Over the last decades, the issue ' reverse logistics' has been moved much higher up the agenda, owing to the increasing environmental awareness, regulatory initiatives and economic pressure. Individual companies have gradually included the backward flows of end-of-life and end-of-use products within their scope of logistics planning and control, to increase their efficiency and effectiveness and create more sustainable supply chain. The purpose of this work is to investigate a single period supply chain model that consists of a manufacturer and a retailer where the retailer simultaneously determine the manufacturer wholesale price, retailer price and order quantity while experiencing customer returns. We also discuss estimation of the serviceable return rate in practical situations. The research is focuses on commercial returns for repairs and maintenances. Empirical data was collected through a comprehensive literature review of earlier studies over this topic.
Keywords: Reverse supply chain, reverse logistics, reverse supply chain processes, strategy, Single period products, Purchasing,
1. INTRODUCTION
Reverse supply chain refers to the movement of goods from customer to vendor. This is the reverse of the traditional supply chain movement of goods from vendor to customer. Reverse logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient and effective inbound flow and storage of secondary goods and related information for the purpose of recovering value or proper disposal. There are various types of reverse supply chains, and they arise at different stages of the product cycle; however, most return supply chains are organized to carry out five key processes:
• Product acquisition: Obtaining the used produc...
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... the selling period and if some of the reused products are returned again this will probably happen after the end of the period. Another key assumption is that the fraction of returns which arrives in time to be reused is independent of the total sales. This is called serviceable return rate and it is denoted by k (0 <= k <= 1). The estimation of k, which largely depends on L, is not easy.. Serviceable return rate k is used to adjust the order quantity and provide an expression for expected profit using an analysis similar to problems without reuse. This method is often used to model returns in various reverse logistic situations and it provides quite accurate results for reasonable return rates as Van der Laan et al. (1996) and Fleischmann et al. (1997) have shown. This assumption enables the analytical solutions of the models presented in the following paragraph.
On many occasions, Apple Inc. has been voted to boast the most efficient supply chain in the world. By leveraging wealth and pure business strength, Apple has been able to construct a supply chain that is both efficient and highly profitable. While much of this supply chain construction has come from great investing and business decisions by Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, it has come at the cost of many factory workers’ well being overseas. Overall, the construction of the highly organized supply chain has given Apple a competitive advantage over the rest of the market.
W.C. Benton, Jr., 3rd Edition, “Purchasing and Supply Chain Management.” (2010). Text. 2.
On the same note, it is well acknowledged that the competitiveness of any organization fundamentally depends on the workforce. Indeed, the workforce is recognized as the heart or living organism of any organization including hotels. It goes without saying that there is minimum likelihood that a restaurant where workers operate in unsafe conditions or are mistreated will offer services and products of the highest quality. Scholars note that employees always desire to work in institutions or restaurants that have high standards of integrity and strive to do the appropriate thing (Fox & Vorley, 2004 pp. 33). This is especially so for the new generation workforce, as well as in attracting the best talent in the industry. A reputation for responsibility and integrity has been recognized as crucial in motivating, as well as recruiting staff especially considering that individuals care about the principles and values that their employers wish to uphold. Scholars note that operating voluntarily to high ethical standards pertaining to environment and social responsibility can result in competitive advantage (Schlegelmilch et al, 2004, pp. pp 254). Customers and civil society groups have been increasingly vigilant in determining whether there is an ethical lapse in the manner in which employees are treated within the supply chain of any organization (Fox & Vorley, 2004 pp. 33). In fact, they have been pressurizing restaurants and other business entities to cut ties with any organization in their supply chain that is not ethical in its treatment of employees. Scholars note that the impression that a restaurant or business entity would create in terms of public relations both on the stakeholders and the customers is highly dependent on the ac...
Some of the other main accessories for the Xbox One include the Xbox One Chatpad and the Xbox Stereo or Chat Headset. The Xbox One Chatpad is a mini keyboard that attaches to the bottom of an Xbox One controller, makes typing quick and easy, and is viewable in the dark because of its backlit keyboard. A main staple for voice chat, the Xbox Stereo or Chat Headset, is useful for voice chatting in a game, with friends, or over Skype.
Operation Shoebox is an organization that sends care packages, and goods to our troops who are deployed. I chose this organization because I felt a connection with it since I have an older brother in the Coast Guard who I adore and look up to. When he was deployed in Cuba my family always sent him care packages so he could always have a little piece of home. When I heard about this organization I immediately wanted to find out how I could help.
