

10

3. INTRODUCTION
3.1 Importance of Reverse Logistics
What is Reverse Logistics? Logistics is defined by The Council of Logistics Management as: The process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, cost effective flow of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of Conforming to customer requirements. . Reverse logistics includes all of the activities that are mentioned in the definition above. The difference is that Reverse logistics encompasses all of these activities as they operate in reverse. Therefore, reverse logistics is: The process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, cost effective flow of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information from the point of consumption to the point of origin for the purpose of recapturing value or proper disposal. More precisely, reverse logistics is the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value, or proper disposal. Remanufacturing and refurbishing activities also may be included in the definition of reverse logistics. Reverse logistics is more than reusing containers and recycling packaging materials. Redesigning packaging to use less material, or reducing the energy and pollution from transportation are important activities, but they might be better placed in the realm of green logistics. If no goods or materials are being sent backward, the activity probably is not a reverse logistics activity. Reverse logistics also includes processing returned merchandise due to damage, seasonal inventory, restock, salvage, recalls, and excess inventory. It also includes recycling programs, hazardous material programs, obsolete equipment disposition, and asset recovery. Respondent Base Companies included in this research are manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and service firms. In some cases, a firm may occupy more than one supply chain position. For example, many of the manufacturers are also retailers and wholesalers. The supply chain position of the research respondents is depicted in Table 1.

11

Figure 1: Reverse Logistics within One Portion of a Typical Supply Chain

Table 1 Supply Chain Position

Supply chain Position Manufacturer Wholesaler Retailer Service Provider

Percentage of Respondents 64.0% 29.9% 28.9% 9.0%

Interest in Reverse Logistics Awareness of the art and science of logistics continues to increase. Additionally, great interest in reverse logistics has been piqued. Many companies that previously did not devote much time or energy to the management and understanding of reverse logistics have begun to pay attention. These firms are benchmarking return operations with best-in-class operators. Some firms are even becoming ISO certified on their return processes. Third parties specializing in returns have seen a great increase in the demand for their services. In addition to this research project, several other academic endeavors focusing on the reverse flow of product are in process. Leading-edge companies are recognizing the strategic 12

value of having a reverse logistics management system in place to keep goods on the retail shelf and in the warehouse fresh and in demand. Fig.2 Frame work reverse logistics distribution

3.2 Size of Reverse Logistics A conservative estimate is that reverse logistics accounts for a significant portion of Indias Logistics costs. Logistics costs are estimated to account for approximately 10.7 percent of the Indian Economy. However, the exact amount of reverse logistics activity is difficult to determine because most companies do not know how large these are. Of the firms included in this research, reverse logistics costs accounted for approximately four percent of their total logistics costs. Applying this mean percentage to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reverse logistics costs are estimated to be approximately a half percent of the total Indias GDP. It was estimated that logistics costs accounted for $862 billion. The estimate of this research, based on the respondent sample, is that reverse logistics costs amounted to approximately $35 billion. The magnitude and impact of reverse logistics varies by industry and channel position. It also varies depending on the firms channel choice. However, it is clear that the overall amount of reverse logistics activities in the economy is large and still growing.

13

Within specific industries, reverse logistics activities can be critical for the firm. Generally, in firms where the value of the product is largest, or where the return rate is greatest, much more effort has been spent in improving return processes. The auto parts industry is a good example. The remanufactured auto parts market is estimated (by the Auto Parts Remanufactures Association) to be $36 billion. For example, 90 to 95 percent of all starters and alternators sold for replacement are remanufactured. By one conservative estimate, there are currently 12,000 automobile dismantlers and remanufactures operating in the India. Rebuilding and remanufacturing conserves a considerable amount of resources. According to the ARPA, about 50 percent of the original starter is recovered in the rebuilding process. This may result in saving several million gallons of crude oil, steel, and other metals. ARPA estimates that raw materials saved by remanufacturing worldwide would fill 155,000 railroad cars annually. That many rail cars would make a train over 1,100 miles long.

Return Percentages The reverse logistics process can be broken into two general areas, depending on whether the reverse flow consists primarily of products, or primarily of packaging. For product returns, a high percentage is represented by customer returns. Overall customer returns are estimated to be approximately six percent across all retailers. Return percentages for selected industries are shown in Table 2. In each case, return percentages were established by several different firms. Table 2 Sample Return Percentages

Industry
Magazine Publishing Book Publishers Book Distributors Greeting Cards Catalog Retailers Electronic Distributors Computer Manufacturers

Percent
50%

20-30% 10-20% 20-30% 18-35% 10-12%

10-20%

14

CD-ROMs Printers Mail Order Computer Manufacturers Mass Merchandisers Auto Industry (Parts) Consumer Electronics Household Chemicals

18-25% 4-8% 2-5%

4-15%

4-6%

4-5%

2-3%

Clearly, return rates vary significantly by industry. For many industries, learning to manage the reverse flow is of prime importance. Direct Retailers Comparatively, direct or catalog companies have higher return rates than most other retail channels. It is not unusual for a direct retailer to have return rates above 35 percent. The mean level is approximately 25 percent. These catalog firms have had to improve their management of the return process. An exception to this is build-to-order, direct computer manufacturers that have lower rates of return than computer manufacturers that sell through traditional retail channels. Most catalog firms have developed returns programs internally. They utilize their reverse logistics capabilities strategically. As the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Because return rates for many of the catalog Retailers have traditionally been high; a reduction in both the number of returns and the cost of those returns was needed. One particularly good example of skillful reverse logistics management is the J.C. Penney Catalog Division. They struggled for many years with high rates of return. Their catalog division operated independently from their retail store division. By thinking about the profitability of the whole corporation, and laying aside some difficult accounting practices, they have been able to develop a system that rewards the retail store managers for working to reduce expensive returns. When consumers decide to return a catalog purchase, they bring it back to the nearest store. The store managers are incented to 15

disposition the item through the retail store. If the item is not sold in the store, then it is sent back to the catalog distribution center. 3.3 REVERSE LOGISTICS ACTIVITIES Typical reverse logistics activities would be the processes a company uses to collect used, damaged, unwanted (stock balancing returns), or outdated products, as well as packaging and shipping materials from the end-user or the reseller. Once a product has been returned to a company, the firm has many disposal options from which to choose. Some of these activities are summarized in Table 3. If the product can be returned to the supplier for a full refund, the firm may choose this option first. If the product has not been used, it may be resold to a different customer, or it may be sold through an outlet store. If it is not of sufficient quality to be sold through either of these options, it may be sold to a salvage company that will export the product to a foreign market. If the product cannot be sold as is, or if the firm can significantly increase the selling price by reconditioning, refurbishing or remanufacturing the product, the firm may perform these activities before selling the product. If the firm does not perform these activities in-house, a third party firm may be contracted, or the product can be sold outright to a reconditioning/remanufacturing/refurbishing firm. Table 3 Common Reverse Logistics Activities

Material
Products

Reverse Logistics Activities Return to Supplier Resell Sell via Outlet Salvage Recondition Refurbish Remanufacture Reclaim Materials Recycle Landfill

Packaging

Reuse Refurbish Reclaim Materials Recycle, Salvage

16

After performing these activities, the product may be sold as a reconditioned or remanufactured product, but not as new. If the product cannot be reconditioned in any way, because of its poor condition, legal implications, or environmental restrictions, the firm will try to dispose of the product for the least cost. Any valuable materials that can be reclaimed will be reclaimed, and any other recyclable materials will be removed before the remainder is finally sent to a landfill. Generally, packaging materials returned to a firm will be reused. Clearly, reusable totes and pallets will be used many times before disposal. Often, damaged totes and pallets can be refurbished and returned to use. This work may be done in-house, or using companies whose sole mission is to fix broken pallets and refurbish packaging. Once repairs can no longer be made, the reusable transport packaging must be disposed of. However, before it is sent to a landfill, all salvageable materials will be reclaimed. European firms are required by law to take back transport packaging used for their products. To reduce costs, firms attempt to reuse as much of these materials as possible, and reclaim the materials when they can no longer be reused. Reverse Flow of Goods the activities shown in Table 1.3 are the types that are generally considered the core of reverse logistics processes. Each of these activities gives rise to some interesting questions, many of which will be addressed in this research. However, from a logistics perspective, the larger issue common to all of these activities is how the firm should effectively and efficiently get the products from where they are not wanted to where they can be processed, reused, and salvaged. Also, the firm must determine the disposition of each product. That is, for each product, the firm must decide the final destination for products inserted into the reverse logistics flow. Classifying Reverse Logistics Activities Clearly, reverse logistics can include a wide variety of activities. These activities can be divided as follows: Whether the goods in the reverse flow are coming from the end user or from another member of the distribution channel such as a retailer or distribution center; and whether the material in the reverse flow is a product or a packaging material. These two factors help to provide a basic framework for characterizing reverse logistics activities, although other important classification factors exist. Regardless of their final destination, all products in the reverse flow must be collected and sorted before being sent on to their next destinations. Where products are inserted into the reverse flow is a prime determinant in the resulting Reverse logistics system. In Table 4, a number of reasons for products in the reverse flow have been placed within the context of this framework. If a product enters the reverse logistics flow from a customer, it may be a defective product, or, the consumer may have 17

claimed it was defective in order to be able to return it. The consumer may believe it to be defective even though it is really in perfect order. This category of returns is called nondefective defectives. If the product has not yet reached the end of its useful life, the consumer may have returned the product for service, or due to a manufacturer recall. If the product has reached the end of its useful life, the customer may, in some cases, return the product to the manufacturer so the manufacturer can dispose of the product properly, or reclaim materials. Table 4 Characterization of Items in Reverse Flow, By Type and Origin Source of Reverse Flow

Supply Chain Partners

Products Stock Balancing Returns Marketing Returns End of Life/Season Transit Damage

End Users
Defective/Unwanted Products Warranty Returns Recalls Environmental Disposal Issues Reuse Recycling Disposal Restrictions

Packaging

Reusable Totes Multi-Trip Packaging Disposal Requirements

3.4 Strategic Use of Reverse Logistics

Reverse Logistics as a Strategic Weapon When companies think about strategic variables, they are contemplating business elements that have a long-term bottom line impact. Strategic variables must be managed for the viability of the firm. They are more than just tactical or operational responses to a problem or a situation. Not long ago, the only strategic variables a firm was likely to emphasize were business functions, such as finance or marketing. During the late 1970s and 1980s, some forward-thinking companies began to view their logistics capabilities as strategic. Although more and more firms have begun to view their ability to take back material through the supply chain as an important capability, the majority of these firms have not yet decided to emphasize reverse logistics as a strategic variable. An example of the strategic use of returns is the electronic distributor that, during a period of volatile memory chip prices, created a program to help reseller better control their inventory and balance stocks. By allowing resellers to return anything within a reasonable time frame, customers were encouraged to keep inventory low and make purchases just-in-time. 18

Strategic uses of reverse logistics capabilities increase the switching costs of changing suppliers. A goal of almost every business is to lock customers in so that they will not move to another supplier. There are many ways to develop linkages that make it difficult and unprofitable for customers to switch to another supplier. An important service a supplier can offer to its customers is the ability to take back unsold or defective merchandise quickly, and credit the customers in a timely manner. If retailers do not have a strategic vision of reverse logistics today, it is likely that they will be in trouble tomorrow. Retailers in high-return categoriessuch as catalog, toys, and electronicscan easily go out of business if they do not have a strong reverse logistics program. In this research project, the research team examined several ways that reverse logistics can be utilized in a strategic manner. These strategic uses of reverse logistics are presented in Table 5 below Table 5 Strategic Role of Returns Role Percentage 65.2% Competitive Reasons Clean Channel Legal Disposal Issues Recapture Value Recover Assets Protect Margin 33.4% 28.9% 27.5% 26.5% 18.4%

Competitive Reasons
Research respondents said they initiated reverse logistics as a strategic variable for competitive reasons. Most retailers and manufacturers have liberalized their return policies over the last few years due of competitive pressures. While the trend toward liberalization of return policies has begun to shift a little, firms still believe that a satisfied customer is their most important asset. Part of satisfying customers involves taking back their unwanted products or products that the customers believe do not meet needs. Before beginning the quantitative phase of the research, it was believed that retailers had started to move away from liberal return policies that became omnipresent during the 1970s and 1980s. However, that has not been found to be the case. Respondents to this 19

research still believe, overall, that their firms return policies are still fairly liberal. This response is depicted in Figure below. Respondents were asked to evaluate their returns policy on a 1 to 7 scale where 1=very conservative and 7=very liberal Figure 3 Return Policy Distribution

Return Policy Changes

Some firms have begun to take a more aggressive stance with customers, and have attempted to reduce the number of returns. Because of customer service pressures, it is difficult to make a preemptive step, if other firms operating in the same industry have liberal return policies. If one player in the industry has a liberal return policy, it is difficult for other firms in that industry to tighten their return policies. Some retailers are beginning to rethink liberal return policies, and balance their value as a marketing tool against the cost of those policies. Return policies are tightening3, as retailers look for ways to analyze the returns process, and to recapture dollars that were previously written on the expense side of the ledger. One reason for a generous return policy is that it leads to improved risk sharing between sellers and consumers. In some channels, consumers can return anything to the retailers, the retailers and wholesalers have liberal return arrangements with manufacturers, and manufacturers end up taking responsibility for the entire product life cycle. These liberal return policies occasionally turn into Return Abuse policies, where the manufacturers end up taking an inordinate amount of risk. It is interesting to note that; overall, the research 20

respondents do not believe that their firms policies have changed much. In the light of celebrated examples, such as the case of an electronics retailer that began charging customers a restocking fee when returning product, the research team expected to find that return policies had begun to tighten. While tightening of return policies may develop over the next few years, as of this writing, it has not yet happened.

Clean Channel
Reverse logistics competencies are also used to clean out customer inventories, so that those same customers can purchase more new goods. Auto companies have fairly liberal return policies in place, and a large reverse logistics network which allows them to bring back parts and components from their dealers. These parts are often remanufactured, so that value is reclaimed. If new parts held by the dealer are not selling well, the auto companies will give the dealers a generous return allowance, so that they can buy new parts that they really need, and therefore, service the ultimate consumer better. Most auto dealers, and many dealers in other industries, are family-based businesses with limited supplies of capital to invest in inventories. They often have less than state of the art inventory management capabilities. It is in the best interest of parts suppliers to clean out their inventories, reduce credit-line constraints, and improve customer satisfaction.

