Achieving desired objectives is a challenging and formidable task for any logistics or supply chain manager. Successful firms will be those that identify and utilize new, innovative, and

value added approaches to logistics and supply chain management. a) Genco, a third party logistics provider and returns specialist, operates 94 facilities in the United States and Canada with a combined 26.3 million square feet of space. At its high-tech returns processing centers, technicians and testers perform what the company calls a value inspection process, to determine the most cost-effective means for disposition of all types of goods. After deciding which goods falls under warranty. and those which are covered by other business rules or contract provisions between the retailer and manufacturer, a disposition channel is chosen and the goods are sent along conveyors to the right staging area. Genco remains to be a company with successful return management. (1) In your opinion, what special challenges and opportunities has Genco grabbed in ensuring its success in reverse logistics? (ii) What careful considerations might have been taken Genco in ensuring their success? (10 marks) b) Figure 1 below depicts a generic form of forward/reverse logistics. Sale Ditution Reser Customer 1 Returns Recovery Used Products Rot Evalu Waste Disposal Forward Reverse aste Figure 1: A generic form of forward/reverse logistics (Reference: Tonanont, A., Yimsiri , S., Jitpitaklert, W., & Rogers, K.J. (2008). Performance evaluation in reverse logistics with data envelopment analysis. In: Proceedings of the 2008 Industrial Engineering Research Conference (pp. 764769)). (1) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having both forward and reverse logistics processes under the same network. (ii) Based on Figure 1, list a possible objective function and the possible constraints for a reverse logistics process. (10 marks)