No / This research aims to conduct an exploratory analysis into current industrial reverse
logistics practice in business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer relationships (B2C), and
determine the financial and operational impact of customer non-compliance in returning distribution
equipment back to their source.
The analysis was conducted over multiple industry sectors
using qualitative research techniques. The research sample included seven industry sectors,
providing a response rate of 72 per cent (53 sources approached). The focus was on both B2B and
B2C relationships to determine similarities and differences in financial and operational repercussions.
The research findings indicate that the efficacy of the reverse logistics system can be
undermined by lack of customer compliance, with losses of up to £140 million (B2B).
In both B2B and B2C relationships, there is evidence of
suppliers suffering financial loss due to customer non-compliance. Due to the small scale of the
analysis and the breadth of the industry sectors investigated, these results are not generalisable, but
do indicate that this is an area, which could undermine supply chain effectiveness.
Practical implications – Non-compliance of this nature carries a direct and highly applicable cost
for manufacturers and distributors in the practitioner arena. Suppliers within industry need to
acknowledge this issue and manage their reverse logistics more effectively.
This paper adopts an innovative focus on an understated feature of the reverse
logistics cycle, i.e. the recycling of distribution equipment used to transport outbound and returned
products. The paper identifies a range of options, which practitioners can use as guidance when
managing the returns system.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/7203 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Breen, Liz |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, No full-text in the repository |
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