Each week, each component in the supply chain tries to meet the demand of the downstream component. Any orders which cannot be met are recorded as backorders, and met as soon as possible. No orders will be ignored, and all orders must eventually be met. At each period, each component in the supply chain is charged a $1.00 shortage cost per backordered item. Also, at each period, each component owns the inventory at that facility. In addition, the wholesaler owns inventory in transit to the retailer, and the distributor owns inventory in transit to the wholesaler, and the factory owns both items being manufactured and items in transit to the distributor. Each location .is charged $.50 inventory holding cost per inventory item that it owns. Also, each supply chain member orders some amount from its upstream supplier. It takes one week for this order to arrive at the supplier. Once the order arrives, the supplier attempts to fill it with available inventory, and there is an additional two week transportation delay before the material being shipped by the supplier arrives at the customer who placed the order.
A supply chain is a system through which organizations deliver their products and services to their customers. The network begins with the basic ingredients to start the chain of supply, which are the suppliers that supply raw materials, ingredients, and so on. From there, it will transfer the supplies to the manufacturer who builds, assembles, converts, or furnishes a product. The chain now needs to get the product to the consumer by transporting the finished product from the manufacturer through a warehouse or distribution center. An example is that Wal-Mart has a nearby distribution center where products are delivered there and then split up to be delivered to a retail Wal-Mart. “Wal-Mart will take responsibility for breaking down larger loads and delivering the product to other Wal-Mart stores” (Ehring 1).
This section summarizes conceptual issues from Global value chain (GVCs) literatures that are relevant to paper’s objectives. It provides the overview of global value chain theory, and the most important concepts.
The purpose of this report is to understand the evolution of the inventory management of Amazon and how it has affected the company’s growth. This case study is both a practice case and a problem solving case, so the first section of this report focuses on the practices used by Amazon in the 4 stages and then in the second section we will solve the problem regarding their product returns problem and provide recommendations.
Reverse logistics and the return portion of the supply chain is often an overlooked and mismanaged process. Companies tend to focus their efforts on the forward portion of supply chain management, while failing to take advantage of the many opportunities that reverse logistics presents (Benton, 2007). What these companies do not realize is that the effective management of reverse logistics has the potential to make them more profitable, and to add value to many other parts of their supply chain. In the case of Johnson Automotive, we will analyze their current supply chain processes to determine their effectiveness while answering the following questions:
Supply chain management has been defined as that process that involves the management of information, materials, and all the finances that are handled within and across the entire supply chain process (Christopher, 2016). The management is usually done through out the entire supply chain management from that moment when the suppliers are involved through all the manufacturing activities, different distribution activities, and the way that the products are served to the final product consumer (Turban, et al., 2002). The process also includes all the activities that different organizations offers to their customers as after sale services for purposes perfecting their services and products towards their highly valued customers (Christopher,
Many organizations do not achieve the profits they anticipate by using incorrect methods or models to determine the true costs of products and services. This failure to correctly assess the costs associated with business not only affects the profit margin, but the organizations competitive advantage as well. In order to asses whether the organization is failing to realize optimum resource allocation, the organization should look at the methodology first popularized by Michael Porter titled the Value Chain Analysis (VCA). "VCA seeks to define the entire chain through which goods are supplied to a customer" (Booth, 1997, 2). The VCA can be a powerful tool in increasing an organization's competitive advantage; by correctly pricing products and assessing the true costs of materials and labor, organizations can align the improvements in efficiency, quality, and profits with its strategic objectives.
Inventory management is a method through, which a business handles tangible resources and materials to ensure availability of resources for use. It is a collection of interdisciplinary processes including a full circle from the demand forecasting, supply chain management, inventory control and reverse logistics. Inventory management is the optimization of inventories of manufactured goods, work in progress, and raw materials. According to Doucette (2001) inventory management can be challenging at times; however, the need for effective inventory management is largely seeing more as a necessity than a mere trend when customer satisfaction and service have become a prime reason for a business to stand apart from its competition. For example, Wal-Mart’s inventory management is one of the biggest contributors to the success of the company;
Zanjirani F., Rezapour, S. & Kardar, L. (2011) Logistics operations and management concepts and models, 1st ed. London ; Elsevier.
Coyle, J., Langley, C., Gibson, B., Novack, R. and Bardi, E. (2008).Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective. 8th ed. Cengage Learning, p.366.