Protect Margin
Nearly 20 percent of the firms included in the research use their reverse logistics capabilities to protect their margins. This strategic usage of reverse logistics is closely related to cleaning out the channel. Firms cleanse their inventories and the inventories of their customers and their customers customers utilizing reverse logistics processes. Some firms 21

are proactive in their management of downstream inventory, as opposed to merely being reactive. These firms have programs in place that maximizes inventory freshness. Fresher inventories can demand better prices, which in turn, protects margin.

Legal Disposal Issues

Another set of reasons named as being strategic deals with legal disposal issues. Over 25 percent of the respondents said that legal disposal issues are a major concern. As landfill fees increase, and options for disposal of hazardous material decrease, legally disposing of non-salvageable materials becomes more difficult. Firms have to think carefully about these issues. One company included in this research had previously managed hazardous waste carelessly, and experienced trouble with the Environmental Protection Agency. The result of this conflict was the primary determinant in the configuration of its manufacturing and distribution systems. This firm now wants to make sure that anything that comes out of its facilities is disposed of properly.

Recapture Value and Recover Assets

Over 20 percent of the firms included in the research said that recapturing value and recovering assets were strategic. Firms that have recently begun asset recovery programs found that a surprisingly large portion of their bottom-line profits is derived from asset recovery programs. These programs add profit derived from materials that were previously discarded, which makes them essentially free. 3.5 REVERSE LOGISTICS CHALLENGES Retailer Manufacturer Conflict One of the difficulties in managing returns is the difference in the objectives of manufacturers and retailers. The distance between them on many issues can make the difference seem like a chasm. Whenever a retailer wants to return an item, the retailer and the manufacturer may disagree on any one of the following: Condition of the item Value of the item Timeliness of response Often from the retailers perspective, every product was sent back in pristine condition, and any damages must have occurred in transit or must be manufacturing defects. The manufacturer may suspect the retailer of abusing return privileges because of poor planning, or of returning product damaged by the retailer. Once the condition of the item is agreed upon, the value that the retailer should receive must be determined. The retailer may claim

22

full credit, and the manufacturer may have a dozen reasons why it should not receive full credit. These issues can be difficult to sort out. After they have all been decided, the refund never comes quickly enough to suit the retailer. Retailer returns to the supplier are a method of reducing inventories near the end of a quarter. Retailers may suddenly move material back to the supplier, or at least notify the supplier that they are going to do so, and negotiate the details later. For similar reasons, manufacturers can be slow to recognize returns as a subtraction from sales. They may want to delay returns until a later accounting period, or, they may not want to credit the returned items at their full price. Sometimes the retailer simply deducts the cost of the items from an invoice. Often, that invoice is not the same one for the goods being returned. In the end, both parties need to realize that they have to develop a working partnership to derive mutual benefit. Obviously, neither can live without the other; they need to work together to reduce the number of returns coming back and speed up the processing of those that do come back. Inefficiencies that lengthen the time for processing returns cause harm to both firms.

Table 6 Problem Return Symptoms

Symptoms
Returns arriving faster than processing or disposal Large amount of returns inventory held in the warehouse Unidentified or unauthorized returns Lengthy processing cycle times Unknown total cost of the returns process Customers have lost confidence in the repair activity.

Problem Return Symptoms

If a large amount of returns inventory is being held in the warehouse, clearly there is a problem with the way the firm is handling returns. If a large number of unauthorized or unidentified items are being discovered, again, there must be a significant problem with the return process. Piles of unprocessed returns are easy to observe. Unfortunately, some of these other symptoms identified are not as easily observed. One of the findings of this research is that shortening returns processing time is important for handling returns well. If firms do not monitor the length of their processing cycle times, they have no way to determine how well 23

they are doing in this area. One of the biggest challenges facing firms dealing with reverse logistics is a lack of information about the process. Again and again, we have seen companies that do not have any formalized systems for monitoring their reverse logistics activities. As the old saying goes, if you arent measuring it, you arent managing it.

Cause and Effect

Poor data collection leads to uncertainty about return causes. In the long run, the most valuable outcome of sound reverse logistics management is the accumulation of data. Improving the return process and efficiently handling the returned products decreases costs. However, being able to see defective products and to track return issues by reason codes can be more useful than simply improving return handling efficiencies. In forward distribution, it is more important to be able to manage information effectively than to manage inventory. Generally, those firms that manage information well also manage their inventories effectively. Those that do not manage well the data surrounding their logistics processes, do not generally manage their inventories effectively. This same rule applies to reverse logistics as well.

Reactive Response
Over the last few years, many companies have practiced reverse logistics primarily because of government regulation or pressure from environmental agencies; not for economic gain. For most of these companies, reverse logistics has not been as strongly emphasized as other business activities. For many firms, it has not been possible to justify a large investment in improving reverse logistics systems and capabilities because generally, not enough analysis is completed. Like the captain of the Titanic, whose disregard of iceberg warnings brought so much devastation, executives usually disregard reverse logistics issues. 3.6 BARRIERS TO GOOD REVERSE LOGISTICS As we continued to examine the firms included in this research project, it was clear that for many companies, it is difficult to successfully execute reverse logistics because of very real internal and external barriers. We asked the 300 Research respondents about what kinds of issues cause them difficulty in completing their reverse logistics mission. These answers were grouped around the following categories: importance of reverse logistics relative to other issues, company policies, lack of systems, competitive issues, management inattention, financial resources, personnel resources, and legal issues. The responses are listed below in Table. Very few of the firms interviewed manage their reverse logistics costs at the operational level. Since successfully completing the reverse logistics mission is clearly a problem for many firms, it is obvious that numerous barriers to good reverse logistics exist. According to the research respondents, the relative unimportance of reverse logistics issues 24

(39.2 percent) is the largest barrier to good reverse logistics management. These companies said that reverse logistics was just not a priority. Some firms included in the research mentioned that they have difficulty cost-justifying a reverse logistics system. As one executive said, after all, it is junk. You cant expect my VP to want to invest in junk. While it is not necessarily junk, it is often viewed as such and therefore is not worthy of much investment. Table 7 Barriers to Reverse Logistics BARRIER Importance of reverse logistics relative to other issues Company policies Lack of systems Competitive issues Management inattention Financial resources Personnel resources PERCENTAGE 39.2%

35.0% 34.3% 33.7% 26.8% 19.0% 19.0%

Legal issues

14.1%

For many of the firms examined, this attitude is changing. For example, in the book industry, reverse logistics has traditionally not been recognized as a significant factor. Recently, high returns have pushed many publishers to operate in the red. It is clear that, in the long run, these publishers cannot continue to overlook the necessity of good reverse logistics management, returns are now considered to be extremely important in the book industry.

The second largest number of respondents mentioned restrictive company policies (35.0 percent). This response may be related to management inattention and the lack of importance of reverse logistics. It also is related to corporate strategy for handling returns and non-salable items. Because companies do not want to see their junk cannibalizing their first quality or A channel, they often develop policies that make it very difficult to handle 25

returns efficiently, and to recover much secondary value from those returns. One trend that is interesting, however, is that the pendulum currently appears to be swinging toward eliminating difficult policies and attempting to handle returns effectively, in order to recover value from what can be a very valuable resource. Lack of systems is another serious problem for 34 percent of the respondent base. In the course of this research project, very few good reverse logistics management systems were found. Competitive issues (33.7 percent) and management inattention (26.8 percent) also hamper reverse logistics efforts. Financial and personnel issues were cited as barriers by 19 percent of those surveyed. This number was lower than expected although it is not insignificant. For most firms, executive attention and policies are much greater problems than adequate access to resources. The problem that appears to have the smallest impact on reverse logistics managers is legal issues. This finding is contrary to what was expected. The conventional wisdom has been that over the last few years, most companies have practiced reverse logistics primarily because of government regulation or pressure from environmental agencies, and not for economic gain. While this may be true, legal issues do not appear to be a major problem for most of the firms included in my research.

3.7 Difficulties of reverse logistics

Many companies do not have an awareness of the current costs associated with reverse logistics. Reasons for this may include poorly defined processes and lack of system support. Due to the variable nature of returns, both processes and systems must maintain a degree of flexibility to manage the returns process. Most products are engineered to incorporate manufacturing efficiencies (e.g. postponement manufacturing and modularization), but few product designs take into account the impediments to disposition that a products lifecycle should incorporate. And while business partners often play key roles in the disposition of a product, all parties need to be well informed about true costs and possible revenue opportunities, so when entering into an agreement the financial and marketing goals are clearly understood. The UPS Store retail network for packaging and return of laptops, the company could eliminate multiple transportation steps, centralize parts and repairs, and reduce costs. If they are not trained or encouraged to manage the reverse logistics of their customers, corporate

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representatives such as sales and customer service personnel can become impediments to the process.

But, if properly motivated, they can become gatekeepers for the reverse logistics process. This is exemplified by Dell, where no computer can be returned unless a phone call has been placed to a technical customer service representative. The agents can often walk consumers through set-up and early usage issues and, in effect, talk them out of returning the machines. In fact, the gatekeeping function can actually provide an opportunity to up-sell and cross-sell. Company policies and employee incentives must be reviewed to ensure they are not acting as barriers to otherwise advantageous reverse logistics programs. Reverse logistics programs are typically complicated by a number of factors. Paperwork and poor workflow processes tend to plague reverse logistics operations. This is exacerbated by the multiple entities customer, manufacturer, reseller and disposer that need to partner to develop a smooth reverse logistics program.

3.8 MANAGING RETURNS There are many different kinds of reverse logistics activities. As discussed in Chapter 1, much of the focus of this research project was directed at examining the return flow of product from a retailer back through the supply chain toward its original source, or to some other disposition. The management of this flow of materials will become clear, the diverse modalities for handling returns utilized by the research respondents can either positively or negatively impact a companys bottom line. What follows is a detailed examination of those factors defined by the research team as key reverse logistics management elements. Table 8 Key Reverse Logistics Management Elements Gatekeeping Compacting Disposition Cycle Time Reverse Logistics Information Systems Centralized Return Centers Zero Returns Remanufacture and Refurbishment Asset Recovery

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Negotiation Financial Management Outsourcing

Improve Return Gatekeeping

For years, retailers and manufacturers have focused solely on massaging profitability into and out of the inventory management processbut only from a forward distribution perspective. Our research shows that the time has come to give similarly focused attention to the reverse logistics management functionand every company has one. Point of entry into the reverse logistics pipelineor Gatekeeping, as we call it deserves much more attention. Gatekeeping is the screening of defective and unwarranted returned merchandise at the entry point into the reverse logistics process. Good gatekeeping is the first critical factor in making the entire reverse flow manageable and profitable. While liberal return policies draw customers, they can also encourage consumer abuse. For example, at one GENCO retail centralized return center visited by the research team, some of the items brought into the center were not even sold by the retailer to which they were returned. Retail store personnel should have never accepted those items as returns. However, without good systems in place and well trained personnel at store level, this kind of abuse occurs more often than retailers would like to admit. In the book industry, publishers allow bookstores to return any product for credit. Often, the return rates on a specific book actually determine its profitability. Conversely, book distributors, who are the largest customers of publishers, only take back a certain percentage of the books that they sell to bookstores. Book retailers are painfully aware of the policy mismatch between publishers and distributors. Once the stores return their quota of allowable returns to their distributors, they begin sending the remainder of their returns back to the publishereven though they bought the books from the distributor and not directly from the publisher. In some cases, book retailers do not even try to ship the product back to their distributors because of tighter distributor policies. Using this strategy forces the publisher to incur the lions share of the cost for book returns. Since the publisher probably sold the books originally to the distributor at a lower price than the direct price to the retail bookseller, the publishers profits are diminished, while the distributor avoids incurring the expense of handling the return. This system hardly seems efficient or fair. During the course of research, several retailers voiced concern and consternation over the difficulty in screening defective, and unwarranted returned merchandise at the store level. Store-level clerks and front-line personnel are often unwilling or unable to gate keep the 28

returns process. Retailers need to do better training of the sales associates. They can also develop systems to take the decisions out of the hands of the associate. Failure in returns gatekeeping can also create significant friction between supplier and customer firms, not to mention lost revenue. For example, the stock price of a specialty apparel manufacturer fell dramatically at the end of 1996. This drop was due to, in large part, the inability of the specialty retailer who sold the product to appropriately manage returns to the manufacturer. The retailer, a store found in most suburban shopping malls, accounts for approximately one third of the manufacturers revenues. Heres what caused the problem. Instead of using a centralized return processing center, which significantly expedites the reverse logistics pipeline, the retailer accumulated store returns and sent them back to the manufacturer in infrequent, large batches. This practice, coupled with a breakdown in manufacturer-retailer communication channels, created mountains of returned product on which the retailer only received a fraction of the original cost. Subsequently, the retailers third quarter profits suffered, and buying volumes were reduced with the manufacturer. Needless to say, Wall Street reacted negatively. The manufacturers stock fell to a third of its high point for the year. As of this writing, both firms have been seriously wounded. These are wounds that could have been avoided if the gatekeeping function of their return process had been a prioritynot a postscript.

Compact Disposition Cycle Time

Another critical element to successful reverse logistics management is having short disposition cycle times. The companies that are best at managing their reverse logistics processes are adept at gatekeeping, as described above. These firms are also able to reduce cycle times related to return product decisions, movement, and processing. One executive described difficulties in managing the return process and said, You know, this stuff isnt like fine wine. It doesnt get any better with age. While most returned product does not age well, it is clear that many firms have not discovered how to avert a lengthy aging process on their returns. For many of the firms studied, returns are exception-driven processes. Often, when material often comes back in to a distribution center, it is not clear whether the items are: defective, can be reused or refurbished, or need to be sent to a landfill. The challenge of running a distribution system in forward is difficult; it is harder still for companies to allocate resources to manage the system in reverse. Part of the difficulty that firms have in compacting disposition cycle time is that there does not seem to be much reward for taking responsibility and making a timely decision as to how product should be disposition. Employees have difficulty making decisions when the decision rules are not clearly stated and exceptions are often made. It is easier to pass the

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product back to the previous stage in the channel, because that reduces both personal and company risk.

