飞利浦如何处理回收物流.DOCVIP

How Philips Reduced Returns From?the?November/December?2003?issue?of?Supply?Chain?Management?ReviewTONY?SCIARROTTA?Supply?Chain?Management?Review?November?1,?2003?The?answer?to?reducing?the?cost?of?returns?does?not?always?lie?in?improving?your?reverse?logistics?operations.?At?Philips?Consumer?Electronics,?the?returns?management?department?has?focused?on?how?it?can?stop?returns?before?they?even?enter?the?reverse?supply?chain.?By?taking?preventative?steps?such?as?improving?a?product’s?ease?of?use,?enforcing?company?policies,?and?revitalizing?the?service?network,?Philips?has?cut?its?returns?by?more?than?$100?million?per?year.In?1998,?I?was?presented?with?an?opportunity:?head?up?a?returns?management?department?within?Philips?Consumer?Electronics?and?help?lead?efforts?to?control?a?major?cost?driver—product?returns.?At?that?time,?Philips?Consumer?Electronics?had?no?returns?management?department,?and?reverse?logistics?was?not?yet?part?of?the?language?of?most?manufacturers.?But?management?and?Ken?Goins,?the?vice?president/general?manager?of?Philips?Service?Company?who?approached?me?with?the?opportunity,?recognized?that?the?company?was?facing?relatively?high?return?rates.?The?impact?of?those?returns?on?the?bottom?line?was?significant,?amounting?to?tens?of?millions?of?dollars?in?losses.?Philips?management?was?under?pressure?to?reduce?the?cost?of?returns.?They?realized?that?the?company?needed?to?develop?a?core?competency?in?returns?management,?whether?the?actual?processes?were?handled?in?house?or?via?outside?partners.?Management?believed?that?it?needed?a?department?with?a?dedicated?director?and?focused?staff?to?accomplish?these?goals,?hoping?that?such?a?department?would?end?up?paying?for?itself?in?the?process.?When?Ken?approached?me,?I?was?working?in?the?product?marketing?group?after?a?decade?in?sales?with?regional?and?national?accounts.?My?background?was?new?for?the?returns?management?role.?Normally,?the?credit,?finance,?or?service?groups?with