Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - April 2008 - (Page 59)

many if-then decisions, the job shouldn’t be outsourced. Reverse Logistics While outsourcing is usually adopted to improve manufacturing, sourcing, distribution, sales or some forward-looking aspect of a company’s business, Schneiderman advises companies not to overlook reverse logistics. He sees a huge opportunity for outsourcing reverse logistics that has only begun to be exploited. Just as forward logistics gradually progressed from storage to transportation to value-added services and information processes, Schneiderman sees a similar pattern with reverse logistics. In its early stages, reverse logistics has largely been about storage and movement, but 3PLs and other outsourcing firms are just beginning to provide more value-added services in this area. Given the globalization of many supply chains, the time is especially ripe for outsourcing reverse logistics. Many companies have manufacturing, either owned or outsourced, around the world, but few have the ability to handle reverse logistics for repair, redistribution or disposal. If a product with significant value needs to be returned, replaced or repair, it usually has to be shipped long distances to a central location. It may have to be shipped again for resale. An outsourced provider can do an initial screen of returned product in order to avoid unnecessary transportation of product to a refurbishing point, perhaps a continent away. A provider with the right IT capabilities can capture information on returned products to help in that process. For example, one global client of TRG says 40 percent of its returns that appear to be perfectly good product are resold locally without returning them all the way back to the repair center. For whatever reason, the product did not meet the customers’ needs. Sometimes, the same product comes back multiple times, but the company does not have the information to recognize that there really is a problem with the item. “A provider can scan the product’s serial number to see if it has ever come back before as a ‘no trouble found’ return,” says Schneiderman. “A good information system will flag that product and direct it into the reverse logistics process for repair or disposal. Otherwise, it can be resold. The provider’s data handling becomes part of the triage process.” Such reverse logistics services are a natural for outsourcing, according to Schneiderman, and various types of providers are candidates for taking advantage of the opportunity. “This opportunity will be fought over by electronic manufacturing services and traditional 3PLs, or these providers could partner,” he says. “Logistics companies are very good at bringing product in and out, but not necessarily dealing with the triage process and all it entails.” To access this article online, visit The Digital Edition at www.SupplyChainBrain.com. Resource Links Equaterra, www.equaterra.com The Results Group, www.resultsgroup.com Menlo Worldwide Logistics, www.con-way.com Pace Harmon, www.paceharmon.com All certified sites are created equal. not These South Carolina certified sites are: certainty to the site selection process. Charlotte shovel-ready, saving industries time and money, adding Each of these certified sites: Augusta is a minimum of 50 acres. has a completed Phase I Environmental Assessment. has municipal water and sewer on site or in close proximity. Hilton Head is certified by third-party Savannah engineering consulting firms. is subject to additional financial incentives. Charleston When an industry chooses a certified site in South Carolina, there are no surprises. Visit SCpowerteam.com today and see why all certified sites are not created equal. Contact Fred Gassaway at Fgassaway@SCpowerteam.com 1201 Main St., Suite 1710 | Columbia, SC 29201 | 803.254.9211 The Electric Cooperatives & Santee Cooper www.SCpowerteam.com www.SupplyChainBrain.com GLOBAL LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES 59 http://www.SupplyChainBrain.com http://www.equaterra.com http://www.resultsgroup.com http://www.con-way.com http://www.paceharmon.com http://www.SCpowerteam.com http://www.SCpowerteam.com http://www.SCpowerteam.com http://www.SCpowerteam.com http://www.SCpowerteam.com http://www.SupplyChainBrain.com

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Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - April 2008 Contents Editorial GL & SCS Exclusive Fast Forward Up Front Cover Story: Continuing to Add Ever More to Their Offerings, 3PLs Are - At Your Service Over the Long Haul Opinion: Freight Audit Bill Can't Show All Mistakes that Hurt the Bottom Line Opinion: The ‘Good-Freight’ and ‘Bad-Freight’ Trucking Customers Industry Voices

Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - April 2008

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