3.9 REVERSE LOGISTICS INFORMATION SYSTEMS One of the most serious problems that firms face in the execution of a reverse logistics operation is the dearth of good information systems. Very few firms have successfully automated the information surrounding the return process. Based on the response of firms included in the research, reverse logisticians seem to feel that nearly zero good reverse logistics management information systems are commercially available. Because information systems resources are usually stretched to their limit, those resources are usually not available for reverse logistics applications. An information systems department queue for building applications not determined to be core processes is often greater than one year. Some information systems departments have queues that stretch out beyond two years. Given this difficulty, reverse logistics applications typically are not a priority for information systems departments. To work well, a reverse logistics information system has to be flexible. In addition to the problems described above, automation of those processes is difficult because reverse logistics processes have so many exceptions. Reverse logistics is typically a boundary-spanning process between firms or business units of the same company. Developing systems that have to work across boundaries adds additional complexity to the problem. For the retailer, a system that tracks returns at store level is desirable. The system should create a database at the store level so that the retailer can begin tracking returned product and follow it all the way back through the pipeline. One of the best firms included in this research developed a very simple system to assist in the compacting of the disposition cycle times. In addition to an investment in computer systems, they have designed manual systems to improve returns processing. They use a three-color system. A store employee receives instructions about the returned good from decision rules built in to the point-of-sale terminal at the service desk. The point-of-sale terminal retrieves the return policy for that particular item. The store clerk places a yellow sticker on the item if it is to be returned to the vendor. A green sticker means that the item is to be placed on the salvage pallet. If the system indicates red, the item is an exception article and has to be researched. This particular firm tries to keep the number of red stickers to a minimum. Because the disposition decision is made by the system and does not rely on individual judgments for most returns, disposition cycle time is dramatically reduced. 30

Additionally, because of their systems, this firm has the benefit of tracking returns, and measuring cycle times and vendor performance. This firms buyers have much better information in their hands when they talk to suppliers and negotiate allowances. Also, the stores can see if the consumers are committing return abuse, and are trying to take advantage of the store. These benefits have been realized because this firm has recognized the bottom-line impact of reverse logistics and assigned its resources to work on reverse logistics systems problems.

3.10 Returns Transaction Processing

In a truly integrated supply chain, everyone in the supply chain can track product as it moves forward through the channel. While there are very few supply chains that really function this well, there are virtually none that work in reverse. Most firms cannot track returns within their own organization, much less somewhere outside of their firm.

Retailer
In a returns processing system that may reside at a centralized return center, several transactions can occur. A good system might include the following steps. The first transaction will likely be financial, where an inventory category will be updated. A chargeback to reconcile with the vendor, or something similar, will occur. A retailer may want to reorder first quality product from its supplier immediately. Then, routing for processing or a storage location within the processing center will be determined. A reverse warehouse management system may be required for this step.

Manufacturer
The manufacturer will generate a return authorization (RA). This is often a manual process. RAs could be generated electronically, including an automatic check to see if the return should be authorized. Next, the likely financial impact of the return could be generated. These capabilities would be very helpful in better managing returns. The next step is to automate pickup of product and an advanced shipping notification (ASN) could be cut. After it is shipped, it is received. Currently, most manufacturers manually receive returns. Once the material is received, a database is created for reconciliation. Because most manufacturers manually receive material, this database is created slowlyif it is created at all. This sluggishness results in slowing the reconciliation and the disposition of the returns.

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EDI Standards
Electronic data interchange (EDI) standards to facilitate this boundary spanning have been developed to handle returns. The 180 transaction set was developed to manage the flow of information surrounding the return process. However, few of the research respondents have implemented the 180 EDI transaction set. The majority of the respondent firms have implemented some EDI functionality. They just have not put many resources into developing EDI linkages for the return flow of goods. One executive said that: I can get suppliers to send me ASNs all day. I just cant get anyone to tell me product is coming back to the warehouse. Some of the firms interviewed voiced the opinion that eventually, the internet will replace the implementation of EDI transactions. In an application such as reverse logistics, where resources are always difficult to gather, inexpensive browser-based return interfaces may be one answer to the systems problem. In addition to being less expensive, internet-style interfaces can usually be developed more quickly than costly mainframe applications. Additionally, GENCO, IBM, HP, and other firms are testing license plates and twodimensional bar codes to fill gaps between systems. Hardware firms such as Symbol and Telxon are developing solutions for reverse logistics applications. A good reverse logistics system can remove functionality from the back of a retail store. One retail firm interviewed for this research project found that after they installed a reverse logistics system, they were able to reduce headcount. A good system allows the firm to quickly obtain credit for returned product, which improves cash flow management through the reverse logistics pipeline. A company can change suppliers, liquidate the old suppliers product, and get through final resolution much more quickly than if the reverse logistics information flow is not automated. Return Reason and Disposition Codes Part of good returns transaction processing understands why the items were returned and how they should be disposition. Listed below in Table9 are possible standardized return reason codes. Several companies included in the research have also taken a larger, more difficult step in compacting disposition cycle times. This step is the development of a centralized return center (CRC) network. While it is not intuitively clear that establishing CRCs would reduce cycle times, in every firm studied that moved to the CRC concept, disposition times decreased. This reduction in time is most likely due to improved information systems and clearly understood procedures for handling returned material. In most cases examined, this reduction in cycle time directly and positively impacted the firms bottom line.

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Centralized Return Centers

Centralized return centers (CRCs) are processing facilities devoted to handling returns quickly and efficiently. CRCs have been utilized for many years, but in the last few years, they have become much more popular as more retailers and manufacturers have decided to devote specialized buildings and workforces to managing and processing returns.

Table 9 Return Reason Codes

Repair / Service Codes Factory Repair Return to vendor for repair Service / Maintenance Agent Order Error Sales agent ordering error Customer Order Error Ordered wrong material Entry Error System processing error Shipping Error Shipped wrong material Incomplete Shipment Ordered items missing Wrong Quantity Duplicate Shipment Duplicate Customer Order Not Ordered Missing Part Damaged / Defective Damaged Cosmetic Dead on Arrival Did not work Defective Not working correctly Contractual Agreements Stock Excess Too much stock on hand Stock Adjustment Rotation of stock Obsolete Outdated Other Freight Claim Damaged during shipment Miscellaneous

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Table 10 Disposition Codes Disposal Scrap / Destroy Secure Disposal Secure Disposal (Videotaped) Donate to Charity Third Party Disposal Salvage Third Party Sale (Secondary Markets)

Repair / Modify Rework Remanufacture / Refurbish Modify (Configurable or Upgradable Products) Repair Return to Vendor Other Use as Is Resale Exchange Miscellaneous

In a centralized system, all products for the reverse logistics pipeline are brought to a central facility, where they are sorted, processed, and then shipped to their next destinations. This system has the benefit of creating the largest possible volumes for each of the reverse logistics flow customers, which often leads to higher revenues for the returned items. It also allows the firm to maximize its return on the items, due, in part, to sortation specialists who develop expertise in certain areas and can consistently find the best destination for each product.

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Generally, centralized return centers work in the following manner. The retail stores send product back to one or more centralized return centers. If the retailer is a large, national or international company, it is likely that it will have more than one CRC.

One of the most important activities is the sortation step. During this part of the process, employees make decisions about whether the product can be resold or if it has to be scrapped. Obviously, determining the best channel for dispositioning of the product is of critical importance in maximizing revenue from the products in the reverse logistics pipeline.

Based on the research interviews, centralized return centers are an important part of a reverse logistics management strategy. These centers impose order on the reverse flow. Generally, they are associated with information system improvement. To run a CRC, a firm must have some sort of reverse logistics system in place. In almost every instance, research respondents said that centralized return centers had a positive impact on the bottom line. In one case, a large company said that the combination of implementing centralized return centers, moving to an asset recovery program, and improving its reverse logistics information systems improved the corporate bottom line by 25 percent.

CRCs also simplify in-store processes. It is often difficult to get disposition decision uniformity across a chain of stores for several reasons. The employees working the customer service desk may be not properly trained, new, or not terribly concerned about returns.

Consistency
Sending returns back to a CRC results in more consistent decisions being made about product disposition. Because processes are standardized, errors are more easily identified and avoided. The quality of returns processing generally improves as the firm moves to a centralized processing model.

Space Utilization
Retail stores generally have very limited space in the store to devote to returns. Usually, a retail store wants to devote as much space as possible to the selling floor. A retailer does not want to devote much space to hold non-selling returns. 35

Labor Savings
By centralizing returns processing, a retailer minimizes the labor required to complete the processing of returns. One properly trained employee at the CRC can generally do more in less time than the combined efforts of several customer service desk employees.

Transportation Costs
Many of the companies included in this research also found that their reverse logistics-related transportation costs decline due to consolidation. With a CRC model, a retailer or manufacturer can utilize milk runs to pick up returned goods. This way, a company can move more pallets and fewer boxes, increasing consolidation and thereby reducing freight costs.

The downside to a completely centralized system is that handling and transportation costs can increase because all products must be transported from the retail locations to the centralized facility. If a product is going to be thrown away, transporting it to a centralized facility just to throw it away increases costs, but does not increase revenues, because the product is still thrown away.

However, the cost savings, reduced disposition time, and improved revenues associated with the implementation of CRCs more than make up for transportation costs incurred if the product is to be scrapped. In many cases, products that are going to be thrown away would not be processed at the retail store, anyway.

Improved Customer Service

From the manufacturers point of view, the centralized model can improve customer service. It can speed the reconciliation process, improve return material authorization (RMA) verification, and be part of developing important management information. Because of consolidation of returns, a manufacturer can more easily become aware of trends in returns. Also, good reverse logistics management can be a marketing strategy to keep customers loyal. Processing the transaction quickly and giving the customer credit helps to build customer loyalty. 36

Some firms believe that their returns management processes give them a great opportunity to please the customer. Establishing CRCs is a sign of commitment from the firm to incorporate returns management into the overall corporate strategic plan. It means that someone such as the general manager of the CRC has the job of making sure that returns are handled properly.

Compacting Disposition Time

Firms included in the research that established a CRC found that their disposition cycle times were reduced. Centralized return centers tend to expedite the reverse logistics pipeline. Before implementing a CRC, retailers would accumulate store returns and send them back to the manufacturer in infrequent, unorganized, large batches. Because returns were not normally the first priority of the store or the distribution center, returned goods would pile up in large amounts. This inefficient handling would result in the loss of value as the returned product sat for a long period of time and was often damaged. Retailers would receive less credit from the manufacturers or distributors than their original purchase price. For products such as personal computers, this situation is catastrophic, as the product loses value everyday it sits idle. From an accounting point of view, this company transfers the inventory back to the supplier once a bill of lading is cut. The director of reverse logistics often receives calls near the end of the month or end of the quarter asking him if he can, for example, get rid of $4 million and shift it back on the vendors before the period closes.

Profit Impact
Returns have a lower impact on the profitability of those firms utilizing outsourced centralized return centers than those not using outsourced centralized return centers. As Table shows, companies that used an in-house CRC found that reverse logistics costs reduced profitability by 4.8 percent, while those companies that used a third party to manage their CRC found profitability reduced by 3.7 percent. Table 11 Impact on Profitability IN HOUSE 4.8%

ACTIVITY Central Return Center

OUT SOURCED 3.7%

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Visibility of Quality Problems

One of the advantages related to operating a CRC is that it becomes easier to see quality problems as product flows in from several retail stores. Several of the firms that operate CRCs told the research team that if the firm is doing a good job of gatekeeping, and has a system in place that allows it to match returned merchandise with the vendor file, the firm can more quickly see problem products and suppliers. They can then improve product quality and reduce returns.

An example of this is the experience that a major retailer had with some dehumidifiers that inexplicably began arriving at their CRC in large numbers. The CRC team called the buyer, who called the manufacturer. The manufacturer sent an engineer to examine the problem. The engineer laid the dehumidifiers out on a workbench and found a plastic liner that was melting. The melting plastic liner resulted in a faulty product. Because the CRC effectively managed information, a problem was solved that, otherwise, could have resulted in much greater expense for all of the members of the supply chain.

By tracking hundreds of return authorizations, a firm can build a data warehouse that contains return reasons. If a quality problem exists with a product, consolidation of returns will highlight those quality difficulties more quickly than if returns dribble in slowly from retail customer service desks. A consumer electronics company was seeing high return rates on personal CD players. Jogging while wearing or carrying one of these portable CD players made them skip. The returns were sent to a CRC where they were processed. Management information for a large number of these CD players was developed, which gave the firm important feedback and enabled it to solve the problem. In another example, a firm that manufactures bread machines was experiencing a high rate of return on apparently operable machines. The problem was that the picture on the box showed a perfectly formed loaf of bread. The bread machine, however, actually produced a loaf that looked like a ball. It was not until the manufacturer could view management information that was derived from a number of returns that they understood the actual problem.

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In the electronics industry, or in other industries that produce and sell high learning products, a large number of returns are not really defective. A high learning product is one that requires users to do more than simply unwrap it and put it in their mouths, play with it, or simply turn it on. Products that require user knowledge or expertise for proper operation often come back in large numbers. The ones that actually work are non-defective defective products. There is really not anything wrong with them, but the consumer could not figure out how to make them work. By utilizing a CRC and seeing the return reasons in larger numbers, the manufacturer and the retailer can work together to improve the manual, develop a quick start sheet, give an 800 phone number, or come up with another solution to reduce the non-defective defectives. For some products, the highest percentage of returns is actually non-defective defectives.

