90 likes | 295 Views
Commercial Returns. 8803 Business and the Environment Beril Toktay College of Management Georgia Institute of Technology. Growing Problem of Commercial Returns. The value of commercial product returns now exceeds $100 billion annually in the US ( Stock, Speck and Shear, 2002 )
E N D
Commercial Returns 8803 Business and the Environment Beril Toktay College of Management Georgia Institute of Technology
Growing Problem of Commercial Returns • The value of commercial product returns now exceeds $100 billion annually in the US (Stock, Speck and Shear, 2002) • Commercial product returns: Products returned for any reason within 90 days of purchase. • Policy of most US retailers: Full returns no question asked!! • Return rates: 6% to 15% (Dekker and Van der Laan, 2003) • Mail order companies and e-tailers: as high as 35%
Time Value of Product Returns • Loss in asset value significant • Downgraded to a lower value product • Refurbished/remanufactured/parts/scrapped • Losses due to time delays • Deterioration of value in time • Forced downgrading due to obsolescence
Time Value of Product Returns Marginal value of time: How much value is lost per unit time? Low MVT (e.g. power tools) High MVT (e.g. PCs, fashion apparel, cell phones)
Reverse Supply Chain Design • Most reverse supply chains are designed for efficiency • There is a trade-off between speed and efficiency
Efficient Reverse Chain Centralizes credit issuance, testing, sorting and grading.
Responsive Reverse Chain Preliminary testing and sorting is done in a decentralized fashion
Reverse Supply Chain Design Responsive chain Efficient chain Low MVT High MVT
Managerial recommendations • Treat returns as perishable assets • Elevate priority of reverse chain • Make time a performance metric • Make the product’s time-value a key design variable • Use technology to achieve speed at lower cost