A systems approach for forward and reverse logistics design: maximising value from customer involvement

PURPOSE. There is significant potential for adding value by involving customer in the design process and delivery of logistic services. In order to add value to the overall logistic system, this paper proposes applying an integrated systems approach for the design of forward and reverse logistics services in order to build a self-organising service that can maximise efficiencies and in particular reduce reverse logistics costs. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH. Two exploratory case studies were conducted in the logistics systems of housing repair and maintenance sector in the UK. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, observations, and documented evidence. FINDINGS. The findings of the cross-case analysis suggests that systems approach expressed as the Vanguard Method (Seddon 2008) has a direct impact on enhancing forward logistics performance and reducing reverse product flows by nourishing three dimensions for learning from demand-driven analysis; capturing customer clean information, demand predictability and categorisation, and failure demand analysis. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS. Findings from exploratory case studies cannot be easily generalised. Hence, further case studies are needed to enrich the findings, and to facilitate their industrial applications. Further, the paper explores the utilisation of the Vanguard Method only in the area of housing repairs and maintenance logistics services. It would be valuable for future studies to further investigate the utilisation of the Vanguard Method in other logistics services settings. ORIGINALITY/VALUE. The paper demonstrates an important dynamics of how logistics services can incorporate customer demands into the logistics design process

Moving forward in reverse : a review into strategic decision making in reverse logistics

Reverse Logistics, the process of managing the backward flows of materials from a point of use to a point of recovery or proper disposal, has gained increased industry acceptance as a strategy for both competitive advantage and sustainable development. This has stimulated a growing number of researchers to investigate Strategic management issues relating to the set up and control of effective and efficient Reverse Logistics systems. This paper systematically reviews the most important works in this field, with a focus on papers that concentrate on the strategic decision making process involved in the design and operation of a Reverse Logistics process with remanufacturing. The review found that: the majority of work is primarily focused on OEM specific issues; the sectors receiving the most attention are the ones under the greatest pressure from environmental legislation; and previous research findings from Rubio et al. (2009) and Fleischmann et al. (2000) are reaffirmed that the Reverse Logistics field is growing, but characterised by mainly quantitative, mathematical models. Future research efforts should be focused on the empirical investigation of the Reverse Logistics design process for all types of remanufacturers

Design of the Reverse Logistics System for Medical Waste Recycling Part II: Route Optimization with Case Study under COVID-19 Pandemic

Medical waste recycling and treatment has gradually drawn concerns from the whole society, as the amount of medical waste generated is increasing dramatically, especially during the pandemic of COVID-19. To tackle the emerging challenges, this study designs a reverse logistics system architecture with three modules, i.e., medical waste classification & monitoring module, temporary storage & disposal site (disposal site for short) selection module, as well as route optimization module. This overall solution design won the Grand Prize of the "YUNFENG CUP" China National Contest on Green Supply and Reverse Logistics Design ranking 1st. This paper focuses on the design of the route optimization module. In this module, a route optimization problem is designed considering transportation costs and multiple risk costs (e.g., environment risk, population risk, property risk, and other accident-related risks). The Analytic Hierarchy Process is employed to determine the weights for each risk element, and a customized genetic algorithm is developed to solve the route optimization problem. A case study under the COVID-19 pandemic is further provided to verify the proposed model. Limited by length, detailed descriptions of the whole system and the other modules can be found at https://shorturl.at/cdY59.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, under review by the 26th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC 2023

A framework to design reverse logistics operations based on circular economy values

Reverse Logistics (RL) is complex to be managed due to the uncertainty involved e.g. the quality range of products, timing of product returns, and volume of returns. A robust RL design can contribute to increase the effectiveness of RL operations. Therefore, an RL design framework needs to be formalised. Circular economy (CE) focuses on supporting the separation of treatments between technical and biological materials in maximising the design for reuse to return to the biosphere and retain value through innovations across fields. The aim of the research is to develop a new framework to design RL operations based on CE values that can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of RL operations. This research has been conducted through the qualitative research involving cases in product recovery (PR) options that are analysed in-depth. Literature review and interview are the main methods of this research. A test was conducted by interviewing expert and respondents to obtain the expert view and test the research result which is a developed framework to design RL based on CE values. The testing engaged five criteria (usability, feasibility, consistency, effectiveness, and utility). The formal RL design framework, 15 CE values, framework to design RL based on CE values specifically PR options (repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and cannibalisation) are main research findings. The research contributes academically to the development of a formal RL design framework and to the identification, reformulation, redefinition, and implementation of CE values. The research can be used as a basis for an effective design of RL that takes into account the economic, environmental, and social impacts. The research can be used as a guideline or an appraisal tool in designing/modifying RL based on CE values that can support the implementation of a single RL operation and also RL based on CE

Optimization of reverse logistics network of End of Life Vehicles under fuzzy supply: A case study for Istanbul Metropolitan Area

Recycling aims at preventing rapid depletion of natural resources while transforming produced waste into value for economy. However, this process becomes a major challenge in automotive industry, which requires cooperative engagement of multiple players within a complex supply chain. In line with the essence of the topic, government agencies around the world issue directives drawing regulatory frameworks for designing recycling operations comprising various activities such as collection of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), recovery of reusable components, shredding ELV's body, recycling valuable materials and disposal of the hazardous waste. In general, the amount of returned product in a reverse logistics network is highly uncertain, and the ELV market in Turkey is no exception to this. For that purpose, this study aims developing a fuzzy mixed integer location-allocation model for reverse logistic network of ELVs conforming to the existing directives in Turkey. Accordingly, this study uses a novel approach and assumes that ELV supply in the network is uncertain. The merit of the proposed mathematical model is proved on a real world scenario addressing the reverse logistics design problem for ELVs generated in metropolitan area of Istanbul. The network generated specifies that recycling process is not profitable under the existing circumstances with the given level of supplied ELV and the returned product records per capita in Istanbul are far beyond the EU averages. Consequently, sensitivity analyses question the reliability of the obtained results.WOS:0004593583000882-s2.0-8506018772