Forward and Backward

A large number of firms interviewed believe that distribution centers will not work well both forward and backward. While at first this belief did not seem logical, many distribution centers that attempt to efficiently process both forward and reverse supply chain flows have much difficulty. The problem may be related more to focus than to actual capability. If the distribution center manager has to make a choice between efficiently executing forward logistics versus reverse logistics, the distribution center manager will focus on forward distribution. In every situation, forward distribution management is the top priority of a distribution center that has new product flow as one of its responsibilities. A few of the research respondents said that cycle time processing is negatively affected when one distribution center handles both forward and reverse shipments. In distribution centers that have a limited number of dock doors and dock space, product coming back tends to be mishandled and the processing of that material is often postponed. This problem of utilizing a distribution center to work both forward and backward is one of the reasons that several firms are seeking out specialists. It is difficult for executives to justify the expense of constructing and staffing a large building dedicated to handling failureswhich is exactly how returned product is often perceived inside the company. Some firms included in the research are able to perform forward and reverse logistics operations in the same facility by carefully segregating both the flow of product and the employees. This separation allows the reverse logistics employees to focus on the return flow and not be distracted by forward distribution activities.

Accounting Issues
In a good CRC, information systems interact with accounting and other systems. In theory, stores should be able to do this well, but unfortunately, most cannot. For the most part, retailers want to perform tasks that are part of the normal retail process. A CRC assists the retailer and enables it to make faster disposition decisions about returned product. 39

To summarize, the benefits resulting from a centralized return center are presented in Table.

Zero Returns
In zero return programs, the manufacturer or distributor does not permit products to come back through the return channel. Instead, they give the retailer or other downstream entity a return allowance, and develop rules and guidelines for acceptable disposition of the product. A typical return allowance in many industries is three-and-a-half to four percent of sales to the retailer. A zero returns policy, properly executed, can result in substantially lower costs, according to the research respondents. Firms using zero returns can reduce the variability of returns costs, by pre-setting the maximum dollar amount of returned product. Stabilizing return rates using a zero returns program promotes planning and fiscal health. Table 12 Typical Benefits from a Centralized Return Centre 1. Simplified store procedures 2. Improved supplier relationships 3. Better returns inventory control 4. Improved inventory turns 5. Reduced administrative costs 6. Reduced store level costs 7. Reduced shrinkage 8. Refocus on retailer core competencies 9 Reduced landfill 10. Improved management information

Zero returns enable the firm to avoid physically accepting returns altogether, a strategy being adopted by some consumer product companies, and several electronics companies. Interestingly, most retailers do not track the cost of returns. Instead, merchandise buyers factor the return allowance into their pricing, which ignores the cost of returns. While zero returns release upstream channel participants from

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dealing with the physical portion of reverse logistics management, it does not reduce much of the physical burden placed on downstream channel participants. Thus far, zero return programs have reportedly had mixed results. At a large consumer products company, zero returns appear to have reduced the handling costs related to returns. However, much of the product that this firm earmarks as scrap-in-the-field is, instead, showing up in alternative channels, such as dollar stores and flea markets. Cannibalization of the A or primary channel is always a concern when considering a zero returns program.

How Zero Returns Work

In a typical zero returns program, a supplier tells its customers that no product will be accepted for return, once ordered. Instead, the supplier will give the customer a discount off of the invoiced amount. Depending on the supplier, the retailer either destroys the product, or disposes of it in some other manner. In another model being utilized in the computer industry, the retailer returns all products to a central point on open return material authorization (RMA). Usable product is paid for and shipped to a third party for refurbishment and disposition. Ineligible or unusable product is disposed of based on a predefined set of rules. In this model, the goal for the retailer is to enlist as many manufacturers as possible to participate, to enable centralized receiving, auditing, and payment processing. From the computer manufacturers point of view, all products from the channel is returned to the refurbishing third party. The product is audited by an independent entity to determine its usability and the retailers credit entitlement. All aspects of the RMA process and the disposition of the returned product are handled by the third party.

In this model, ineligible product becomes moot, because the third party settles claims between retailers and manufacturers. The result for the retailer may be faster reconciliation and payment; simplified, easier returns processing; and cheaper, reduced inventory awaiting return to the vendor. For the manufacturers, this model may result in a faster recovery process, better RMA administration, and a renewed focus on selling new products, which is their primary goal.

2% / 6% Problem
A notable problem with zero return policies is one that can be referred to as the 2% / 6% problem. Because of the considerable power that large retailers have in the channel, it is hard for manufacturers to decree an appropriate returns allowance and stick to it. For 41

example, if a manufacturer is selling product to Kmart, and sets a six percent returns cap, Kmart would agree to that cap if the returns of the manufacturers product do not exceed six percent. In fact, Kmart would probably be very happy if its actual returns rate was two percent while it was receiving credit for six percent returns. Kmart would be able to use the additional return cap money as a rebate.

However, if the manufacturer sets a two percent return cap and the actual return rate is six percent, Kmart is not likely to consent to the manufacturers set return cap percentage. The retailer would instead insist that the manufacturer cover the entire six percent returns. Because of the power of the large retailers, most manufacturers are not in a position to argue about the return cap percentage. This, coupled with the inability of the manufacturer to truly control the disposition of the product, means that the retailer has less risk than the manufacturer from a zero returns program. An effective zero returns programs requires that both the buyer and seller truly understand what their actual costs are.

Asset Recovery
Asset recovery is the classification and disposition of returned goods, surplus, obsolete, scrap, waste and excess material products, and other assets, in a way that maximizes returns to the owner, while minimizing costs and liabilities associated with the dispositions. This definition is similar to the one that the Investment Recovery Association uses to define investment recovery. The objective of asset recovery is to recover as much of the economic (and ecological) value as reasonably possible, thereby reducing the ultimate quantities of waste. Asset recovery has become an important business activity for many companies. The importance of asset recovery to the profitability of the company depends on the ability of that company to recover as much economic value as possible from used products, while minimizing negative impacts such as environmental problems. The attitude of many firms towards used products has been to ignore them, and avoid dealing with them after they are originally sold. Manufacturers in the United States, typically, are not responsible for products after customer use. Most products are designed to minimize materials, assembly, and distribution costs, and ignore the repair, reuse, and disposal requirements. Manufacturers have generally believed that the costs of incorporating these requirements would outweigh the benefits. 42

The research found that secondary markets both domestically and internationally are growing rapidly. The asset recovery process can include defacing the returned products. Many retailers and manufacturers do want their brand recognizable when the products enter the secondary market. Defacing may include removing the manufacturers name or peeling off price stickers.

Asset Recovery Supply

Firms that specialize in reclaiming value from used product enjoy a large supply of product from many different potential sources. Materials are placed into the return stream for several different reasons. One return flow type common in Europe is the result of laws requiring manufacturers to take back used products. Products coming off a lease or rental agreement make up another source of supply. Products that fail or have quality problems are another source of returned product. Quantities of this kind of return can depend on product warranties and service contracts. Forecasting return flows of defective products is often difficult. Failure or quality defect rates can depend on the type of product. For example, electronic items tend to fail early in life, whereas mechanical components fail as they age.

Financial Management
Financial management issues are the primary determinants in the structure of a reverse logistics system, and the manner in which product is dispositioned. Most firms need to improve internal accounting processes. Accounting problems drive the actions of managers. In a few firms included in the research, accounting issues drove store managers to sidestep normal return systems. In these cases, internal policies and controls moved them to inefficient, incorrect behaviors.

An example of a policy-created problem surfaced in the research. Merchandise designated to go back to the supplier due to overstocks, or because it is not selling, is earmarked for processing through a centralized return center. However, internal accounting takes a markdown on those items that move through the centralized return center, and stores expense those items. When the centralized return center processes the material, they get full credit, and the stores are punished. The stores do not want to be punished so they slow the flow back to the vendor to postpone the negative 43

financial impact as long as possible. This delay causes a store-level backup of material that should be dispositioned. In addition, the loss of consolidation opportunities increases transportation costs.

Often, the cost of returns is charged against the sales department. While this policy may generally be a reasonable one, it can complicate reverse logistics processes. If sales personnel are penalized for returns, they will go out of their way to slow down or demolish the quick recognition of returns and the speedy disposition of returned material. Issues related to chargebacks and bottom line responsibility for returns must be a key consideration when developing a good reverse logistics management system. As mentioned previously, the greatest roadblocks to successful reverse logistics are company policies. Generally, company policies that pose difficulties are related to accounting issues. Sorting out what a supplier is to be paid, when deals and promotions are factored in, can be a challenge. However, returns are often the number one issue in reconciling accounts receivables. Because these issues are often so difficult to manage, third parties have begun to specialize in handling accounting and reconciliation issues.

3.11 Outsourcing Reverse Logistics

Many companies are outsourcing most or all of their logistics activities. Some of these firms are extending their outsourcing to the reverse product flow, including many firms that participated in our research. These firms are using their reverse logistics outsource supplier as a benchmark to help determine what and how reverse activities should be performed, and how much those activities should cost. Often, these outsource suppliers perform reverse activities better, and their customers find that using these service firms reduce the administrative hassle of doing it themselves. These outsource suppliers have become specialists in managing the reverse flow, and performing key value-added services, such as remanufacturing and refurbishing.

3.12 Disposition and the Secondary Market

Overview of the Reverse Logistics Flow In this chapter, product disposition options and the secondary market are examined. Once a product is initially processed, a decision is made about where to send the product: 44

either return to vendor, to the landfill, or to the secondary market. There are a variety of reasons why a product may enter the reverse logistics flow. They are summarized in Table below. There are, of course, more reasons why a product will enter the reverse logistics system, but these are the most common. Often, two identical products will follow different routes to different destinations, depending on where in the distribution channel they enter the reverse logistics flow. For example, a book that is returned to a store by a customer may not end up at the same place as a book returned by the store to its supplier due to overstocking. Neither of these books may end up in the same place as the books returned by the distributor. When a product has been replaced by a new version, a retailer may continue to sell the old version until it is gone, perhaps at a discount. The product may never enter the secondary market. If the product does enter the reverse logistics flow, the firm may sell it to a liquidator for a relatively high price (by liquidator standards). This may be especially true when the new product represents only a minor, incremental improvement over an already popular product. If the product change is more significant, the manufacturer may offer the retailer more liberal incentives to sell off the remaining old product. When significant product modifications are made, the retailer may be more likely to pull the old product from its shelves, and send it to the secondary market. When a product has been discontinued because of disappointing sales, firms are more likely to have difficulty finding a buyer for the product, even at a greatly reduced price. Retailers may attempt to dispose of the inventory, but it may be difficult through the typical retail channels. Product price in a secondary market is likely to be greatly reduced.

Source Customer

Table 13 Reasons for Returns Reasons 1. Product did not meet customers needs 2. Customer did not understand how to properly use the product 3. Product was defective 4. Customer abuse of liberal return policy 45

Retailer

1. Product packaging outdated 2. Seasonal product 3. Product replaced by new version 4. Product discontinued 5. Retailer inventory too high (overstock, marketing returns, or slow-moving) 6. Retailer going out of business

Returned Product Types

Retail products in a reverse logistics flow can be separated into the following categories: 1. Close-Outs: first quality products that the retailer has decided to no longer carry; 2. Buy-Outs or lifts: where one manufacturer buys out retailers supply of competitors product; 3. Job-Outs: first quality seasonal, holiday merchandise; 4. Surplus: first quality overstock, overrun, marketing returns, slow-moving merchandise; 5. Defective: products discovered to be defective; 6. Non-Defective Defectives: products thought incorrectly to be defective ; 7. Salvage: damaged items, and 8. Returns: products returned by customers.

Close-Outs
In a reverse logistics flow, close-out items are first-quality items that the retailer has discontinued from its product mix. In such a case, the retailer may have decided to stop carrying products sold by a certain vendor, in a particular product line. When a firm determines that it is no longer going to carry a particular item or product line, it may contact a number of outside firms to ask for bids on removing all of the product from its stores.

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Buy-Outs Buy-outs occur where one manufacturer buys out a retailers entire supply of a competitors product. This purchase frees shelf space so that the manufacturer can put its product where the competitors product was previously. It also reduces the retailers risk. The retailer can dispose of slow-moving merchandise, and replace it with product that will, hopefully, sell better, without incurring any cost in the transition.

Job-Outs
Job-out items have come to the end of their normal sales lives. Some productslike swimsuits and snow shovels are only popular during a certain time of the year. When a store reaches the end of a products sales period, the firm must either sell it at a discount, or attempt to recover some of its value through its reverse logistics system. Unlike close-outs, a retailer is more likely to have an ongoing relationship with a job-out firm. As different products reach the end of their selling seasons, the retailer may send the products to the same job-out companies.

Surplus
Surplus is first-quality items that the company has in excess, but will continue to sell. The firm may have overestimated demand and ordered too many. Surplus items also result from an overzealous manufacturer. This may be due to inaccurate forecasts, or because production constraints require a minimum production quantity, which is greater than the demand. Marketing returns may also be a large source of excess product for the distributor. The distributor or the vendor may offer a special promotion, which provides the retailer an incentive to purchase a larger than usual order. If the retailer is unable to sell the product, the distributor may experience a significant increase in returns.

Defectives
Defective items have been discovered by the retailer or by the customer to be truly defective. In many cases, a firm will inform the manufacturer of the defect and the manufacturer will compensate the retailer with a new product or repayment, in the form of a check or a credit. Non-Defective Defectives Often, a customer will claim that a product is defective in order to return it, when, in fact, it is not defective. However, it is usually not until the product reaches a returns processing center that it is discovered to be non-defective. 47

Non-defective defectives often arise because a customer has purchased an item, and attempted to use it without successfully reading the instruction book. The customer then concludes that the product is defective, when in fact, it would have functioned properly had the instructions been followed.

Salvage
Salvage items have been used or damaged, and can no longer be sold as new. Salvage items lose value relative to the amount use or damage. The most difficult part of managing salvage is determining its value.

Returns
Returns are products that have been opened and used by the customer. Customer returns are generally handled similarly to salvage or surplus items. Even if a return is not defective, it usually cannot be sold as first quality.

Product Disposition
Products in the reverse logistics system are primarily disposed of through one of these seven channels: 1. Return to Vendor 2. Sell as New 3. Sell Via Outlet or Discount 4. Sell to Secondary Market 5. Donate to Charity 6. Remanufacture / Refurbish 7. Materials Reclamation / Recycling / Landfill Depending on the condition of the item, contractual obligations with the vendor and the demand for the product, the firm may have one or more of the above options for each item.

