Disposition Decision (DD) consists of deciding how to treat a recovered product, and it is one of the most important decisions in reverse logistics. Any of the selected disposition alternatives will have a significant impact on the enterprise sustainability. However, the most sustainable alternative may not be an alternative to make circular economy (CE) possible. In these cases, if the company wishes to adopt a CE strategy, it will have to switch from the most sustainable alternative to a less sustainable one that CE allows. Then, how much should be sacrificed for each sustainability dimension to make CE possible? This paper proposes a methodology for quantitatively comparing the most sustainable disposition alternative and the most sustainable CE alternative. This comparison allows small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to know how exactly all dimensions increase or decrease when selecting the most sustainable CE disposition alternative and to, therefore, assess the interest of adopting a CE policy. The proposed methodology is applied to a used tire recovery company. The results of this example show that the CE alternative offers a better environmental result but presents worst economic and social results. This example can be used as a guide for future applications other SMEs.
Purpose: The increase in social awareness, politics and environmental regulation, the scarcity of raw materials and the desired “green” image, are some of the reasons that lead companies to decide for implement processes of Reverse Logistics (RL). At the time when incorporate new RL processes as key business processes, new and important decisions need to be made. Identification and knowledge of these decisions, including the information available and the implications for the company or supply chain, will be fundamental for decision-makers to achieve the best results. In the present work, the main types of RL decisions are identified.Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on the analysis of mathematical models designed as tools to aid decision making in the field of RL. Once the types of interest work to be analyzed are defined, those studies that really deal about the object of study are searched and analyzed. The decision variables that are taken at work are identified and grouped according to the type of decision and, finally, are showed the main types of decisions used in mathematical models developed in the field of RL. Findings: The principal conclusion of the research is that the most commonly addressed decisions with mathematical models in the field of RL are those related to the network’s configuration, followed by tactical/operative decisions such as the selections of product’s treatments to realize and the policy of returns or prices, among other decisions.Originality/value: The identification of the main decisions types of the reverse logistics will allow the managers of these processes to know and understand them better, while offer an integrated vision of them, favoring the achievement of better results.
The reverse logistics process (RLP) has become a key process for the supply chain (SC) given its importance for treating the increasing quantity of returned or recovered products and its impact on sustainability. However, the RLP is complex and involves a high degree of uncertainty and difficult decisions that affect SC efficiency. One of the aspects that can help the most to reduce this complexity and to improve SC efficiency is to formalize this process. The consulted studies agree on the numerous benefits of RLP formalization, but no tools, methodologies or specific solutions were found that help companies to advance in this matter. This work aims to develop a specific tool for RLP formalization so that its efficiency can be increased, leading to an improvement of SC sustainability. The main results comprise a reference model for RLP (RM-RLP) and an associated methodology so that any company can formalize its RLP by modeling its activities. The proposed tool (RM-RLP and methodology) is applied to a closed loop SC of relaxing chairs as an example of RLP formalization, proving its usefulness and, additionally, the improvements that can be reached in three RLP key indicators: total process duration, customer response time and the perceived autonomy and trust of the workers participating in the process.
The negative impact of human beings on the environment, the resources depletion and the social inequalities, are key aspects that have recently driven awareness of the importance of business sustainability. One way to achieve a change in the business model towards more sustainable ones is to transform the traditional linear business models to more circular ones, prioritizing the use of resources and reducing the consumption of raw materials. In fact, one of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, established in the United Nations 2030 agenda, refers to responsible production and consumption, including, as one of its goals, "considerably reduce the generation of waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse activities". In this context of expanding the sustainable development and the circular economy concepts, recovered product's management has made Reverse Logistics (RL) a key competence of modern Supply Chains (SC).Another reason why RL is a major concern for companies is the returns of purchased products and the high reverse flow generated, due to the exponential e-commerce increase and its permissive return policy. Because of this vertiginous growth of RL operations, the companies must update the traditional logistics processes, integrating the Reverse Logistics Process (RLP) into them, which allows controlling the entire life cycle of the product.However, RL management is not an easy task, mainly because reverse flows are less predictable and more variable than direct ones. In this context, many companies have begun to work hard to standardize and formalize their RLP, establishing a set of rules, procedures and communications, which facilitate the understanding of the process for all interested stakeholders and help them to know how to act at any time. Having a standardized and formalized RLP enables better understanding and management of returned or recovered products and a more efficient RL, which can in turn provide a competitive advantage to the company.Another vital aspect to achieve greater efficiency and profitability of the RLP is to facilitate decision making in this process. The identification, study, description and modeling of decisions will help managers or decision-makers to have an integrated vision of them and to better understand the aspects to be considered in such decisions and their ABSTRACT 8 impact. In fact, agile and accurate decision making will increase efficiency, reducing costs, improving customer service and increasing company profits.In this sense, among all the decisions related to the RLP, the disposition decision (DD) can be highlighted as the most decisive, since it must be unique for each product, it determines the rest of the decisions, it is influenced by high uncertainty and affects the degree of sustainability of the company, it is conditioned by multiple factors and generally requires agility and speed to respond to the costumer.Precisely, the importance of RLP and the complexity of DD in the context described, justify the development of tools as an aid t...
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