Introduction
Logistics was born in the military field, it is a branch of military science related to procuring, maintaining and transporting material, personnel and facilities.
From a commercial perspective, we can define it as “it is the part of the supply chain process that plans, carries out and controls the efficient and effective flow and storage of goods and services, as well as related information, from the point of origin. up to the point of consumption, in order to meet customer requirements. "
In simple words, logistics is the direction of the flow of products from the points of acquisition of raw materials to the final consumers.
However, for many companies there is a reverse logistics channel that must also be managed. We must first start with the definition of inverse is: “Adj. What is opposite or opposite in order, direction or sense "
The life of a product, from a logistics point of view, does not end with its delivery to the customer. Products become obsolete, are damaged or do not work and are returned to their points of origin for repair or disposal.
The term reverse logistics is not only used to refer to the role of logistics in the return of the product, but also to the reduction of origin, recycling, reuse of materials, substitution of materials, elimination of waste and waste, repair and remanufacturing thereof.
Its inclusion in companies has been the result of the growing environmental awareness in industrialized countries, due to the problems derived from the collection of waste and used products or components and their recycling.
The reverse channel of logistics may use all or part of the forward channel of it, or it may require a separate design. The reverse channel must be considered within the scope of logistics planning and control.
Definition of reverse logistics
In this way the concept of reverse logistics arises, which is defined as: “The process that is responsible for the recovery and recycling of containers, packaging and hazardous waste, as well as the processes of return of excess inventories, customer returns, obsolete products and seasonal inventories. "
From a commercial perspective, reverse logistics can be defined as: "The methodology of planning, implementation and efficient control of the effective flow of costs to establish a framework of logistics activities that are carried out from the point of consumption to the point of origin"
Reverse logistics manages the return of goods in the supply chain, in the most effective and economical way possible; is in charge of the recovery and recycling of containers, packaging and hazardous waste; as well as the processes of return of excess inventory, customer returns, obsolete products and seasonal inventories.
The following webinar explains in a comprehensive way what reverse logistics is and the fundamental role it plays in business today. (José Manuel Toledano, UDIMA)
Advantage
The main advantages of the application of reverse logistics are: compliance with environmental legislation, reduction in production costs, savings in the purchase of raw materials, recovery of hard-to-find raw materials, customer service and guarantees, social responsibility and advantage competitive.
Need for reverse logistics
Today, due to environmental issues, social awareness is increasing about the need to reduce the waste we generate. Companies play a key role in this reduction, given that the largest amount of urban solid waste is containers and packaging. This new social thinking of betting on recycling forces companies to develop products and processes that consider from the beginning the chain of repercussions that it will have on the environment at the end of its life cycle.
Large companies contribute enormously to pollution, half of the waste derives from small and large companies. Hence the need to promote sustainable development in large companies and reduce pollution generated in production plants by determining the impacts derived from their products and services.
To achieve this, effective tools must be made available to companies: reverse logistics management systems, easy and quick to implement, that do not increase their production costs.
Multiple problems or inconveniences have also been detected in the last links of the logistics chain, which are the distribution of finished products, sale and delivery of finished products to consumers, causing increased costs for the organization.
Some of the problems raised in the last links are:
- Out of time delivery of finished products to customers Incomplete order delivery Badly packed products Broken products
Application of reverse logistics
In the order management and distribution reference manual, from the consulting firm PWC, it is explained that this is a costly part of the supply chain, since it requires companies to dedicate adequate resources to control these activities in which companies must Consider barriers to replacing items immediately, such as stock availability or the time it will take to ship them.
Likewise, to carry out an efficient management of reverse logistics, organizations need warehouses that support bidirectional movements of products and specific facilities for these activities.
Both US and European companies, which have implemented reverse logistics, include all possible recovery activities. Resale, touch-ups, remanufacturing, donation, recycling and reuse of parts.
Depending on the generation of the products and their form, there are certain levels of opportunities such as the one focused on the green sector, however, it is clarified that this is not done because the company is "green" but because in the end it has to be good for the business area.
The issue is how to design products so that these, from the field of action, without having to be transported, can be adapted to new technologies.
An application of reverse logistics in car batteries is presented below (Portuguese).
Social responsability
A few decades ago, the responsibility for demanding fair and environmentally sustainable products rested exclusively with the consumer's purchasing decisions. Currently, the company is the one who must ensure that its products maintain a balance between an efficient development model and a sustainability model from an environmental and social point of view.
The Corporate Social Responsibility programs in companies seek a balance and mutual reinforcement between economic growth, social development and environmental sustainability, in relation to the internal and external internet groups of the company.
Corporate social responsibility responds to the attitude that the company maintains in the face of demands made by stakeholders and society, related to:
- The activity of the company Its social costs The expansion of its objectives in relation to its social function.
All of this has a number of important implications:
- It supposes a transformation of the form of government of the company, since it moves from a bilateral relationship to another multilateral It modifies the decision process by adding social criteria It must be applied voluntarily
Socially Responsible Company (ESR)
The following video makes a clear presentation of the characteristics of a socially responsible company.
conclusion
A change in logistics philosophy is required, there are very few companies that have modified their supply chain to allow the application of reverse logistics, it can produce many advantages, including a saving of approximately 5% by collection of containers and packaging. It can even be a market niche that generates an extra income or, where appropriate, to capture raw material for recycling, there are many economic advantages.
Now with the exponential growth that the production of garbage has had and the degree of contamination in which the planet is found, the application of reverse logistics would contribute and benefit our planet. We must bear in mind that it is a methodology that when applied to the company will have its operations manual to create its methodology.
Bibliography
- Logistics. Supply chain management 5th edition. Ronald H. Ballou Logistics Engineering. 7th Benjamin S. BlanchardLogistics and commercial management. Juan Miguel Gomez.
