In what ways is reverse logistics management more difficult than the management of more typical supply chain flows?

What will be an ideal response?

The reverse logistics operations are considerably different from the forward logistics flows, and considerably more expensive. A firm must establish convenient collection points to receive the used goods from the final customer and transport the goods to a returns processor, which is a facility owned by the manufacturer or outsourced to a supplier that is proficient at disassembling products and gleaning any remaining value from them. Several options exist. If the item is inoperable, it could be repaired and returned to the customer. Another option is that it could be cleaned and refurbished for direct use and returned either to the distribution channel, which is the case with leased products, or back to customers, which is the case with a maintenance warranty. The product could be remanufactured by tearing it down, rebuilding it with new parts as needed, and returning it to the distribution channel. Finally, the product could be completely disassembled and the usable parts and materials cleaned, tested, and returned to the production process. There are two important by-products of the reverse logistics process: waste, which must be properly disposed of, and product information, which is transmitted to the new service/product development process so that improvements can be made to future generations of the product.