Maximizing Performance at Your Reverse Logistics Operations
by Paul Rupnow
How do you monitor the pulse of your Reverse Logistics operations? How do you monitor your Returns processing activity? What measurements do you use to benchmark and improve your performance?
Successful Reverse Logistics performance requires more than a few month end reports. In this article we look at ways to maximize your Reverse Logistics performance by:
- Developing an Operational Framework to analyze your Reverse Logistics
- Designing Reverse Logistics monitoring and measurement techniques specific to your operations
- Looking at the best practices, goals and benchmarks that several leading companies, like Nintendo, use to maximize their Reverse Logistics performance.
According to a new survey commissioned by eBay, nearly 60 percent of Americans receive unwanted gifts during the holidays. Last holiday season, an estimated $13.2 billion in holiday gifts were returned to retailers – more than a third of the $36 billion reverse logistics market in the U.S. These figures pose several questions and challenges. What becomes of these products? How do retailers cope with the management of these items? Are customers unsatisfied? Unfortunately, for some companies the answers are anyone's guess. For others, these answers are quite clear. 
Despite the fact that the UK Government has postponed its long-awaited introduction of the WEEE Directive, there are still plenty of issues for exporters in the US electronics industry to address, says Paul James, of DHL's environmental compliance solutions.
