Reverse logistics services are designed to move goods from their point of consumption to an end point to capture value or properly dispose products and materials. It deals with the collection of goods, transporting them to a central location, and sorting them according to where their final destination will be. At this point, the materials and products may be sent back to manufacturing, or be reused, refurbished, or recycled. Reverse logistics can help close the loop of product life cycles, and transition to a circular economy. Here’s what you need to know about these value-added services in logistics within the supply chain.
Waste Elimination, Recovery, and Recycling
Recovering and recycling product is vital to reducing waste. Waste must be eliminated from the beginning of the product design, and at subsequent stages so that a brand has a smaller carbon footprint. Customers nowadays are exposed to more information about the consequences of too much product waste on the environment. If you want to establish a strong relationship with your environmentally-conscious customers, and if you want to save money by reusing and recycling your own products, this will be an important aspect for you to implement into your business. By having an efficient reverse logistics system in place, you will be able to handle customer returns especially during the busy holidays, and you will be able to have solutions for how to reuse returned products.
User Involvement
Users should always be included in reverse logistics. For example, to get products back, companies can use an incentive to get their users to return end-of-use and end-of-life products. Lush, for example, exchanges empty cosmetics containers from its customers for new products. These empty pots are then recycled into new ones. This benefits companies twofold: First, it sends a message to customers and competitors that the brand is considerate of the environment and strives to reduce waste. Secondly, it allows the company to profit as much as possible by reusing its own products and materials to repurpose them, thus extending their value.
Reverse Logistics: Required to Close the Circular Loop
To close the circular loop within the supply chain, companies should set up a successful reverse logistics strategy. Businesses should evaluate their entire system, looking at the wider business model and the design phase to make sure that products and materials can be reused, remanufactured, recycled, or repaired. If customers are sending products back to your warehouse that cannot be recovered in any way, you will lose value significantly. This is especially important during the holiday season for e-commerce businesses. Sometimes customers purchase a product online, and when it arrives they realize it is not what they wanted. In these cases, they may choose to return the product back to the company. If you cannot reuse, remanufacture, repair, or recycle the product or material, your business will suffer.
Get Help from Lean Supply Solutions
If you are looking for efficient third-party logistics service providers to help you set up a reverse logistics strategy before the holidays, give Lean Supply Solutions a call. We make ourselves aware of the rising trends and changes in the supply chain and always strive to stay up to speed, especially during the holiday season. We are committed to being aware of our clients’ operational challenges as they arise and help them get the most out of their processes. Our 3PL, packaging, product fulfilment, supply chain management, and contract logistics services in Ontario can streamline your processes for better success. Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results by striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, while saving you money. To learn more about outsourcing to our 3PL distribution team, or to ask any questions, contact us at 416-748-8982.
