Review
Perspectives in reverse logistics: A review

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Abstract

This paper investigates the current development in research and practice in reverse logistics (RL) through content analysis of the published literature. We have used various web based search engines, books and conference proceedings to locate and review the literature. The review finds that research and practice in RL are focused on all aspects of RL—from collection of used products, their processing and finally to the outputs of processing, namely, recycled materials, spare parts, remanufactured products and waste material disposal. Many of the literature have also focused on case studies on various aspects of RL. The review also shows that mathematical modeling in RL research is mainly focused on deterministic methods and there are limited research papers considering stochastic demand for the remanufactured products and supply of used products by the customer. Also, it is found that the pricing models for acquiring used products are still developing. We believe that the characteristics of RL provided here can help the researchers/practitioners to advance their work in the future.

Introduction

Reverse logistics (RL) has received considerable attention due to potentials of value recovery from the used products. Besides, legislations and directives, consumer awareness and social responsibilities towards environment are also the drivers for RL (Melnyk et al., 1999, Ferrer and Ayres, 2000, Bloemhof and van Nunen, 2005, Ravi and Shankar, 2005, Cooper, 1994, Yang, 1995, Boks et al., 1998, Castell et al., 2004). The growing importance of research in RL has also been highlighted by many authors (see for example, Jones, 1992, New, 1997, Ayres et al., 1997, Handfield and Nichols, 1999). The focus on RL is on waste management, material recovery (recycling), parts recovery or product recovery (through remanufacturing). However, as the recovered products face competition from the new products, the investment on product recovery becomes a risky venture (Horvath et al., 2005). The cost of recovered products can be reduced by optimal locations and allocations of facilities in RL (Ferrer and Whybark, 2000, Prallinski and Kocabasoglu, 2006).

Research on RL has been growing since the Sixties (see, for example, Zikmund and Stanton, 1971, Gilson, 1973, Schary, 1977, Fuller, 1978). Research on strategies and models on RL can be seen in the publications in and after the Eighties. However, efforts to synthesize the research in an integrated broad-based body of knowledge have been limited. Most research focuses only on a small area of RL systems, such as network design, production planning or environmental issues. Fleischmann et al. (1997) studied RL from the perspectives of distribution planning, inventory control and production planning. Carter and Ellram (1998) focused on the transportation and packaging, purchasing and environmental aspects in their review of RL literature. Linton et al. (2007) studied the interactions between sustainability and supply chains by considering environmental issues regarding product design, product life extension and product recovery at end-of-life. Rubio et al. (2008) have also reviewed the literature on RL published between 1995 and 2005 by focusing on management of the recovery, distribution of end-of-life products, production planning and inventory management, and supply chain management issues. The review presented in this paper extends the review to consider important features of reverse logistics such as product acquisition, pricing, collection of used products, RL network structure vis-à-vis the integration of manufacturing, and remanufacturing facilities of location of facilities for inspection and consolidation activity. The literature review covers published research until 2008.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In the next section research methodology is discussed. In Section 3, the result of review is presented. Each section is divided further into subsections to highlight various factors that are important to this research. The paper ends with conclusions and some thoughts on further research.

Section snippets

Review methodology

We have adopted content analysis method for literature review. Content analysis is an observational research method that is used to systematically evaluate the symbolic content of all forms of recorded communication (Kolbe and Brunette, 1991). This method also helps to identify the literature in terms of various categories (Li and Cavusgil, 1995), thereby creating a realm of research opportunities (Berelson, 1952, Krippendorff, 1980, Kolbe and Brunette, 1991). Al-Mashari and Zairi (2000) used

Result of literature review

Major literature on the groups mentioned in Fig. 1 is discussed below.

Conclusions and discussion

The above discussion shows that research in RL is multifaceted and distinguishes itself from forward logistics. The review also shows that research publication on RL is increasing specially after 2005 and therefore it shows the growing recognition of RL as a driver of supply chain and logistics.

We have used content analysis method to show a holistic perspectives of reverse logistics system from inputs to outputs and then to inputs again. The main perspectives that needs to be covered in a RL

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