Reverse logistics for the end-of-life and end-of-use products in the pharmaceutical industry: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this paper is to develop a systematic literature review (SLR) aiming to identify reverse logistics (RL) concepts and practices applied to the end-of-life (EOL) and end-of-use (EOU) of pharmaceuticals and to identify and synthesize, through bibliometric indicators, research opportunities on RL, considering the analysis of publications in the periodical Supply Chain Management: An International Journal (SCMij). Design/methodology/approach The SLR followed two steps, namely, search for articles on the subject and content analysis of selected material and bibliometric analysis of publications using VOSviewer®. Findings The SLR allowed the compilation of evidences regarding pharmaceutical RL in the groups: environmental risk, the RL evolution and regulatory and stakeholder’s educational perspective. Despite the timid specific literature on pharmaceutical RL, it was also possible to point out research gaps and opportunities. Pharmaceutical RL seems to be influenced by studies from traditional RL including mathematical modeling, managerial strategies and technologies but prescind of a systemic solution. Besides reducing environmental impact, the motivation to implement pharmaceutical RL resides in its potential for revenue. Considering integrated logistics as a trend and an emerging issue, RL for the pharmaceutical industry needs to be addressed more thorough and broadly. Research limitations/implications The limited number of papers returned in this SLR of pharmaceutical RL impaired the bibliometric analysis of them, leading to the inclusion of papers on general RL. Originality/value This study provides an overview of the evolution of RL in the pharmaceutical industry, it also clarifies concepts and EOL/EOU practices, particularly directed to the pharmaceutical industry RL.

The effect of collaboration and IT competency on reverse logistics competency - Evidence from Brazilian supply chain executives

“…This allows companies to not only comply with legal requirements but also to create a business image that has the potential to reduce costs and add value to products for the purpose of generating revenue (Ding et al, 2016;Malik et al, 2016;Srivastava and Srivastava, 2006). Considering that organizations are increasingly responsible for the return of End-of-life (EOL) and End-of-use (EOU) products (Campos et al, 2017), it is the responsibility of organizations to create collaborative mechanisms, even at the strategic level, that generate the capacity to respond to the demand of returnable products. Considering that, there is the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 1.…”

Reverse Logistics of Postconsumer Medicines: The Roles and Knowledge of Pharmacists in the Municipality of São Paulo, Brazil

“…According to Campos et al [7], the practices of pharmaceutical waste management (WM) can be arranged into three groups, as shown in Figure 5. Managers in charge of developing and deploying the reverse logistics programs should account for the expectations and demands of customers, during which it is vital to highlight customer concerns and provide complete solutions for product return [58,59].…”

“…The terms end-of-life (EOL) and end-of-use (EOU) are used to indicate that a product has completed its service lifetime and has reached the end of its useful life [6,7]. According to Kongar et al [6], several events can cause a product to complete its service life time, including deterioration or obsolescence.…”

“…The three groups of solutions in terms of practices related to pharmaceutical WM. Adapted from Campos et al[7].…”

A review of reverse logistics and closed loop supply chain management studies published in IJPR: a bibliometric and content analysis

“…The majority of Supply Chain (SC) processes are no longer the traditional forward flows that focus solely on production and distribution of products to end users (Giri, Chakraborty, and Maiti 2017;Guide, Harrison, and Van Wassenhove 2003;Heydari, Govindan, and Jafari 2017;Lee, Wang, and Chen 2017;Pedram et al 2017). Instead, we see more attention and responsibility paid toward the environment by accounting for End-of-Life (EOL) products (Campos et al 2017;Govindan and Soleimani 2017;Pauliuk et al 2017). Therefore, instead of merely focusing on the forward flow of SCs, businesses are now looking at SCs in a broader way by taking into account the Reverse Logistics (RL) of products (Batarfi, Jaber, and Aljazzar 2017;Zheng et al 2017).…”