Return to Vendor
Retailers return products to the vendor because of defects, marketing returns, obsolescence, or overstocks. Marketing returns occur when the vendor has created an 48

incentive for the retailer to order a larger quantity than usual, and the retailer has proven unable to sell the additional units. The retailer needs to be able to return the items.

Vendors also allow returns when they have a motivation to help the retailer avoid inventory obsolescence. In the auto industry, for example, the major auto companies allow their dealers to return a limited amount of their inventory each year. This enables the dealers to remove obsolete items from inventory, which frees space and capital to purchase additional, new inventory, and allows the dealers to better serve the customer.

Returns to vendors can also result from selling product on consignment or through a similar arrangement. In a consignment arrangement, the retailer does not assume ownership of the product. If the product does not sell, the manufacturer is usually responsible for removing the product. It is unlikely that consignment inventory will ever enter into the retailers reverse logistics flow. A somewhat similar situation is experienced when a manufacturer sends products to the retailer with the understanding that any unsold product may be returned for full credit, except that in this situation, there is a greater likelihood that the goods may be processed through the retailers reverse logistics system.

If a customer returns a product as defective, and the manufacturer compensates the retailer, the manufacturer may specify that the retailer must return the product. In asking for the product back the manufacturer may have two motivations. First, the manufacturer may want to identify the exact nature of the defect to determine its cause, and eliminate the defect in the future. The manufacturer may also wish to evaluate the number of non-defective defectives. By inspecting each item, the vendor gathers management information that helps to determine other disposition options. Depending on the product, the vendor may be able to reshelf and resell this product as new.

The second reason vendors want product back is to prevent the item from entering another disposition channel and cannibalizing demand. To protect the brand, the manufacturer may want to be certain that defective products are not sold again as new to unsuspecting customers. Also, to protect the brands image, the manufacturer may not want the product to be seen in certain retail outlets, such as dollar stores or flea markets.

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Another reason for wanting the product returned to the vendor is to prevent re-returns. Re-returns are product sold at a discounted price at an outlet store and then returned for full price in the regular channel. In some cases, however, the vendor will compensate the retailer for the defective product and not require a return of the product. Depending on the vendor, the retailer may be required to destroy the product, or may be free to sell the product through an outlet store or elsewhere in the secondary market. If the retailer decides to utilize the secondary market, the vendor may require him to deface the product by removing all identifying marks and labels.

Sell As New
If the returned product is unused and unopened, the retailer may be able to return it to the retail store and resell it as new. The product may need to be repackaged. In some industries, such as automobile parts, firms spend a significant amount of money annually on repackaging, so that consumers will not be able to detect that the product is being resold.

In some industries, there are restrictions, legal or otherwise, in which products cannot be resold as new once a customer has returned them. In the building materials market, for example, in some places, it is illegal to sell a circuit breaker that has previously been installed. For this reason, if a customer returns a circuit breaker that appears to have been installed, even temporarily or unsuccessfully, the retailer cannot restock it as new. Even when a legal violation has not occurred, companies will act quickly to put down any negative publicity that might result from an accusation of selling used products as new.

Sell Via Outlet or Discount

If the product has been returned, or if the retailer has too large an inventory, it can be sold via an outlet store. In the clothing industry, because customers will not accept a returned item as new, an outlet store is the retailers only sales channel. Commonly, firms have significant quantities of end-of-season items which will no longer be offered in the retailers stores. However, in an outlet store, customers look for, and may even come to expect, offseason items.

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Selling through outlet stores offers a number of advantages over other disposition options. Using their outlet store system, firms maintain control over the products, and know where the products will be sold. For many firms, the ability to protect their reputations and market positioning is critical. However, outlet store sales also require more risk and expense.

Outlet stores operated by manufacturers and other brand owners often provide better margins than if the product were sold to a retailer. The outlet store has become an important source of profit beyond the deposition of returns.

Sell to Secondary Market

When a firm has been unable to sell a product, cannot return it to the vendor, and is unable to sell it at an outlet store, one of its final options is to sell it via the secondary market. The secondary market consists of firms that specialize in buying close-outs, surplus, and salvage items, at prices as low as ten cents on the dollar. For retail goods, the average recovery rate is approximately 17 percent of retail price.3 The secondary market firms then sell the product through their own stores or to other markdown retailers, such as dollar stores.

Donate to Charity
If the product is still serviceable, but perhaps with some slight cosmetic damage, retailers or vendors may decide to donate the product to charitable organizations. In this case, the retailer usually does not receive any money for the product. It may, however, be able to gain a tax advantage for the donation, and thus receive some value, while being a good corporate citizen. However, charities have begun to pay for first quality product. One large retailer included in the research charges Goodwill Industires for product.

Remanufacture / Refurbish
Before determining that the product is a complete loss, and sending it to be recycled, many firms will attempt to refurbish or remanufacture. The range of options available to a firm in this area varies greatly, depending on the type of product and the reason it entered the firms reverse logistics flow. Many consumer products cannot be remanufactured. Once used, nothing can be done to refurbish or make them attractive or useful for another customer to purchase.

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Other items lend themselves to refurbishing, such as electronics products. If a customer returns a fax machine to the retailer because it does not work, the retailer will send the machine back to the manufacturer or a third party that specializes in refurbishing. The resale value of the machine in this condition is very low. Rather than attempting to sell the machine in this condition, the manufacturer will diagnose the problem and repair the machine. At this point, the manufacturer may do one of two things with the machine: it may be sent to a secondary market firm that will sell the machine as reconditioned or remanufactured; or the machine may be sold via an outlet store.

Commonly, a defective machine is sent to the manufacturers service network. If a customer owns a product that needs service, the product may be sent to the manufacturer for repairs. The manufacturer may offer the customer two choices: the customer can wait while the manufacturer repairs the actual product, or the manufacturer will send a different machine immediately. Under the second option, the customer does not get back the original machine.

Materials Reclamation / Recycling / Landfill

When, for some reason, the firm is prevented from selling the product to the secondary market, and the product cannot be given away, the final option is disposal. As always, the firms objective is to receive the highest value for the item, or dispose of the item at the lowest cost. Some items, such as catalytic converters and printed circuit boards, contain small quantities of valuable materials such as gold or platinum, which can be reclaimed. Such reclamation helps offset the cost of disposing of the item. Other items may be composed of materials that are of some value to scrap dealers, like steel and iron. When the materials are not of value to other companies, the firm may develop ways of using the product to avoid sending it to a landfill. A good example of this is outdoor running tracks made of ground-up athletic shoes. Another example involves sorting damaged retail clothing hangers, melting them, and making new hangers.

As described above, some vendors require retailers to dispose of defective products. In this case, the retailer has no choice but to follow vendor instructions and send the product to the landfill or incinerator. For example, some sports cards manufacturers accumulate

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inventories of cards one or more years old. Among card collectors, older cards are more valuable, and a case of cards only a year or two old may, in some instances, be worth thousands of dollars. However, the vendor may instruct the distributor to destroy the old cards, in which case the distributor, accompanied by a security guard, will place the cases of valuable cards in a landfill.

Material Flow
In any reverse logistics flow, one critical objective is to receive the highest value possible for the products in accordance with any legal restrictions or constraints imposed by the vendor. In order to accomplish this, the following steps must be a part of each reverse logistics system: 1. Gatekeepingdeciding which products to allow into the reverse logistics system 2. Collectionassembling the products for the reverse logistics system 3. Sortationdeciding what to do with each product 4. Dispositionsending the products to their desired destinations.

There are a variety of paradigms that can be used for a reverse logistics system, but most can be described in relation to the following two extremes: centralized and decentralized. In a decentralized system, all decisions regarding the disposition of products are made at retail locations. Some transportation costs are avoided because the products are not all taken to a central processing center before the disposition decisions are made. However, at the same time, a decentralized system will likely increase the total transportation costs of disposition, because all products destined for a particular secondary market firm are scattered across the companys network of stores and either directly or indirectly, the retailer must pay to collect the goods. The larger disadvantage of a decentralized system is that the firm will likely receive less income from the secondary market firms. There are two reasons for this. First, each location will have a much smaller quantity of a given item, and smaller quantities do not bring the highest prices on the secondary markets. Secondly, the individuals in charge of sortation at a particular store may not develop adequate experience with a particular item to learn the most effective means of disposing of the item, which means lower reverse logistics receipts for the retailer.

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In a centralized system, all products for the reverse logistics pipeline are brought to a central facility, sorted, and sent out to their ultimate destination. This consolidation method creates the largest possible volumes for each customer, which leads to higher revenues. Employees develop expertise in certain areas and can consistently find the best destination for each product.

One of the most important activities within a reverse logistics system is sortation. Obviously, determining the best channel for disposing of the product is of critical importance in maximizing revenues from the products in the reverse logistics system. Gatekeeping is also important in reducing the system costs. Generally, a large cost is transportation. If the product is going to be thrown away, it is best to discover this as early as possible, to prevent performing additional steps and incurring additional costs. For example, if a vacuum cleaner has been damaged beyond repair, transporting it 500 miles to throw it away is not cost effective. Efficient gatekeeping early in the channel prevents such items from entering the reverse logistics system at all, and can be a source of significant cost savings.

Secondary Markets
The secondary market is a term for the collection of liquidators, wholesalers, exporters, brokers and retailers who sell product which, for one reason or another, has not sold through the primary sales channels. Companies in the secondary market sell both new and used product. The secondary market often involves a transfer of products directly from the manufacturer to the secondary market firm; therefore, understanding the secondary market requires an examination of several areas that not part of the typical retail reverse logistics system. However, because the secondary market has a large role to play in the operations of many reverse logistics systems, a detailed discussion of these areas of the secondary market will provide a better understanding of the operations of reverse logistics flow in general.

Below figure shows a number of companies in the secondary market. To help clarify the difference between reverse logistics activities and secondary market activities, reverse logistics activities are shown in a heavy dashed line, and secondary market activities are shown in a light solid line. If a product is entering the secondary market directly from the

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manufacturer, the manufacturer probably did not want the item for one of the following reasons:

1. Changed Product Packaging 2. Product Redesigned 3. Order Cancellation 4. Sales Expectations Not Met

Figure 5 Flow of Returns and Secondary Market Goods

Packaging Change
Packaging changes account for a large percentage of closeout items. A package change may occur due to outdated design, or a change in the size of the product. This is particularly true with grocery items. Customers may be conditioned to a particular price for the product. Rather than increase the price of the package, manufacturers may keep the price constant by reducing the amount of product in the package, while keeping the size of the packaging unchanged.

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Product Redesign
Introduction of a new product version precipitates inventory clean out of the old product. The old version of the product is sold until it is gone, perhaps at a discount. The product may never enter the secondary market. If the product change is significant, the manufacturer may give the retailer liberal incentives to sell the remaining old product. A significant modification may make the retailer more likely to pull the old product from the shelves and send it to the secondary market. When a product has been discontinued because of disappointing sales, the firm is more likely to have a difficult time finding a buyer for the product, even at a greatly reduced price. If the product is sent to the secondary market, the retailers expected price may be greatly reduced. Disposing of the inventory through usual retail channels may be difficult.

Order Cancellation
Cancellation of a very large order results in surplus inventory. For example, a trash can manufacturer makes a large number ordered by a major retailer. The retailer cancels the order. The manufacturer is left with thousands of surplus trash cans. The manufacturer may be quite willing to sell the unsold product to anyone willing to pay a price sufficient to recover the cost of manufacturing the goods.

Sales Expectations
Finally, a manufacturer may find itself with a large quantity of unsold merchandise because the sales projections for the product were overly optimistic. Rather than hold a large quantity of inventory that may take a long time to sell, the manufacturer may prefer to sell it all at once to a liquidator, for a lower price.

3.13 Improving reverse logistics operations

As is often the case in complex business systems, the starting point for reverse logistics operations improvement is not within the operational processes. It must happen well before operations and even before a product reaches production. Marketing should define: 1. How the secondary market affects original equipment demand?

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2. What customer experience is sought?

Once these numbers are derived, a manufacturer can focus on the operational improvements needed to achieve these numbers. An often overlooked strategic aspect of reverse logistics is that it clears the channel for future purchases. By working with customers to trade up to replacement or new products, companies are able to elude inefficiencies and costs by avoiding product obsolescence. This also releases capital and space for replacement products. Of course, customers may buy replacement products, but what happens to the existing products that were displaced? The older products could very easily find their way into secondary markets and lessen the demand for newer products.

VCR manufacturers present a good example of an industry that failed to provide reverse logistics. With the growing popularity of DVDs, have any of the VCR manufacturers tried to retain customer loyalty by offering a reverse logistics program for old VCRs? Or are the margins so thin on VCRs and DVD players that the products do not warrant a reverse logistics strategy? Consider the lost opportunities for the manufacturers to gain customer loyalty by helping dispose of old technology while up-selling and/or cross-selling some of its newer products. Time and again, new technologies are introduced to customers without reverse logistics strategies or market penetration goals in place.

The computer industry is another example where solid reverse logistics strategies and goals can help a company end the lifecycle of one of its old products while introducing newer technology to its customers. The key is to dispose of the old product, but keep the customer. A good reverse logistics strategy should be as much about the lifecycle of the customer, as the lifecycle of the product.

An Internet search of used computers warrants over 11,500,000 hits. One company, which disposes of used computers, processes more computer equipment in a single month than it did in an entire year just several years ago. Its expected volumes will quadruple in the next 12 months to more than 100,000 units annually or about 3 million pounds of computers.

