Time value of commercial product returns

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Guide, V. Daniel R.; Souza, Gilvan C.; Van Wassenhove, Luk N.; Blackburn, Joseph D.
• 署名单位: Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; INSEAD Business School; Vanderbilt University
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1060.0522
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 1200-1214
• 关键词: reverse supply chain design; commercial product returns; closed-loop supply chains; time value; queueing models

摘要

Manufacturers and their distributors must cope with an increased flow of returned products from their customers. The value of commercial product returns, which we define as products returned for any reason within 90 days of sale, now exceeds $100 billion annually in-the United States. Although the reverse supply chain of returned products represents a sizeable flow of potentially recoverable assets, only a relatively small fraction of the value is currently extracted by manufacturers; a large proportion of the product value erodes away because of long processing delays. Thus, there are significant opportunities to build competitive advantage from making the appropriate reverse supply chain design choices. In this paper, we present a network flow with delay models that includes the marginal value of time to identify the drivers of reverse supply chain design. We illustrate our approach with specific examples from two companies in different industries and then examine how industry clockspeed generally affects the choice between an efficient and a responsive returns network.