Angelika Kokkinaki

An explanatory study on electronic commerce for reverse logistics

E-commerce for reverse logistics is an area of web applications that has been active and progressing aggressively, especially in the US, though it has not been explicitly recognised until now. It has given reverse logistics in general and especially remanufacturing of parts and re-use of surplus goods an important stimulus. However, existing E-commerce models are rather restricted and represent simply the migration of conventionally practices over the Web.

E-business models for reverse logistics: contributions and challenges

Reverse logistics, i.e. all operations related to the extension of a useful lifecycle for used products, commercial returns, excess inventory and packaging materials, is gaining increasing attention globally for its promising financial potential, its sustainable growth alternatives and the environmentally positive impact that it could have. In this paper, we include a brief discussion of the major reverse logistics issues and we present the new e-business models in this field. We identify key factors for their competitive advantages, and we discuss conceptual and current opportunities for these e-business models to thrive and advance. Finally, we outline some possible future developments of e-commerce tools for reverse logistics.

Information and Communication Technology Enabling Reverse Logistics

In this chapter, we examine how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are being used to support reverse logistics; ICT is the term widely used in a European context instead of IT, which is commonly used in American publications. Focusing on the ICT infrastructure, this chapter does not follow a quantitative approach as does the rest of the book. Nonetheless, the topics covered in this section outline how ICT systems enable and support the quantitative approaches presented in other chapters of this book. Furthermore, this chapter provides a roadmap to the reader about what aspects of reverse logistics are implemented and what remains to be addressed in the future.

A Web-Based Recommender System for end-of-use ICT Products

Original Equipment Manufacturers in the Information and Communication Technology sector have recently started to prioritize management of their returns for several reasons. Effective management of returns is a complicated problem due to the uncertainty related to the quantity, quality, timing and place of origin of returns. Exploring the case of end-of-use PCs, this paper describes a web-based system, namely Reverse Logistics Marketplace, in which the interested parties, delegate tasks related to management of returns to software agents, instead of carrying out physical operations. PC users, interested in returning their PCs or their parts, can access the e-marketplace using the PC in request and call for a “trusted-third-party” agent to perform configuration detection and benchmarking of their PC. Potential buyers can also access the e-marketplace to register their collection requests, regarding either complete PCs or modules of them. Advanced features of the system include the permanent existence of agents in the e-marketplace to learn from conducted transactions, their ability to act proactively to initiate a transaction, and the integration of a multiple-criteria decision support tool that performs a comparative evaluation of the collection requests and recommends the optimal recovery option to the PC users.