According to the International Association of Electronic Recyclers (IAER) 2003 industry report, There are more than 500 million units of computer equipment CPUs,

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monitors, printers currently installed in the USA from all sectors, including consumer, that will be obsolete in less than five years. IAER also cites a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report from 2002 stating, 91 percent of consumer electronics are discarded.10 This recycling statistic says nothing about the generations of used computers being sold in emerging countries or secondary markets. Without providing any type of customer experience or knowing the name and contact information of the buyer/user, any opportunity to up-sell, cross-sell, or try and maintain customer loyalty is lost. Many companies are struggling with how to properly handle used and obsolete electronic goods and their components. They know that managing these goods within regulatory guidelines is critical to their post-sales supply chain to increase operational efficiencies and control costs, as well as contribute to a safer environment.11 It is important that a company control the availability of its products even in the secondary market. Reverse logistics can be used as a differentiator to distinguish one company from another, which further increases switching costs to competitors. A well-defined reverse logistics program can also be used to capture customer opinions and needs that can deepen the collaborative relationship.

Defining the parts Once the context of demand management and customer experience are defined, an operational improvement agenda can be pursued.

Process Definition As paths of returns lead to varied ends as well as revenue streams, it is of paramount importance to direct return products into the appropriate stream early. As products enter inappropriate processes, inefficiencies such as corrective actions begin to arise. Not only are companies paying for removal of assets, but they also pay for activities that the contractor is performing such as sorting and redistribution of materials prior to recycling or disposal. When companies begin to redesign internal processes to manage the receipt of materials, the sorting and testing of items is performed internally before anyone outside handles them, and the contractors only gets what they are supposed to get. Typically, the cost and duration of the disposition cycle are directly related. A key element of accelerated disposition is accurately directing the returns through the appropriate process. To this point, the verification of the correct path should occur when the return material authorization (RMA) is issued.

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Network analysis also is critical when redesigning reverse logistics operations. The network might best be configured with multiple, strategically located centres worldwide. Each processing centre should be logistically positioned to accommodate the existing transportation network, optimizing the routes of current supply trucks that might have backhaul opportunities.

Centralized return centres can operate much more efficiently. In fact, there are opportunities to reduce the cost of reverse logistics throughout specific lanes such as consolidating early to reduce transportation costs. Other benefits of early consolidation include understanding the complete picture of returns, and gaining economies of scale when negotiating with business partners (e.g. secondary market resellers).

Re-use/Salvage: Some companies refer to returned materials as surplus assets, including by-products, used equipment and waste streams, because they have value in the marketplace. A company can re-use virtually anything that can be recycled for internal use, amounting to significant dollars worth of material annually. Additional annual income can be generated from the sale of equipment and materials to entities outside the company. Increasing numbers of companies now capitalize on recyclers and other secondary markets to sell excess or obsolete equipment as well as by-products of their production processes. Salvaged materials might be used as service inventory. Also, companies may be able to reduce their raw material costs through creative use of salvaged materials. And companies should continue to look for new opportunities as product lines and processes change.

Intangible benefits. Countless benefits can result from an effective reverse logistics program. For instance, through the use of pollution prevention, a company can coordinate and market an effort that incorporates product refurbishment, process modification, equipment redesign and reuse of waste materials to minimize the introduction of non-usable waste into the environment. Companies can reduce the generation of waste with the prioritization of waste prevention, re-use and recycling.

Making it profitable Returning goods into the supply chain is equally important as moving goods to market, so assigning key executives to centralize, manage and improve the asset-recovery 59

program is fundamental to achieving profitable results. These processing centers should be managed as individual businesses. Center managers should be empowered to adopt ideas and implement processes to trim expenses and return greater value to the corporation. As managers communicate objectives and introduce new projects, the company needs to recognize the value of its operations and define metrics for success.

Each center should have an executive team to handle administrative functions relating to facility management, material flow and marketing efforts, while contract labor could be used to perform the sorting functions. A company might find it more beneficial to outsource the post-production environment completely. Materials being returned from customers and distributors might be handled by various contractors with assigned territories while the product disposition is coordinated with a network of decision matrices set forth by the central outsourcing company.

When developing a reverse logistics program, process responsibilities should be clearly defined. While a companys logistics division may coordinate the product return operation, the production department may manage asset recovery. Therefore the production department would handle the material that has fallen out of the system prior to reaching the customers. Well documented approaches benefit both consistency and traceability which lead to greater efficiencies.

Resource recovery and disposal on secondary markets can get complicated when the refurbished items begin competing with new items and offerings. When comparable resource recovery products end up on the market, not only are companies competing against themselves, they also risk damage to the corporate image and unhappiness with the buyer. Resource recovery executives must collaborate closely with the marketing department to ensure that the by-product does not interfere with key marketing efforts.

As discussed earlier, revenue generating opportunities exist in reverse logistics programs, i.e. resale, recycle, etc. Returned products may even be donated for tax and public relations benefits. When these other options have been exhausted, the company may choose or be forced via regulatory purposes to dispose of returned product. When this is the case, the primary principle for businesses is to dispose adequately at minimum cost. While regulatory

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controls are becoming more stringent on proper disposal of products, the cost of dispensing waste continues to rise.

High-level example of an effective reverse logistics program Each point represents a step in one of many configurations of reverse logistics programs. It is important that each company defines how an effective reverse logistics program will affect customer experience and original equipment demand while contributing to revenue. Each step requires more detailed characteristics to be defined. 1. At the installation site, authorized personnel complete the appropriate forms and attach them to the items being funneled to the recovery operation. (Customer, service, and logistics processes must be defined and communicated.) 2. Supply trucks bringing new products and materials to near-by sites can backhaul the older parts and materials to the local supply location. (Schedules, transportation, networks must be established and effectively managed.) 3. Dedicated staging locations at all supply locations as well as at some customer locations specifically for materials bound for the processing centers. (Customer processes and expectations must be clearly defined and communicated.) 4. An intranet connection facilitates communications between the processing centers, supply centers and customer locations. (Communication processes and infrastructure must be established.) 5. A database of buyers categorized by certain classes of materials should be maintained. (New processes must be developed to support new revenue streams.) 6. When the trucks arrive at the processing centers, sort the material, categorize it according to buyer, then notify the appropriate buyers that the material will be placed for silent bid. Processing centers may also include company stores, where customers can shop among the items that make the journey through the processing center and are determined by site managers to have purchase appeal. (Processing center network, operations, and organization established and managed for on-going improvement.) 7. Each lot of material is described and placed for auction on a medium such as the companys web site. The lots generally remain up for bid for a specified time, e.g., five days (Sales techniques and mediums must be identified as well as processes, business rules, and metrics.)

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8. The winning bidder typically gets a specified time, e.g., an additional five days to pay for and pick up the material. Buyers are responsible for transport. (Expectations and business rules must be developed and communicated.) 9. Track materials inbound and through the sorting, bid, sale and release processes with a central accounting system. All cash collected from sales should be sent by the buyer to a central clearinghouse, which authorizes release of the material and performs all the reporting, accounting and reconciliation activity. (Central tracking system should be developed and analysed.)

Solutions to reverse logistics obstacles Depending on the nature of your current situation, proven solutions exist that can improve customer retention through reverse logistics programs. These answers could be strategic in nature from process development and expansion to improvement portfolio development. Your company might need more tactical solutions to specific issues such as implementing RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) that would provide visibility to products within a reverse logistics process.

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4.METHODOLOGY

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4.METHODOLOGY 4.1 Need for the research:

Reverse logistics (RL) stands for all the operations related to the reuse of used products, excess inventory of products and materials including collection, disassembly and processing of used products, parts, and/or materials. Over the past few years, RL has received much attention because many companies are using it as a strategic tool to serve their customers and can generate good revenue. An efficient reverse distribution structure may lead to a significant return on investment as well as a significantly increased competitiveness in the market. Therefore, analysis of barriers hindering the successful implementation of RL is a crucial issue. These barriers not only affect RL but influence each other also. In existing models, the holistic view in understanding the interrelation between the barriers is not accounted for but is diagnosed independently. This project utilizes the Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methodology to understand the mutual influences among the barriers so that barriers that are at the root of some more barriers (called driving barriers) and those which are most influenced by the others (called driven barriers) are identified.

4.2 Objective of the Study

The objectives of the Project are: What are the major trends, developments and challenges that supply chain managers are facing concerning reverse logistics? How do organisations, within supply chain, perform reverse logistics? Determine improvement opportunities in managing reverse logistics What are their main bottlenecks and who are world class performers in reverse Logistics? What are our recommendations to improve reverse logistics To identify and rank the barriers of reverse logistics, To find out the interaction among identified barriers using ISM, and To discuss the managerial implications of this research.

4.3 Research Scope:

This project intends to define the state of the art in reverse logistics, and to determine trends and best reverse logistics practices. Part of the research charter was to determine the extent of reverse logistics activity in the Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. Most of the literature examined in preparation for this research emphasized the green or environmental 64

aspects of reverse logistics. In this project, green issues are discussed, but the primary focus is on economic and supply chain issues relating to reverse logistics. The objective was to determine current practices, examine those practices, and develop information surrounding trends in reverse logistics practices. To accomplish this task, I interviewed over 150 managers that have responsibility for reverse logistics. Visits were made to firms to examine, first-hand, reverse logistics processes. Also, a questionnaire was developed and mailed to 300 reverse logistics managers. There were 147 undeliverable questionnaires. A copy of the questionnaire is included in Appendix A.

4.4 Methodology of the Study

The data used for the study had primary and secondary character to it. The primary data was collected through questionnaire method. The secondary data were composed through the reference of books, websites, and interviews with various executives in different organizations of the sample. The procured data was analysed by a simple percentage method and the results are interpreted by using the Interpretive Structural Modelling and by Micmac analysis.

4.5 Type of research

The research work conducted is exploratory & descriptive in nature. This research work is used to investigate the factors to determine trends and best reverse logistics practices. Its an exploratory and descriptive research, as it has using both the secondary data and surveys respectively.

4.6 Sources and tools of data collection

a) Primary Data The data was be gathered through a survey based research approach with the help of questionnaire. The questionnaire was made in English but it was translated in Hindi language for the convenience of the respondents. As the research work of writing & asking question was totally carried out by one person only, so human error related to recording of responses cannot be totally ruled out.

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b) Secondary Data The source of secondary data was the articles on the gas engine oil mentioned on the internet. The sources of all the sites are mentioned in bibliography & under the subscript where ever it is used in this report.

4.7 Sampling Techniques

Random sampling technique has been used, as the respondents are scattered all over the Hyderabad region & the population of respondents are homogeneous in nature.

4.8 Limitation of the Research

There were few limitations in this research work. The sample covers all the major companies of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, but still it was not able to cover the many major companies. This limitation is because of the time span. So, there is a much broader need to increase the sample size to get more concrete results. Also the secondary data on reverse logistics, available on internet is not sufficient. There is nowhere mentioning of reverse logistics practices for different industries in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. This data was needed to check the % error in the report. So, error in report cannot be reported which is a big limitation of the given analysis. And in the national scenario may be totally different from the results of the results of the above mentioned areas. One of the limitations was that, I was the only person involved in reporting the data. Therefore, asking of same question from so many people can register some error in reporting the data which is called human error. Lack of interest and enthusiastic responses may have allowed biases in this report in the form of NON-RESPONSIVE ERROR. Correctness of this report is restricted and limited by the degree of authenticity of data collected and sincerity and honesty of respondents.

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5. RESEARCH FINDINGS

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5. RESEARCH FINDINGS 5.1 Analysis of Barriers for Reverse Logistics

In todays manufacturing world, globalization policies and rejuvenation have created a more intensive competition amongst manufacturers. On the other hand, manufacturers have turned to the option of adopting innovative technologies, process re-engineering and strategies such as efficient supply chain management to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Supply chains are undergoing radical transformations due to the megacompetition taking place on a global scale. Technological changes are becoming a primary driver in the domain of businesses. It is being observed by companies that there is an increase in the flow of returns of the product due to product recalls, warranty returns, service returns, end-of-use returns, end-of-life returns, and so on.

RL aims at the backward flow of materials from customer to supplier with the goals of maximizing value from the returned item or minimizing the total reverse logistics cost. Reverse logistics (RL) can be defined as the process of moving end products from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value or proper disposal. A RL system (RLS) incorporates a supply chain that has been redesigned to manage the flow of products or parts destined for remanufacturing, repairing, or disposal and to effectively use the resources. Reverse logistics starts where the traditional principles of supply chain management (SCM) come to a conclusion; this is when a consumer product reaches its end of life or use, and is redundant to its users. In future, companies will have to look beyond the re-use or recycling of packaging materials and into the potential value recovery of redundant products and, more importantly, their components and materials. This will enable them to establish logistics infrastructures and supply management interfaces to allow products to be re-used on similar markets rather than being discarded, and eventually scrapped and disposed of in landfill.

Over the past few years, RL has been gaining increasing attention and awareness in the supply chain community, both from practitioners and researchers point of view due to a number of reasons. Competition and marketing motives, direct economic motives and concerns with the environment are some of the important reasons. RL is a complicated process that requires detailed planning in terms of continual audit of returns, determining the

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best disposition of products that is both economically and technically feasible, warehouse and transportation management, recycling programs, and other related issues.

India is well endowed with both technology and human resources. Despite this, the concept of Reverse logistics is yet not widely accepted because of lot many barriers for its successful implementation. Some of these barriers are lack of systems, management inattention, financial resources, personal resources, company policies. It is a risky endeavor for the top management as it involves financial and operational aspects which determine the performance of the company in long run. The barriers mentioned not only affect the operations of reverse logistics but also influences one another. Thus, it is very essential to understand the mutual relationship among the barriers. A critical analysis of the barriers hindering RL and their interaction with the various aspects in integrative planning can be a valuable source of information to decision makers. The identification of barriers which can aggravate few more barriers and those independent barriers, which are most influenced by driving barriers) would be helpful for the top management implementing the reverse logistics programs. This can be a guide for taking appropriate action to tackle barriers in reverse logistics. An ISM approach has been proposed here to for structuring the barriers.

LITERATURE REVIEW During the early nineties, the Council of Logistics Management started publishing studies where reverse logistics was recognized as being relevant both for business and society . Other studies followed stressing the opportunities on reuse and recycling. In the late nineties, marketing aspects of reuse and extending product life of manufactured items have been focused and detailed framework to set up and carry out reverse logistics programs have been proposed.

