The logistics of a company has been identified for many years as the analysis, planning, operation and control of the flow of related information and therefore the treatment of logistics systems has focused primarily on viewing it as one-way towards the end consumer, Logistics is defined as "the set of means and methods necessary to carry out the organization of a company, or a service, especially distribution".
The concept of logistics has evolved significantly over time and is now conceived by organizations specialized in logistics management and supply chain includes the concepts of direct or reverse flow that refer to the concepts of direct logistics and
It can be determined that reverse logistics is a process of movement of goods from their final destination with the purpose of recovering their value, ensuring their correct disposal or as a way of marketing.
The current lifestyle and consumption habits of society have caused the generation of waste of different types to increase, which is why waste management has become an integral part of the economy of the countries and is being that public and private sectors worry about looking for alternatives to this problem.
Through reverse logistics, once a product has been returned to the company there are several ways to manage it with recoveries of part of its initial value.
Reverse logistics
Today there are different factors such as the growing awareness of the environment, the need to offer more competitive after-sales services or the need to recover products to recover value and increase the profitability of the company. Which are generating large amounts of material and product flow in a direction contrary to that traditionally accepted in commercial distribution and traditional logistics.
This refers from the consumer to the manufacturer, which makes the so-called reverse logistics increasingly important, which is reaching more and more ground, which is why its proper implementation becomes of utmost importance so that it contributes to making organizations more competitive.
The logistics of a company has been identified for many years with the analysis, planning, operation and control of the flow of related information and therefore the treatment of logistics systems has focused primarily on viewing it as one-way towards the end consumer.
However, business reality reveals that more and more organizations are practicing reverse logistics. The effective management of this has become a competitive weapon of increasing importance and at the same time represents a great source of new opportunities for the company.
However, reverse logistics is an issue that has not been treated with the importance it should.
Reverse logistics should not be contextualized as a new discipline of study but rather should be encompassed within logistics.
Logistics
Logistics is defined as "the set of means and methods necessary to carry out the organization of a company, or a service, especially distribution." (RAE, 2014)
Another definition of logistics points out that “business logistics is all movement and storage that facilitates the flow of products from the point of purchase of materials to the point of consumption, as well as the information flows that are launched, with in order to provide the consumer with the appropriate level of service at a reasonable cost. " (Ballou, 2003)
The concept of logistics has evolved significantly over time and is now conceived by organizations specialized in logistics management and supply chain includes the concepts of direct or reverse flow that refer to the concepts of direct logistics and reverse logistics.
Reverse logistics
Reverse logistics is increasingly used by organizations in the world as they recover products from customers, either to recover value or as after-sales services.
This term was determined as part of a trend called
"Reverse supply chain" where manufacturers designed effective processes to reuse the products they made, reverse logistics is also known as retrologistics or reverse distribution.
Some definitions of reverse logistics state that:
"Reverse Logistics consists of the process of planning, executing and controlling the efficiency and effectiveness of the flow of raw materials, inventory in process, finished products and related information, from the point of consumption to the point of origin, in order to to recover value or the correct elimination ”(Rogers et al, 2002)
“Reverse Logistics is the set of activities related to the handling and management of equipment for the recovery of products, components, materials or even complete technical systems (by default, only the term products is generally used.” (Brito et al, 2002)
Therefore, it can be determined that reverse logistics is a process of movement of goods from their final destination with the purpose of recovering their value, ensuring their correct disposal or as a way of doing marketing.
Reverse logistics belongs to a sector of activity within logistics and some of these activities have ecological reasons such as recycling products to avoid damaging the environment, other activities seek to improve the productivity and supply processes of organizations as well as obtain better and more benefits.
Reverse logistics operations
Some of the operations within reverse logistics are:
- Excess inventory return processes Customer returns Obsolete products Leftover inventory from seasonal demands Withdrawal activities Classification Refurbishment Returned to point of sale.
Through reverse logistics, once a product has been returned to the company there are several ways to manage it with recoveries of part of its initial value. (Oltra, 2015)
The current lifestyle and consumption habits of society have caused the generation of waste of different types to increase, which is why waste management has become an integral part of the economy of the countries and is being that Public and private sectors demand activities to minimize the damage and damage to the environment that the production processes have caused.
There is also the need to propose a new business culture that takes into account its strategies, designs and production processes, aspects such as energy consumption and raw materials, quantity of materials used, the emission of polluting substances or the generation of waste.
Reverse logistics addresses issues that arise from moving goods from the consumer to the manufacturer, whether from returns for any reason with the aim of their reuse or destruction
Green logistics
Another of the concepts used is green logistics, which differs from reverse logistics since the former refers to the process of minimizing the ecological impact of logistics.
Green logistics activities include measuring the consequences that the environment could have on transportation issues, reducing the use of energy and materials.
One of the key aspects of reverse logistics is related to the collection and treatment of goods and products that have already finished their useful life, since many of these often contain components that are very important to be controlled.
Green logistics arises precisely from the importance of having activities for the collection of these products and their transport to the transformation centers where they are disassembled, selected and treated appropriately for each class of product.
The activities related to reverse logistics are the processes that a company uses to collect the products that have been used, defective, surplus or expired and also the packaging and transport elements used to get its products to the final consumer.
Activities can be classified according to the products that come from the end user or another member of the distribution channel, or according to whether it is a product or a packaging.
When the material arrives at the company, it must choose the use that it will give it, these activities are considered the most important in reverse logistics processes and must decide what to do with each product, the final destination and the flow of its logistics chain as shown. shows below.
Type of activities
| Type | Distribution channel | Final user |
| products | • Returns for stock adjustments.
• Returns for commercial policies. • End of range, temporality. • Deterioration during transit |
• Defective
• Warranty returns • Withdrawn • Environmental regulations |
| Packaging | • Reusable elements
• Multipurpose packaging • Destruction |
• Reuse
• Recycling • Destruction |
The manufacturer must have the responsibility to ensure that its products can be disassembled or destroyed in the simplest possible way and that its elements can be reused.
Use of the material
| Material | Activities | |
| products | • Return to the manufacturer
• Sell again • Sell through third parties • Export to new markets. |
|
| • Recondition
• Restore • Remanufacture • Reuse materials • Recycle • Destroy |
||
| Packaging | • Reuse
• Restore • Reuse materials • Recycle • Recover |
Environmental policies and consumers reward the manufacture of products that have recycled materials and that the product is the most respectful of the environment during and at the end of its useful life. (López, 2014)
conclusion
Reverse logistics is a form of business for companies that represents possibilities of being more competitive, through this they can produce benefits not only to the environment but also to themselves through maintaining an image committed to future generations and with provide the best to your customers.
In addition, reverse logistics is a way to ensure that there is less pollution and less damage to the environment and the commitment of companies with this is of the utmost importance to achieve optimal long-term results.
Bibliographic references
- Ballou, R. (2003). Business Logistics: Supply Chain Management. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Brito et al, (2002). Reverse logistics. Erasmus University Rotterdam, Econometric Institute. López, JP (2014). Incorporation of Reverse Logistics in the Supply Chain and its influence on the organizational structure of companies. University of Barcelona. Oltra, RF (2015). Reverse logistics: concept and definition. Polytechnic University of Valencia.RAE. (2014). Spanish dictionary. RAE, Real Academia Española. Rogers et al, (2002). The Returns Management Process. Logist. Manag., 1-18.