Design Principles for Closed Loop Supply Chains

In this paper we study design principles for closed loop supply chains. Closed loop supply chains aim at closing material flows thereby limiting emission and residual waste, but also providing customer service at low cost. We study 'traditional' and 'new' design principles known in the literature. It appears that setting up closed loop supply chains requires some additional design principles because of sustainability requirements. At the same time however, we see that traditional principles also apply. Subsequently we look at a business situation at Honeywell. Here, only a subset of the relevant design principles is applied. The apparent low status of reverse logistics may provide an explanation for this. To some extent, the same mistakes are made again as were 20 years ago in, for instance, inbound logistics. Thus, obvious improvements can be made by applying traditional principles. Also new principles, which require a life cycle driven approach, need to be applied. This can be supported by advanced management tools such as LCA and LCC.reverse logistics;case-study;closed loop supply chains

Design of the Reverse Logistics System for Medical Waste Recycling Part I: System Architecture, Classification & Monitoring Scheme, and Site Selection Algorithm

With social progress and the development of modern medical technology, the amount of medical waste generated is increasing dramatically. The problem of medical waste recycling and treatment has gradually drawn concerns from the whole society. The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic further brought new challenges. To tackle the challenges, this study proposes a reverse logistics system architecture with three modules, i.e., medical waste classification & monitoring module, temporary storage & disposal site selection module, as well as route optimization module. This overall solution design won the Grand Prize of the "YUNFENG CUP" China National Contest on Green Supply and Reverse Logistics Design ranking 1st. This paper focuses on the description of architectural design and the first two modules, especially the module on site selection. Specifically, regarding the medical waste classification & monitoring module, three main entities, i.e., relevant government departments, hospitals, and logistics companies, are identified, which are involved in the five management functions of this module. Detailed data flow diagrams are provided to illustrate the information flow and the responsibilities of each entity. Regarding the site selection module, a multi-objective optimization model is developed, and considering different types of waste collection sites (i.e., prioritized large collection sites and common collection sites), a hierarchical solution method is developed employing linear programming and K-means clustering algorithms sequentially. The proposed site selection method is verified with a case study and compared with the baseline, it can immensely reduce the daily operational costs and working time. Limited by length, detailed descriptions of the whole system and the remaining route optimization module can be found at https://shorturl.at/cdY59.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to and under review by the IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV 2023

An exploration study on factors influencing green marketing

These days, there have been tremendous efforts on offering products, which are environment friendly. Green marketing plays an important role for attracting new customer and customer retention. This paper presents an empirical investigation based on the implementation of factor analysis to locate important factors influencing green marketing planning and strategies. building market oriented business units. The study designs a questionnaire including 23 questions and the questionnaire was distributed among 200 people who were visiting organic product exhibition. Cronbach alpha was calculated as 0.845, which is well above the minimum acceptable limit and validates the results. The results of factor analysis reveal four major factors including green labeling, compatibility, product value and marketing component and size

Combining or Separating Forward and Reverse Logistics

Purpose While forward logistics handles and manages the flow of goods downstream in the supply chain from suppliers to customers, reverse logistics (RL) manages the flow of returned goods upstream. A firm can combine RL with forward logistics, keep the flows separated, or choose a position between the two extremes. The purpose of this paper is to identify the contextual factors that determine the most advantageous position, which the paper refers to as the most advantageous degree of combination. Design/methodology/approach The paper first develops a scale ranging from 0 percent combination to 100 percent combination (i.e. full separation). Second, using the contingency theory the paper identifies the contextual factors described in RL-literature that determine the most advantageous degree of combination. The set of factors is subsequently tested using a case study, which applies a triangulation approach that combines a qualitative and a quantitative method. Findings The results show six distinct contextual factors that determine the most advantageous degree of combination. Examples of factors are technical product complexity, product portfolio variation, and the loss of product value over time. Practical implications For practitioners the scale of possible positions and set of contextual factors constitute a decision-making framework. Using the framework practitioners can determine the most advantageous position of the scale for their firm. Originality/value Much RL-research addresses intra-RL issues while the relationship between forward and RL is under-researched. This paper contributes to RL theory by identifying the contextual factors that determine the most advantageous relationship between forward and RL, and proposes a novel decision-making framework for practitioners. </jats:sec

A New Two-Stage Stochastic Model for Reverse Logistics Network Design under Government Subsidy and Low-Carbon Emission Requirement

Embargoed Access, etter IEEEs generelle retningslinjer (manuscript version for OA after 24 mnths embargo from publication date) Link to publisher's version: http://doi.org/10.1109/IEEM.2017.8289857Nowadays, increasing number of companies incorporates the reverse logistics decisions into their supply chain design in order to cope with the enforced international and national legislation and improve the resource efficiency and public image. This paper investigates a new stochastic optimization model for designing a single-period multiproduct multi-level reverse logistics system under government subsidy and low-carbon emission requirement. In order to resolve the stochastic optimization problem, a modified multi-criteria scenario-based approach is proposed to maximize the profit generation while simultaneously improve the stability of the decision-making under uncertainty. The model and solution method are tested with several numerical experiments, and managerial insights are obtained with respect to the carbon emission requirement, governmental subsidy, economy of scale, and system flexibility