Reverse logistics and competitiveness

The subject of the recycling and of the rational utilisation of the resources is at present one of the worries all over the world that is in his starts and that pretend to promote through this reflection directed so much to the students as to the professionals to contribute with the environingingment and to his time the reduction of costs and generation of employments.

Pretend to urge to my kind readers to think that recycling no only is saving, already of by himself well in himself same, but much more important in profit, business and also social.

The chain of supplies finds between the most complex functions and important inside the organisations, with which in the actuality is essential that all company was focused in guaranteeing that the performance of the chain of supply bear the aims of his business.

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The new vision of the chain of current supplies has to englobar different areas of competition: strategy, planning, management of the cycle of life of the product, operations, management of active, logistical and, to conclude, applications and technology.

Summary in five the main challenges to which confronts the chain of supply that has to characterise for being technologically ready and interconnected: Containment of costs, visibility of the chain, management of the risk, customers more demanding and globalisation.

Exist companies devoted to the technology that are very interested in this new stage of the chain of supply. They want to offer help to the companies to adapt to this new surroundings, by means of the manufacturing of processes more efficient that reduce the costs, supplying programs that bear these processes.

Adapt to the phenomenon of the globalisation is fundamental in these moments, since as it is occurring, the world is changing and the processes of production of Western Europe and EE UU are diminishing, while they displace to Asia, to the emergent countries.

The networks of intelligent supply will need as a result of this increasing deslocalización of the markets be more efficient since in the actuality have not achieved his aim of reduction of costs with the globalisation.

Nowadays, the companies lack a complete visibility of all that that becomes in his chain of supply and this is a problem that it is necessary to solve. The new version of the chain of supply will require of a greater connectivity, collaboration and integration of processes of network of partners to improve the visibility. Between the best practical that the companies are carrying out to improve his visibility, stands out the planning with providers, the reaprovisionamiento continuous with customers or the electronic information shared in real time.

The majority of the companies considers that the operational risk is every time greater, positioning in the second of his challenges, after the containment of costs. The management of risks is every time a more important worry and the companies leaders schedule the chain of supply taking into account the risks a priori, thanks to technologies that monitor them continuously.

The customers also have changed, and every time are more demanding, but the majority of the companies does not listen his demands, in spite of the evident need of interaction between both, and a high percentage designs his products listening exclusively to his providers. The vision of future poses to listen to the customer like a priority during all the cycle of life of the product, from his conception until his delivery to the customer.

The containment of costs is the activity that the majority of the companies is centring , especially in these moments of crisis.

Although the chains of supply will not be viable if they do not take into account the environingingment, only for a third of the directors is a challenge in these moments, by what is necessary to change the mentality.

In conclusion, an executive with vision of future and global vision has to be as a director of orchestra that direct all the available resources and optimise all the process. It has to of the same it forms to govern so much his different areas as in the different countries where was present and do of bridge with other departments of the company to be ranged with the global strategy of the company.

A company possesses a competitive advantage when has some differential characteristic concerning his competitors, that confers him the capacity to reach some upper performances to them, of sustainable way in the time. The competitive advantage consists in one or more characteristic of the company, that can manifest of very diverse forms. A competitive advantage can derive so much of a good image, of an additional provision of a product, of a privileged location or simply of a more reduced price that the one of the rivals.

This peculiarity has to be differential, that is to say, has to be only. In the moment in that the competitors possess it leaves to be an advantage. The competitive advantage awards to the company a position of partial monopoly.

In summary could say that so that an advantage was competitive has to be, difficult to equalise, only, possible to keep, netamente upper to the competition and applicable to miscellaneous situations.

Now well, ask us if implement systems of reverse logistics is a competitive advantage or a need?

In the recovery of the products out of use (PFU) is, in principle, an activity sued by the society and that has generated the development of a legislation that the companies see forced to fulfil, by what need to participate or develop systems for the efficient management of this type of activities.

Personally defend the idea that the systems of reverse logistics contribute to improve the capacity to generate competitive advantages that has the logistical function in the company, by what this initial need can transform in a potential advantage.

Michael Porter and his competitive strategy, in which it develops us said theory in which it explains that they exist three basic types of competitive advantages, as they are: the leadership in costs, differentiation and approach to niche.

In brief can define each one of these advantages, according to the above-mentioned author (Porter, 1982):

• Leadership in costs, which bases in having the lowest costs of the sector in which it finds the organisation, but the condition is that the product has to have a similar quality or equivalent to the one of the product of the competition.
• Differentiation, refers to that a company has like mission be only in his sector using and managing his dimensions that are widely valued by the buyers, devoting to satisfy these needs.
• Approach to niche, that is when the company elije a specific market inside a determinate sector, with which the company looks for to centre his strategy to offer his product or loan his services to these determinate customers excluding to others looking for a competitive advantage in his segment and no in all the market.

The achievement of competitive advantages through the reverse logistics will depend, to a large extent, of the form as it recover the value that conserve the products given back, refused by the consumer or out of use, in general, that flow in shape reverse. The recovery of these products has like main aim the take advantage of this value, obtaining with this an economic profitability and, to his time, achieving sustainable competitive advantages. The activities that took into account like option of management, when being actions directed to recover value, are at the same time opportunities to create or keep a competitive strategy.

Is impossible to frame the reverse logistics inside one of these strategies exclusively, since the potential profits that this represents are “mixed”, that is to say, the results are positive in more than an appearance. But, in general, this tool seems to be contained mayormente inside the concept of differentiation.

The research of the aprovechamiento of the relations with the customer and what this can cater to the company, as it sonproductos out of use, well are wished or no wished, will be able to be, then, an important aim in the strategy of the organisations that pretend to establish as differentiated.

One of the main put of a competitive strategy is the create a so strong bow with the customer, that was them difficult or little profitable do the change to another provider.

A service to the customer improved is one of the reasons to implement a strategy of reverse logistics, the handle of returns is an important part of the service to the customer. If the consumer presents evidences of inconformidad, when being attended with the respect that deserves and offer him a just solution, is very likely that arrive to feel much better with the company, even that if it had obtained a product of quality and never had had to interactuar with the manufacturer, that is to say, did not have the opportunity to establish a relation any with this.