Linking Forward Supply Chain Performance with Reverse Supply Chain Returns

Reverse logistics (RL) has been stretching worldwide, involving all the layers of supply chains in various industry sectors. Efficient RL operations are mandatory for organizational sustenance. Since returns are typically characterized by uncertainties in quality, quantity and time, they pose a greater challenge to manage efficiently. In addition to this, the issue gets complicated when there is a great deal of variation from returned materials. In this paper, we develop methods to extract useful information from the reverse supply chain (RSC) for feeding the forward supply chain (FSC). Specifically, we categorize the return reasons according to the supply chain actor who was responsible for the return. For a given actor, we perform a "cause and effect" analysis and enlist the possible return reasons. We suggest recommendations on how to use this information as a feedback to FSC. The implication of this feedback is two-fold (1) It will increase the performance of the FSC and (2) It will minimize the number of products that enter the RSC in the future