This paper gives an overview of scientific literature that describes and discusses cases of reverse logistics activities in practice. Over sixty case studies are considered. Based on these studies we are able to indicate critical factors for the practice of reverse logistics. In addition we...

Reuse practices contribute to the environmental and economical sustainability of production and distribution systems. Surprisingly, reuse closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) have not been widely researched for the moment. In this paper, we explore the scientific literature on reuse and we propose a...

In this paper we define and compare Reverse Logistics definitions. We start by giving an understanding framework of Reverse Logistics: the why-what-how. By this means, we put in context the driving forces for Reverse Logistics, a typology of return reasons, a classification of products,...

Products which are sold through E-commerce or mail sales catalogues tend to have a much higher return rate than traditional products. The returns are especially problematic for seasonal products. To support decision making in these situations we study various options, which may be considered as...

Reverse logistics, that is, all operations related to the reuse of used products, excess inventory and packaging materials, gain increasing attention globally both for their promising financial potentials, the sustainable growth alternative they offer and the environmental positive impact they...

Within the framework of reverse logistics, the classic economic lot-sizing problem has been extended with a remanufacturing option. In this extended problem, known quantities of used products are returned from customers in each period. These returned products can be remanufactured, so that they...

We analyze a newsboy problem with resalable returns. A single order is placed before the selling season starts. Purchased products may be returned by the customer for a full refund within a certain time interval. Returned products are resalable, provided they arrive back before the end of the...

Increased uncertainty is one of the characteristics of product recovery networks. In particular the strategic design of their logistic infrastructure has to take uncertain information into account. In this paper we present stochastic programming based approaches by which a deterministic location...

We address the dynamic lot sizing problem for systems with product returns. The demand and return amounts are deterministic over the finite planning horizon. Demands can be satisfied by manufactured/procured new items, but also by remanufactured returned items. The objective is to determine...

In this paper we present a new distribution concept called ‘floating stocks’, which uses intermodal transport to deploy inventories in a supply chain in advance of retailer demand. Supplying part of the demand directly by road compensates the longer transit time of this transport. First an...