Based on a literature study, we can identify regulation and customer preferences as major stimulating factors. At the same time, inferior quality of input resources and a lack of stakeholder commitment are found to be major obstacles for successful reverse logistics programs. Moreover, they have suggested critical factors in the reverse logistic process and developed a model that proposes how these factors interact. Subramanian et al. have

discussed analysis and evaluation of RL strategies according to the following decision making focus: Reverse Logistics Network Structure, Relationships, Inventory management,

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and planning and control. Many articles dedicated to analysis of practice of reverse logistics have appeared.

In a complex system to structure the variables and get the interrelation between them is always a matter of concern. However, Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) methodology which is a computer-assisted learning process that enables individuals or groups to develop a map of the complex relationships between the many elements involved in a complex situation is used to understand interrelation among elements. Faisal explored the barriers to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in supply chains and presented a hierarchy-based model and established the contextual relationships among these barriers using ISM.

5.2 BARRIERS FOR REVERSE LOGISTICS

A. Lack of awareness about reverse logistics The lack of awareness of benefits of reverse logistics is a major barrier for its implementation. Today, the customers have the benefits of greater product variety. It has resulted in an increase in unsold products, rate of returns, packing materials, and also the waste. This has given rise to increase in the volume of product returns in the form of reverse logistics. The reverse logistics can lead to economic benefits by the recovery of the returned products for reuse, remanufacturing, recycling, or a combination of these options for adding value to the product.

B. Management Inattention The conventional wisdom has been that over the last few years, most companies have practiced reverse logistics primarily because of government regulation or pressure from environmental agencies, and not for economic gain. Thus the management is taking less interest thinking no-profit issue. Companies are organized around the forward flow of goods.

C. Financial Constraints Cost considerations are a prime challenge in commercial recycling. Companies require allocation of funds and other resources for the implementation of reverse logistics. Information and technological systems require more funds because without these, the returns product tracking and tracing and product recovery by various processes like reuse, 70

remanufacturing, recycling, etc. is not possible in the present environment. The training of personnel related to the reverse logistics is also very important for efficiently managing and eventually making the reverse logistics profitable. However, all these require financial support.

D. Personal Resources A significant barrier to good reverse logistics is lack of personnel resources .Lack of training and education is a major challenge to commercial cycling. Education and training are prime requirements for achieving success in any organization.

E. Problems with product quality The product quality is not uniform in reverse logistics compared to the forward logistics where the product quality is uniform. Customers usually expect the same level of quality of product from the manufacturer regardless of the nature of the returned product. The returned product quality could be in any range; like that it could be faulty, damaged, or simply unwanted by the customer. Thus, there could be variations in the pricing of the products.

F. Lack of appropriate performance management system Measuring and managing the true performance of reverse logistics is very hard. Internal and operational metrics are in place, but metrics for end-to-end process performance are seldom used or available. If the firms take action linking their performance measurement system to their reverse logistics practices, they will be in a better position to succeed in their endeavor.

G. Inadequate information and technological systems An efficient information and technological system is very necessary for supporting the reverse logistics during various stages of the product life cycle. Efficient information systems are needed for individually tracking and tracing the returns of the product, linking with the previous sales. Information technology, software and hardware, is essential for endto-end control and transparency along the reverse chain.

H. Company policies It also is related to corporate strategy for handling returns and non-salable items. Because companies do not want to see their junk cannibalizing their first quality or A 71

channel, they often develop policies that make it very difficult to handle returns efficiently, and to recover much secondary value from those returns.

I. Legal Issues Under Indian Regulations excise paid goods once sold by the manufacturer cannot be brought back to the plant without prior documentation and declaration to excise authorities. This is a very cumbersome & time consuming process and non-compliance may mean that the manufacturer will have to face legal actions. Most companies find this policy as a hurdle in applying the reverse logistics.

J. Administrative and financial burden of tax Proper planning and management of direct and indirect taxes is a vital financial consideration within the reverse chain. Complex (and cross border) flows of goods as well as the diverse bought-in services engrained in the reverse chain create a high degree of tax complexity and lead to unexpected tax exposures and costs. K. Limited forecasting and planning. Accurate return forecasts are hardly available. This is a direct barrier for both strategic and operational planning. Many companies experience difficulties in forecasting and planning the reverse chain due to the degree of diversity of goods and flows. L. Co-operative Behavior of Chain members Co-operative behavior of chain members is desired for sharing of information. Important barrier to the reverse logistics is the reluctance of the support of the dealers, distributors, and retailers towards the reverse logistics activities.

5.3 ISM METHODOLOGY AND MODEL DEVELOPED Interpretive Structural Modeling was first proposed by J.Warfield in 1973 to analyze the complex socioeconomic systems. The ISM process transforms unclear, poorly articulated mental models of systems into visible, well-defined models useful for many purposes. It is a method for developing hierarchy of system enablers to represent the system structure. ISM is an interactive learning process in which a set of different and directly related elements are structured into a comprehensive systematic model. The basic idea of ISM is to decompose a complicated system into several subsystems (elements) by using practical experience of experts and their knowledge. The important characteristics of ISM are as follows: 72

This methodology is interpretive as the judgment of the group decides whether and how the different elements are related. It is structural on the basis of mutual relationship as overall structure is extracted from the complex set of elements. It is a modeling technique, as the specific relationships and overall structure are portrayed in a digraph model. It helps to impose order and direction on the complexity of relationships among various elements of a system.

The various steps involved in ISM methodology:

1) Identification of barriers: The elements of the system are identified which are relevant to the problem or issue and then achieved with a group problem-solving technique like brain storming sessions. On the basis of review of literatures for reverse logistics, a total 12 barriers were identified. 2) Contextual Relationship: From the barriers identified in step 1, a contextual relationship is identified among barriers with respect to which pairs of variables would be examined. After resolving the barriers set under consideration and the contextual relation, a structural self-interaction matrix (SSIM) is prepared. Four symbols are used to denote the direction of relationship between the criterion (i and j):

V -- for the relation from element i to element j and not in both directions; A -- for the relation from element j to element i and not in both directions; X for both the directional relations from element i to element j and j to i; Oif the relation between the elements did not appear valid. The following will explain the use of Symbols V, A X and O in SSIM (Table I).

Barrier 1 helps alleviate barrier 2 i.e. as the awareness about reverse logistics will promote the top management to start taking attention towards its implementation. Thus the relationship between 1 and 2 is denoted by V.

Barrier 4 can be alleviated by barrier 7 i.e. with the availability of adequate information and technological systems the personal resources will automatically get 73

enriched with the facilities to enable themselves in implementation of reverse logistics. Thus the relationship between 4 and 7 is denoted by A. Barrier 2 and 4 helps to achieve each other .With the trained and skilled employees the management can understand the importance of reverse logistics in present scenario and if management will take attention then will surely plan to educate their manpower to get support regarding the same. Therefore the relationship between 2 and 4 is X. No relationship exists between financial constraint and lack of appropriate performance management system therefore is denoted by 0.

TABLE 14: STRUCTURAL SELF-INTERACTION MATRIX (SSIM) Barriers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 V V V V V V V V O O A 11 V V V V A V A O O A 10 O A A V O O O O O 9 O A O O O O O A 8 V O V A V V V 7 V V V V O A 6 V V O O O 5 O O O V 4 V X V 3 V X 2 V

3) Initial reachability matrix: The SSIM is transformed into a binary matrix, called the initial reachability matrix by substituting V, A, X, O by 1 and 0 as per the case. The rules for the substitution of 1s and 0s are: If the (i, j) entry in the SSIM is V, then the (i, j) entry in the reachability matrix becomes 1 and the (j, i) entry becomes 0. If the (i, j) entry in the SSIM is A, then the (i, j) entry in the reachability matrix becomes 0 and the (j, i) entry becomes 1. If the (i, j) entry in the SSIM is X, then the (i, j) entry in the reachability matrix becomes 1 and the (j, i) entry also becomes 1. If the (i, j) entry in the SSIM is O, then the (i, j) entry in the reachability matrix becomes 0 and the (j, i) entry also becomes 0.

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TABLE 15: INITIAL REACHABILTY MATRIX BARRIERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 8 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 11 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 12 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1

4) Final reachabilty matrix: The reachabilty matrix obtained in step 3 is converted into the final reachabilty matrix by checking it for transitivity. The transitivity of the contextual relation is a basic assumption in ISM which states that if element A is related to B and B is related to C, then A is related to C. TABLE 16: FINAL REACHABILTY MATRIX BARRIERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Drive Power 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1* 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1* 1 1 1 1 1* 1* 1* 1* 1 1* 1* 1* 1* 1* 1 1 1* 0 1* 0 0 1 1 1* 1* 0 1 1 0 1 1* 1 1 1 1 0 1* 1 1* 1* 1* 1 1* 1 1* 1 1 1 1 1* 1* 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1* 0 1* 0 1 1 1 1 1 1* 1 1* 1* 1* 1* 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1* 1* 75 11 10 10 10 5 8 6 8 9 9

11 12 Dependence

0 0 1

0 0 7

0 0 6

0 0 10

1 1* 9

0 0 8

1 1* 11

1* 0 11

0 0 1

1 1* 9

1 1 12

1* 1 12

6 5

5) Level partition: The reachabilty and antecedent set for each barrier is found out from final reachabilty matrix. The reachabilty set includes criteria itself and others which it may help to achieve and antecedent set consists of itself and other criterion which helps in achieving it. Subsequently, the intersection set is derived and the variable having reachabilty and intersection set same is given top level in ISM hierarchy. Table 17 shows the first iteration where in barrier 5 and 12 are found at level I TABLE 17: PARTITION OF REACHABILTY MATRIX: ITERATION 1

BARRIERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

REACHABILITY ANTECEDENT SET INTERSECTION LEVEL SET SET 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1 1 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,8,9,10 2,3,4,8,10 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,9,10 2,3,4,10 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 ,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10 4,5,8,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,11,12 4,5,8,11,12 I 4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10 4,6,10 4,6,7,8,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 4,6,7,8,11,12 4,5,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 4,6,7,8,10,11 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,11,12 9 9 2,3,4,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,6,8,10,11,12 2,3,4,6,8,10,11,12 5,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 5,7,8,10,11,12 5,7,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 5,7,10,11,12 I

Once the top level element is found out, it is separated from other elements. In the similar manner iteration process is repeated to find the criterion in the next level and is Continued till the level of each element is found .

TABLE 18 . PARTITION OF REACHABILTYMATRIX: ITERATION 2 BARRIERS 1 2 3 4 REACHABILITY SET 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11 ANTECEDENT SET 1 1,2,3,4,8,9,10 1,2,3,4,9,10 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 INTERSECTION LEVEL SET 1 2,3,4,8,10 2,3,4,10 2,3,4,6,7,8,10 76

6 7 8 9 10 11

4,6,7,8,10,11 4,6,7,8,11 4,7,8,10,11 2,3,4,6,7,8,9 2,3,4,6,7,8,10,11 7,8,10,11

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 9 1,2,3,4,6,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

4,6,10 4,6,7,8,11 4,7,8,10,11 9 2,3,4,6,8,10,11,12 7,8,10,11

II II

II

TABLE 19. PARTITION OF REACHABILTY MATRIX: ITERATION 3 BARRIERS 1 2 3 4 6 9 10 REACHABILITY SET 1,2,3,4,6,10 1,2,3,4,9,10 1,2,3,4,9,10 1,2,3,4,6,9,10 1,2,3,4,6,9,10 9 1,2,3,4,6,10 ANTECEDENT SET 1 1,2,3,4,8,9,10 1,2,3,4,9,10 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10 9 1,2,3,4,6,8,10,11,12 INTERSECTION LEVEL SET 1 2,3,4,10 2,3,4,10 2,3,4,6,10 III 4,6,10 III 9 2,3,4,6,10 III

TABLE 20. PARTITION OF REACHABILTY MATRIX: ITERATION 4 BARRIERS 1 2 3 9 REACHABILITY SET 1,2,3 2,3 2,3 2,3,9 ANTECEDENT SET 1 1,2,3,9 1,2,3,9 9 INTERSECTION LEVEL SET 1 2,3 IV 2,3 IV 9

Table 21 showing the final partition level of barriers for reverse logistics after all iterations. BARRIERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 REACHABILITY INTERSECTION ANTECEDENT SET LEVEL SET SET 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1 1 V 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,8,9,10 2,3,4,8,10 IV 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,8,9,10 2,3,4,10 IV 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10 III 4,5,8,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,12 4,5,8,11,12 I 4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,6,7,9,10 4,6,10 III 4,6,7,8,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 4,6,7,8,11,12 III 4,5,7,8,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 4,5,7,8,10,11 III 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,11,12 9 9 V 2,3,4,6,7,810,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 2,3,4,5,6,8,10,11,12 III 77

11 12

5,7,8,10,11,12 5,7,10,11,12

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

5,7,8,10,11,12 5,7,10,11,12

III I

6) Development of ISM model: Diagraph for interpretive structural modeling is drawn. Having identified the levels of the elements, the relation between the elements is drawn with the help of an arrow. The diagraphs thus drawn are complex in nature. The level I barriers is given top level in the hierarchy and it wont help any other barrier to achieve. The barriers having same level are kept on the same level of hierarchy the diagraphs give information about hierarchy between the elements of barriers for successful implementation of reverse logistics.

Fig.6 ISM based model for barriers of reverse logistics

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5.4 MICMAC ANALYSIS The MICMAC analysis has been done by drawing simple two dimensional graphs fig.7. The objective of the MICMAC analysis is to analyze the driver power and dependence of variables. Fig.7 Driver Power and Dependence Diagram

The barriers of reverse logistics are classified into four clusters: The first cluster consists of autonomous variables that have weak driver power and weak dependence. These variables are disconnected from the system, with which they have only a few but strong links. The second cluster consists of the dependent variable that have weak driver power but strong dependence. The third cluster has the linkage variables that have strong driving power and also strong dependence. These variables are unstable in that any action on these variables will have an effect on others and also feedback effect on themselves. The fourth cluster includes the independent variables having strong driving power but weak dependence. It is observed that variables with very strong driving power, called the key variables, fall into the category of independent variables. The driving power and the dependence of each of the variables are calculated.

