آنالیز استراتژی های منظم در زنجیره تامین معکوس: رویکرد TOPSIS فازی Analysing disposition strategies in reverse supply chains: Fuzzy TOPSIS approach

1. Introduction In today’s highly competitive business environment, the success of any business depends to a large extent on the efficiency of the supply chain. Competition has moved beyond firm-to firm rivalry to rivalry between supply chains. Traditionally, businesses have concentrated on improving the forward supply chain for their products (e.g., manufacturer-wholesalerretailer-consumer). However, another important and emerging dimension of successful SCM is the reverse logistics process (Marien, 1988). As the business environment becomes more competitive, it becomes increasingly important for them to concentrate on optimizing the backward loop, as well. Reverse supply chain practices have been in existence for a long time, especially in the automotive industry, where manufacturers try to recover value from recycling car parts. Reverse supply chains differ from forward supply chains in information flow, physical distribution flow and cash flow. To manage reverse supply chain, companies need sophisticated information systems. Some of the technology involved in reverse supply chain is similar while in some areas the technology used differs from that of traditional supply chain. Technology used in reverse supply chain such as real-time inventory tracking system (bar codes and sensors) are similar to that used in the forward supply chain. On the other hand, activities such as repair optimization, slow moving inventory optimization, warranty tracking and de-manufacturing of product is different. In designing a successful reverse supply chain, it is important to know what type of product will be returned at which point in time at which place and in which condition. Hence, importance of data is immense. Tightly integrated automatic data capture, system directed disposition support, unique receipt handling, credit processing, comprehensive and flexible reporting are some of the important functional capabilities in reverse supply chain which can help a company have a competitive edge over its competitors.Reverse supply chain deals with products that have reached their life cycle or the ones returned by the final users, and then aims at best extracting their remaining values by repair, refurbishing, remanufacturing, cannibalization, and recycling ( Thierry et al.,1995) or other activities in order to protect the environment. Furthermore, reverse supply chain management can reduce the negative environmental impacts of waste disposal and resource extraction, and reduce production costs. All these factors will be taken into consideration while designing the operational framework to handle product disposition strategies for effective reverse supply chains. There are few articles on disposition decisions in reverse supply chain (Agrawal et al., 2016a; Agrawal et al., 2016b). The proposed study contributes to the very few studies available on disposition decisions in reverse supply chain. In this article, we’ve defined the reverse supply chain process, the steps involved and how it can be used as a strategic business weapon for organizations by studying the product disposition strategies. Drivers for implementing reverse supply chains are also explored alongwith inherent challenges that a reverse supply chain facessuch as managing customer expectations on returns policies, partnering with other players in the supply chain and handling the mounting pressure from regulatory authorities.