Issues in reverse supply chains, part II: reverse distribution issues – an overview

TLDR

Growing environmental concern has driven attention to product take‑back and reverse logistics, which companies use strategically to generate revenue and improve competitiveness, but effective reverse distribution requires specialized infrastructure and information systems. This paper systematically reviews reverse distribution issues and proposes a classification framework. The authors review existing literature on reverse logistics and develop a classification based on identified reverse distribution issues. The review clarifies the reverse logistics concept and identifies future research directions in modelling and analysis.

Abstract

In recent years, due to growing environmental concern, there has been an increasing attention to product take‐back, product recovery and the re‐distribution of end‐of‐life products. Reverse logistics (RL), which refers to the distribution activities involved in product returns, has recently received much attention because many companies are using it as a strategic tool to serve their customers; and can generate good revenue. The management of return flow usually requires a specialised infrastructure with special information systems for tracking and dedicated equipment for the processing of returns. An efficient reverse distribution structure may lead to a significant return on investment as well as a significantly increased competitiveness in the market. Therefore, the time seems to be right for a systematic overview of various issues that are arising in the context of reverse distribution. The main purpose of this paper is to review the literature on RL and suggest a classification based on reverse distribution issues. The result of this research provides a better understanding of the RL concept and outlines some future directions of research on modelling and analysis.