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1、A review of reverse logisticsAreviewofreverselogisticsWangBeiandSunLinyanAbstractTheimpactofeconomicsandenvironmentalstatuteshascausedanewsetofgenericissuesinreverselogistics.Theotherchallengesinthisfieldhavebeencausedbytherapiddevelopmentofe-commerce,theboomofonlineretailers,andthelike.Again,compan
2、iesbearenormouslossesfromhugereturnedprod-uctsduetoliberalreturnpolicies.Inordertoaddcustomersvalue,improvetherelationshipwithcustomersandstrengthenacompanyscompetitivead-vantages,thereisaneedforcompaniestofindwaysofhowtoreducewastesandrecoverthevaluefromusedproductsforfurtherutilities.Likewise,retu
3、rnedproductsalsoneedtobeaptlymanaged.Allthesechallengesmakereverselo-gisticsacontemporaryareaofinterestamongmanagersandresearchersofthisfield.First,itisproposedthattheemergenceofreverselogisticsemanatesfromenvironmentalconcernsandeconomicaldrives.Theconnotationofreverselo-gisticsisgiveninanarrowanda
4、broadsenses.Thedifferencesbetweenreverselogisticsandtraditionalforwardlogistics;andgreenlogisticsandclosed-loopsupplychainareanalyzed.Moreover,reverselogisticsdistinctcharacteristicssuchas:highuncertaintiesofsupplyontime,quantityandquality;complexi-tiesofrecoveryoptionsandimplementingbarriersarepoin
5、tedoutinthispaper.Next,usingthequalitativeandthequantitativecasestudyanalyses,thebasictenetsofmanagerialandoperationalpracticesofreverselogisticsarediscussedindetailinthispaper.Mathematicalmodelshavealsobeenintroducedtoagreatextent.Finally,thepaperconcludesbystatingpossibledirectionsforfurtherinvest
6、igationsonthissubject.M.S.C.2000:90B06Keywords:reverselogistics,recoveryoptions,reuse,remanufacturing,recycling.1IntroductionReverselogisticsdealswiththeprocessesassociatedwiththereversestreamfromownerstore-users.Itencompassesallthelogisticactivitiesfromusedproductsnolongerrequiredbytheuserstoproduc
7、tsagainusableinamarket.Thenotionreversedenotesthatthedirectionofphysicalflowinreverselogisticsisoppositetotheconventionalforwardsupplychain.Thispaperprovidesareviewandcontentanalysisofscientificliteratureofreverselogisticscasestudiesandmathematicsmodels.Alargenumberofreferencesarequoted.Itisbelieved
8、thatprospectivereadersofthispaperwillobtainacomparativelypanoramicanddeepunderstandingofreverselogistics.AppliedSciences,Vol.7,2005,pp.16-29.?cBalkanSocietyofGeometers,GeometryBalkanPress2005.Areviewofreverselogistics172BackgroundofReverseLogistics2.1EnvironmentalConcernsInthepastdecades,duetodwindl
9、inglandfillandincinerationcapacitiesandgrowingenvironmentalconcerntothelimitednaturalresources,wastereductionhasbecomesaprimarychallengeforindustrializedcountries.Moreandmoreenvironmentallegisla-tionsareimposedontheOEM(originalequipmentmanufacturer)totakecorrespond-ingresponsibilityforthewholelifecy
10、cleoftheirproducts18.InmanyEuropeancountries,producersarerequiredtotakebackpackagingfromtheircustomers.IntheU.S.,localandstategovernmentsareoftenresponsiblefortherecyclingpackaging48.IntheEU,theWEEE(wastefromelectricalandelectronicequipment)directiverequiresendoflifeequipmenttobecollectedforrecovery
11、,recyclingandreusebyend200344.2.2EconomicalDrivesNowadays,thegreenimagehasbeenincreasinglyrecognizedasanimportantmar-ketingelement.Similarly,properrecoveryoptionssuchasdirectreuseorremanu-facturingmayheeconomicallyattractivebecausetheybringrealbenefitsinsomeoccasions18.Coupledwiththerapiddevelopment
12、ofe-commerceandtheboomofonlineretailersandthemailingbusiness.Andinordertoattractmorepotentialcustomers,liberalreturnpolicieshavebeenwidelyadoptedpanieshavetobearenormouslossesfromhugereturnedproductsofcustomers.Accordingtoestimates,reverselogisticscostsintheU.S.exceeded37billiondollarsin1999,whichon
13、averageaccountforapproximately4percentoftotallogisticscosts.ThisalsomeansthecostsofreverselogisticsareestimatedtobeonehalfofthepercentageofthetotalU.S.GDP.Thesize,scope,andimpactofreverselogisticsvarybyindustryandchannelpositionaswellasbythetypeofdistributionchannel.However,itisclearthattheoverallam
14、ountofreverselogisticsactivitiesandcostsarelargeandstillgrowing.Andproductreturnshavealargeproportionofreverseactivitieswithanaverageof6percentofthesales,althoughthisvariesfromindustrytoindustryandfromseasontoseason.Forexample,duringthe1999holidayseason,approximately25percentofallon-linepurchaseswer
15、ereturned54,47.Thechallengesofhowtoreducewastesandrecoverthevaluefromusedprod-uctsforfurtherutilityandhowtomanagereturnedproducts,addcustomersvalue,improvetherelationshipwithcustomersandstrengthenacompanyscompetitiveadvantages,makereverselogisticsbecomeacontemporaryareaoffocusamongman-agersandresear
16、chersofthisfield.3ConnotationsofReverseLogisticsConnotationsofreverselogisticsdatesbackto1992.TheconceptionofreverselogisticswasdefinedbyCLM(CouncilofLogisticsManagement)as:Theroleoflogisticsinrecycling,wastedisposal,andmanagementofhazardousmaterials;abroaderperspectiveincludedallrelatingtologisticsactivitiescarriedoutinsourcereduction,recycling,substitution,reuseofmaterialsanddisposal8.18WangBeiandSunLinyanReferringtotheCouncilofLogisticsManagementsdefinition
