52 Reverse Supply Chain Management: A Brief Outline

Reverse logistics has been brought to the forefront of corporate agenda not only due to environmental concerns and the recent environmental regulations, but also because of its profound financial ramifications. Depending on the specific strategy that each enterprise follows, reverse logistics may constitute a profit center. The importance of reverse logistics to the overall profitability of manufacturers and brand owners is steadily increasing as companies learn how to better decrease returns and extract value from returned parts. Closed-loop supply-chain channels are distribution systems that include activities supporting both the forward flow of goods from the manufacturer to the consumer as well as the reverse flow from the consumer to the manufacturer. In this paper, we identify the reverse logistics supply-chain channels, identify problems that companies face when they handle product returns along these channels and present the critical role that information technology and collaboration can play to mitigate many of the problems and deficiencies. It is imperative that firms operating in the reverse supply-chain channels collaborate to integrate and share information in a timely fashion. In this paper we discussed on the benefits, issues of reverse supply chain management and also focus on the impact of IT on reverse supply chain management.