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6. CONCLUSIONS

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6. CONCLUSIONS
While much of the world does not yet care much about the reverse flow of product, many firms have begun to realize that reverse logistics is an important and often strategic part of their business mission. Throughout the course of this research project, many examples of large bottom-line impact were identified. There is a lot of money being made and saved by bright managers who are focused on improving the reverse logistics processes of their company. It is clear that, while sometimes derisively referred to as junk; much value can be reclaimed cost-effectively. While the efficient handling and disposition of returned product is unlikely to be the primary reason upon which a firm competes, it can make a competitive difference. The methodology proposed here identifies the hierarchy of actions to be taken for handling different barriers hindering the implementation of reverse logistics.

The following conclusions were drawn depending on the analysis:

1. The Reverse logistics activities for any products and packaging are identified as follows:

a. Return to Supplier b. Resell c. Sell via Outlet d. Salvage e. Recondition f. Refurbish g. Remanufacture

h. Reclaim Materials i. Recycle j. Landfill k. Reuse l. Refurbish m. Reclaim Materials n. Recycle, Salvage

2. The Barriers for Reverse logistics with the Hierarchy of the levels are found in sequence as follows: a. Problems with product quality b. C-operative behavior of chain members 81

c. Inadequate information and technological system d. Company policies e. Limited forecasting and planning f. Personal resources g. Lack of appropriative personal systems h. Administrative ad financial burden of tax i. Management intention j. Financial Constraints k. Lack of awareness about reverse logistics l. Legal issues

3. The managers can get an insight of these barriers and understand their relative importance and interdependencies. Some of the barriers are identified and are put into an ISM model to analyze the interaction between them.

4. The relative importance and interdependencies among barriers are found by using MICMAC analysis.

5. The members having weak driving power, but strong dependence on other barriers are a. Problems with product Quality, b. Inadequate Information and technological systems, c. limited forecasting, d. Planning and co-cooperative behavior of Chain members. Therefore, the other barriers have to come together to overcome difficulties in successful implementation of Reverse logistics.

6. The members having strong driver power and strongly dependence power are

a. Management Inattention, b. Lack of appropriate performance management system, c. Personal resources, d. Company policies and e. Administrative and financial burden of tax Therefore, these factors have to be given top priority.. 82

7. The members having maximum driver power are a. Lack of awareness about reverse logistics, b. Financial Constraints c. Legal issues This implies that these variables are key barriers in the successful implementation of Reverse Logistics in Supply Chain.

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7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) Going Backwards: Reverse Logistics Trends and Practices by Dr. Dale S. Rogers and Dr. Ronald S. Tibben-Lembke, Reverse Logistics association,1998.pp.30-76. 2) Outlet Malls: Do They Deliver the Goods?, Consumer Reports,August, 1998, pp. 20-25. 3) Martijn Thierry et al., Strategic Issues in Product Recovery Management, California Management Review 37, no. 2, Winter 1995, pp. 114-135. 4) Bob Delaney, Ninth Annual State of Logistics Report, (St. Louis, MO: Cass Logistics, 1998). 5) Automotive Parts Rebuilders Association, Rebuilding/Remanufacturing: Saving the Worlds Environment, (Fairfax, VA: Automotive Parts Rebuilders Association, 1998). 6) Lee, Louise, Without a Receipt, You May Get Stuck With That Ugly Scarf, Wall Street Journal, November 18, 1996, sec. 1, p. 1. 7) Annette Spence, Hannadowns, Sky Magazine, May 1998, pp. 107- 111. 8) Richard L. Dawe, Reengineer Your Returns, Transportation and Distribution, August 1995, pp. 78-80. 9) Barriers for Reverse Logistics: An Indian Perspective by S. K. Sharma, B. N. Panda, S. S. Mahapatra, and S. Sahu. 10) Frank Ackerman, Why do We Recycle?: Markets, Values, and Public Policy, (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997). 11) Duales System Deutschland, Packaging Recycling: Techniques and Trends, (Cologne, Germany: Duales System Deutschland AG, 1998). 12) Matthew Gandy, Recycling and the Politics of Urban Waste (New York: St.Martin's Press, 1994).

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WEBLIOGRAPHY 1) www.belltechlogix.com 2) www.cimaglobal.com/resources 3) www.reverselogisticsassociation.com 4) www.reverselogisticstrends.com 5) www.rlseurope.com 6) www.wikipedia.com 7) http://www.rltinc.com 8) http://www.rlec.org 9) http://logistics.about.com 10) http://www.rlmagazine.com/ 11) http://www.reverselogisticsprofessional.com/

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8. APPENDIX

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APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONNARE
1. What is your primary business? Building, Materials, Hardware, and Garden Supply General Merchandise Electronics and Computers Food Automotive Chemical, Pharmaceuticals Paper and Forest products Apparel and Accessory Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Equipment Drugs, Health & Beauty Aids Warehousing Trucking International logistics third party Other, please specify ____________________________

2.

How long is the life cycle of a typical product? Less than 3 months More than 3 months to 6 months More than 6 months to 12 months More than 12 months to 18 months More than 18 months to 2 years More than 2 years to 3 years More than 3 years to 5 years More than 5 years

3.

Do you export your product? YES________ NO________

4.

IF Yes, Do You Use Third party logistics to export? YES________ NO________

5.

In the case of returning the products from customers (in case of defects or rejection) do you bring back the products from clients? YES________ NO________

6.

If yes, do you use Third party logistics? YES________ NO________

7.

What role do returns play in your companys strategy? Check all that apply.

Clean channel Protect margin Competitive reasons Recapture value

Recover assets Legal disposal issues Other, please specify ______________________

8.

By what percentage do returns reduce your profitability?__________ %

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9.

What, would you estimate, is the impact your returns have on your profits? (as a percentage of profits)__________ %

10. What percentage of your total Logistics costs do your Reverse Logistics costs represent?_________ % 11. Which of the following Reverse Logistics activities does your company perform either in-house or by utilizing a third party? ( Please tick ) In-House Centralized collection center Refurbishing Remanufacturing Outlet sales Salvage __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ Third Party __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ Both __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

12. Where in the supply chain are decisions made about what is to be done with a returned item? Additionally, is a third party used to perform any of this decision making? In-House At retailer (or point of customer contact) At regional distribution center At national distribution center At a returned goods processing center Other, please specify _________________________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ Third Party __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

13. Of the products that are returned by your customers, please estimate the percentage of goods represented by each of the following: Activities Percentage Donated _______% Recycled (materials reclaimed) _______% Remanufactured/Refurbished _______% Repackaged and sold as new _______% Resold as is _______% Sent to central processing facility _______% 14. What barriers to successful Reverse Logistics Activities exist in your firm? Check all that apply. Company policies Competitive issues Lack of systems Financial resources Legal issues Importance of reverse logistics relative to other issues Sold at outlet store _______% Sold to broker _______% Land Fill _______% Other, please specify _______%

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Management inattention Personnel resources

Other, please specify ____________________________

15. What hardware and software technologies do you have installed, or plan to install, to assist your returns handling? Automated material handling equipment Bar codes Computerized return tracking Computerized returns entry at most downstream point in supply chain Electronic data interchange (EDI) Radio frequency (RF) Other, please specify____________________________________ 16. How long are the returns processing cycle time for most of the products you handle? Less than 1 day More than 1 day to 2 days More than 2 days to 1 week More than 1 week to 2 weeks General Company Information: 17. On a scale of 1 to 7, with1 being very unimportant, and with 7 being very important, rate the importance to your customers of each the following in their decision to use you as their supplier: Least Factor Important Cost reduction 1 Price 1 Quality of service 1 Return policies 1 Speed of delivery 1 Variety of products 1 Most Important 7 7 7 7 7 7 More than 2 weeks to 1 month More than 1 month to 2 months More than 2 month

2 2 2 2 2 2

3 3 3 3 3 3

4 4 4 4 4 4

5 5 5 5 5 5

6 6 6 6 6 6

N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.. N.A.

18. What were the annual gross sales of your business during the most recent fiscal year?

19.

How many people do you currently employ at this facility?

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100 or fewer 101 to 150 151 to 250 251 to 500 501 to 1,000 Over 1,000

20. In which of the following channel positions do you operate? Check all that apply. Manufacturer Wholesaler Retailer Service Provider (Please explain: ______________________ )

Name of the company:

_____________________________________________

Telephone: ____________________________________________ E-mail Address: _________________________________________________________

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE HANDLED IN A CONFIDENTIAL MANNER.

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APPENDIX 2 Data Tabulation

The following are tabular and graphical representations of the data gathered from the surveys. 1. What is your primary business?

Type Of Business Automotive Third party logistics E-commerce Chemical and Pharmaceuticals Electronics and Computers General Merchandise Building, Materials, Hardware and Garden Supply Drugs, Health and Beauty Aids Apparel and Accessory Food Paper and Forest products Furniture, Home Furnishings, and Equipment Warehousing

Percentage 20.40% 15.00% 12.70% 11.50% 9.90% 9.50% 5.60% 3.20% 3.00% 2.80% 2.40% 2.20% 1.80%

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2. How long is the life cycle of a typical product?

Time <3 months 3-6 months 6-12 months 12-18 months 18-24 months 2-3 years 3-5 years >5 years Respondents 10.13% 9.47% 13.51% 12.50% 11.82% 8.45% 8.45% 25.67%

3. you export your product?

YES NO 72% 28%

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4. IF Yes, Do You Use Third party logistics to export?

YES NO 84% 16%

5. In the case of returning the products from customers (in case of defects or rejection) do you bring back the products from clients?
YES NO 63% 37%

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6. If yes, do you use Third party logistics?

YES NO 89% 11%

7. What role do returns play in your companys strategy?

Clean channel Protect margin Competitive reasons Recapture value Recover assets Legal disposal issues 33.10% 18.30% 64.90% 28.60% 27.60% 29.30%

Also, 17 percent of the respondents specified other roles played by returns in their companys strategy, including: customer satisfaction, customer service, and quality.

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8.

By what percentage do returns reduce your profitability? The average percentage by which profitability is reduced is 4.2 percent, with a standard deviation of 9.8.

9. What, would you estimate, is the impact your returns have on your profits? The average impact returns have on profits is 3.7 percent, with a standard deviation of 5.9.

10. What percentage of your total Logistics costs do your Reverse Logistics costs represent? The average impact returns have on profits is 3. 9 percent, with a standard deviation of 6.3.

11. Which of the following Reverse Logistics activities does your company perform either in-house or by utilizing a third party?

RL Activity Centralized collection center Refurbishing Remanufacturing Outlet sales Salvage

InThird House Party 49.20% 15.10% 38.70% 29.90% 28.60% 45.90% 9.30% 9.90% 8.00% 17.00%

Both 3.50% 3.90% 0.60% 2.90% 5.20%

12. Where in the supply chain are decisions made about what is to be done with a returned item? Additionally, is a third party used to perform any of this decision making?

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Column1 At retailer At regional distribution center At national distribution center

At a returned goods processing center

In-House

Third Both Party 44.40% 3.90% 1.30% 37.90% 4.20% 1.30% 38.30% 27.60% 1.30% 8.40% 0.30% 1.30%

13. Of the products that are returned by your customers, please estimate the percentage of goods represented by each of the following:
Activities Resold as is Remanufactured / Refurbished Recycled (Material Reclaimed) LandFill Repackaged and Sold as New Sent to Central Processing Facility Donated Sold to Broker Sold at Outlet Store Average Percentage 17.60% 15.50% 14.70% 13.90% 11.00% 9.00% 6.80% 5.60% 5.10%

14. What barriers to successful Reverse Logistics Activities exist in your firm?
Barriers Importance of reverse logistics relative to other issues Company Policies Lack of systems Competitive issues Management inattention Personnel resources Financial resources Legal issues Respondents 39.90% 35.40% 35.10% 32.10% 27.30% 19.30% 18.90% 14.10%

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Other Seven percent of the participants gave other reasons, such as too costly of a process, product characteristics (like perishability), freight costs or lack of payback.

15. What hardware and software technologies do you have installed, or plan to install, to assist your returns handling?
Technologies Bar codes Computerized return tracking Radio frequency (RF) Electronic data interchange (EDI) Computerized returns entry at most downstream point in supply chain Automated material handling Equipment Respondents 51.10% 45.00% 28.30% 27.00% 23.80% 19.30%

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Other 5.14 percent of the participants mentioned other hardware and software technologies, such as automated Return Materials Handling processing, automated freight systems, virtual returns, and outsourcing.

16. How long are the returns processing cycle time for most of the products you handle?

Days Less than 1 day More than 1 day to 2 days More than 2 days to 1 week More than 1 week to 2 weeks More than 2 weeks to 1 month More than 1 month to 2 months More than 2 months

Percentage 4.80% 11.60% 25.60% 20.10% 23.20% 7.80% 6.80%

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17. On a scale of 1 to 7, with1 being very unimportant, and with 7 being very important, rate the importance to your customers of each the following in their decision to use you as their supplier:
Decision Cost Reduction Price Quality Of Service Return Policies Speed of delivery Variety of Products Average 4.20% 5.20% 5.90% 3.70% 5.30% 5.10% Standard deviation 4.4 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.8 2

18. What were the annual gross sales of your business during the most recent fiscal year?
5 Lakhs or Less Over 5 Lakhs to 10 Lakhs Over10 Lakhs to 50 Lakhs Over 50Lakhs to 1 Crore Over 1Crore to 1.5 Crores Over 1.5 Crore to 2 Crores Over 2Crore to 2.5 Crores Over 2.5Crore to 5Crore Over 5 crores to 10 Crore Over 10 Crores 0.70% 0.30% 3.40% 5.80% 4.80% 6.10% 3.10% 14.60% 14.00% 47.30%

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19. How many people do you currently employ at this facility?

100 or fewer 101 to 150 151 to 250 251 to 500 501 to 1000 Over 1,000 16.80% 8.70% 9.10% 18.10% 11.70% 35.60%

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20.

In which of the following channel positions do you operate?

Manufacturer Wholesaler Retailer Service Provider

64.00% 29.90% 28.90% 9.00%

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