Building self-organizing logistics systems Prospects for reverse logistics

Due to the significant growth in manufacturing environment disruptions and customer demand variability, logistics services have concurrently witnessed a disturbing increase in customer returns as part of the reverse logistics system. This paper proposes the use of the Vanguard Method approach for logistics services design that can reduce reverse logistics caused by forward logistics inefficiencies. A case study of a UK manufacturing company has been undertaken using semi-structured interviews and observations. The results show that the Vanguard Method has a direct impact on reducing reverse logistics by building a self-organizing logistics system that learns from reverse logistics cases analysis and continuous customer demand analysis. The value of this paper is the incorporation of forward logistics systems design with reduced reverse logistics in a manufacturing setting by transferring the customer knowledge across the boundaries of the firm throughout the supply chain to enhance logistics function.