Reverse Logistics and Recall Management
03-01-2010
By Howard Aughinbaugh
We had the opportunity this week to help yet another client effectively manage a major recall. No matter how many times I see it, I’m still amazed at how quickly the 200,000 square feet of shelves in our returns facility can fill up. Millions of units poured into our warehouse from consumers, retailers, and distributors. Each unit was processed, recorded, and appropriately marked as having been permanently removed from the supply chain.
That, in a nutshell, is the recall process.
Most products and processes are designed with a specific purpose in mind. In a good design, form should always follow function. For example, as an avid cyclist, I enjoy the specialized design elements of my bicycle. The titanium alloy used in its construction makes the bicycle’s frame very light, yet very strong. Its sleek, aerodynamic form cheats the wind. Each element serves a specific purpose, helping the bicycle, and the rider, move very fast in a forward direction.
But don’t try to spin the pedals backward. Nothing will happen. The bike was never designed to go in reverse.
Manufacturing plants and distribution processes are designed in just the same way. The process of turning raw materials into finished products and then delivering them to distributors, wholesalers, dealers, retailers and ultimately the consumer is designed to be fast and efficient. The management of that system is what we call logistics. But none of those systems was ever designed to be run in reverse.
During a recall, it is critical that a company understand and implement effective reverse logistics, or find someone who can help. As a start, manufacturers should be able to do the following quickly at any time of day during the normal production of goods:
- Identify each member of the supply chain and whether or not they received recalled products.
- Create recall notifications that will tell the supply chain where and how to return the product.
- Be prepared to help supply chain partners execute these returns quickly and efficiently.
- Receive and identify returned products as affected or non-affected and isolate affected products that must be removed from commerce.
- Account for every item returned and record the critical data needed to provide credits to the supply chain and report to the government regulators.
Understanding your company’s strengths and weaknesses in reverse logistics is as important as understanding what makes your business work in the first place.
Stericycle ExpertRECALL™ is the industry leader in recall logistics and regulatory compliance for consumer product, pharmaceutical, medical device, juvenile product, and food and beverage recalls. ExpertRECALL’s professionals are experts in recall management who can help you streamline the entire product recall process.
[...] their skills actually turn out some decent results. Unfortunately, some businesses approach recall management and recall logistics in a similar fashion, usually with less successful results. Typically with recalls there are two [...]