Reverse Logistics and the Circular Economy

Examining The Secondary Market Panel Discussion

Presentation by Tony Sciarrotta, Executive Director of RLA at Home Delivery World 2017 in Atlanta Georgia. The Final Mile Hangover: Reverse Logistics

Keynote Presentation

Lenovo computers is transforming its culture by implementing Bold Work Out throughout its organizations with demonstrated measurable and sustainable results of greater than 80% in process efficiencies and organizations that think “as one”. The Lenovo team will be sharing their expertise of the world-wide implementation from manufacturing to sales, results, successes, cultural implications, leadership growth and engagement of the employees. Mario Bofill, Western Operations, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and , Lenovo

Increasingly the IT industry Manufacturing, Engineering and Supply Chain Executives are challenging their traditional corporate policies in regard to the reuse of used components in new system manufacture. It is the substantial (80%+) hard cash savings achieved by fulfilling manufacturing supply chain or spares inventory demand from used parts recovered from returned systems, that is driving the broader adoption of this corporate discipline. The potential cost savings are just too large to ignore, particularly as IT hardware margins are under increasing pressure. 

Mike Higgins, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Wisetek Solutions Limited

This case study will address a major transformation that took place at SUN Microsystems following the acquisition by Oracle in 2009, and how a traditional supply chain was modernized to create a high performance value network including the reverse logistics, flow of highly valuable information and the needs of partners. Benefits achieved from this transformation were over $100Million. This is a story worth hearing, sharing and considering for your organization. Stephen Slade, Senior Director, Industries Marketing, Oracle

While Money-Back-Guarantee (MBG) return policies are common in practice, the academic literature provides little guidance on the value, if any, that consumers assign to such a policy. For online retailers, both shipping charges and seller reputation may influence the perceived value of MBGs. A non-refundable forward shipping charge is likely to be perceived by consumers as an implicit restocking fee and hence, decreases the value of an MBG policy. On the other hand, good customer feedback may signal that MBGs will be handled easily, thus increasing their value in the eyes of consumers. To investigate the value of MBGs in the online context, we collect the final selling prices of identical consumer electronics products offered by different vendors (with different return policies) on eBay auctions. We estimate that offering an MBG policy for online consumer electronics increases a customer's valuation of a product by an average of 5.2%, which is significantly influenced by both seller reputation and shipping charges. Our results provide an empirical measure of the value of an MBG that can be weighed against the cost implications of providing such a policy. Mark Ferguson, Professor of Management Science, University of South Carolina

CASE STUDY: Operational Improvements of the Computer Refurbishing Process William Romano, Field Application Engineer, SoftThinks

The APSRG's newest report lays out clear recommendations for how government can ensure the UK maximises the economic and environmental potential of improved remanufacturing standards and practices. Laura Owen, Manager, APSRG, Policy Connect

In operations in general, and more specifically in customer support and services, we are asked to be more and more efficient (deliver more with less), but, at the same time, provide a great customer experience to keep happy and loyal customers. During this brief presentation, we will discuss how it is possible to significantly increase Customer Satisfaction at a lower Cost. Francesc Gomila, Manager, WUR Central Business Operations, Hewlett-Packard

Managing return product flow is one of the area that it is becoming progressively important to the success of supply chain firms because the volume of the products, the worth of the products the costs of activities and the intrinsic value for the customers For example one of the dimension that it is becoming more relevant in customer satisfaction is the area of returns management, in the same time less attention on the process and liberal returns policy mean more returns, more processing, and thus more expenses incurred. Moreover poorly managed processes can impact a company’s brand reputation, sustainability impact and profitability. Product returns have too often been the forgotten step-child of business strategy, as they seemingly represent the antithesis of what a company is about: selling goods and services to customers Returns represent a puzzling situation: on the marketing side, after sales policy are part of the customer satisfaction policy. But on the operations and logistics side, those policy might mean more returns across the supply chain. Yet many firms fail to manage the reverse flow of products well because they do not understand the value-creating potential of effective and efficient returns management. During the seminar will be presented an international research with also the colleagues Diane Mollenkopf and Robert Frankel on the phenomenon of returns management in a business-to-business context from a managerial perspective, employing an in-depth case study approach with a very large sample of firms in Italy, United States and Australia. The purpose of the international sample was to identify commonalities and differences in returns management practices in different operating environments. Firms need to develop competitive capabilities that will enable them to thrive in a challenging world. Improved RM is more necessary than in the past because it represents a virtual greenfield opportunity for creating value that is likely not replicated easily or well by your competition. Ivan Russo, Phd, Verona University

This presentation will talk about Dells journey to listen and operationalize efforts to improve the customer experience. This change is as much cultural as it is process driven. We will touch on how we measure our business and the inputs that helped us achieve improved performance through the customers eyes. SPEAKERS: Timmy O'Dwyer, Executive Director, Emea Service Parts, Dell, Inc. Helene Dupeux, Emerging Operations Director, Dell, Inc.

Doug Schmitt, VP and General Manager for Dell’s Global Support and Deployment, will talk about past, present, and future trends and how Dell is innovating the Supply Chain. He will cover customer needs as well as key performance indicators including customer experience; cost & savings; and productivity. Douglas Schmitt, Vice President, Dell, Inc.

iRobot has participated and in many ways led the birth of a new industry: Robotics. Don Patch will provide details about how iRobot’s industry-leading robots improve lives. iRobot views the Reverse Logistics process as an opportunity to learn how our robots have performed and to identify where we need to improve product design/performance. Don will discuss how both product and process design have contributed to a reverse logistics process that is more efficient, enables the capture of important information and ultimately has led to more reliable and more innovative robots. Finally Don will discuss iRobot’s assessment of progress to date and planned next steps in the reverse process. Don Patch, Director of Global Logistics, iRobot Corporation

Current State of the U.S. Electronics Recycling Industry Eric Harris, Assoc Counsel Director International Gov Affairs, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries

Six years after Cisco Inc. embarked in a major foundational changes in the Reverse Logistics space to streamline its processes and created a world class, end-to-end global business model, Mauricio will present to you the current on-going process and results on how we recover, reuse and resale channel returns products. Cisco today have a consistent, scalable and reliable global RL process with connected system(s) for Inbound Logistics, Receiving/Disposition, Inventory Management and resale of returned products. We had fulfilled the vision set in 2007, which was unlock value from Cisco product returns by maximizing recovery and revenue in a sustainable green environmental approach. Mauricio Salinas, RL Program Manager, Cisco

This session will highlight the key trends in the reverse logistics space as revealed through Aberdeen Group’s annual research agenda. Along with best practices in Reverse Logistics, this session will also explore the state of the overall service market; detailing how organizations differentiate through service, drive revenue streams, and efficiently exceed customer expectations. Aly Pinder Jr, Research Analyst, Aberdeen Group

This presentation will explore a refurbishing process which has proven "tried and true" since its implementation. This will cover process standardization and real time systems integration with 3PL's utilizing EDI between third party systems and the SAP environment in an effort to maximize refurbished good value, improve lead time and overall accuracy and cut costs. Jason Kollarik, Assistant Manager - Operations and Returns, Samsung

This presentation will cover the changing dynamics in todays supply chain. We will progress through industry trends, market conditions, and evolving customer expectations. Innovation in this space will define how companies manage cost, deliver to customers, and refine approaches around sustainable solutions. Thomas Maher, Vice President, Global Service Parts, Dell, Inc.