Reverse Supply Chain Management - A study of two companies in the personal computer industry

Abstract

Environmental regulations, increasing returns and legislative initiatives as well as the rapid development of new products forces companies in the personal computer industry to focus more on their reverse flow. Reverse supply chain management (RSCM) is becoming more important to companies, from being seen as a nuisance, companies are starting to realize its potentials. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the role of RSCM and how economic value can be captured in the reverse supply chain (RSC) in the personal computer industry, and to fulfill the purpose a multiple case study was conducted. To gain knowledge on the subject, a literature review was made and interviews with managers at renowned manufacturers Hewlett Packard and Dell were carried out. The results showed that economic value was captured through the reselling of used products but time- and resource intensive activities were required in order to capture value. The two companies had different approaches to their respective RSC’s, mainly in terms of economy as a driver and the execution of the RSC processes. Legislations and customer citizenships were considered drivers to the companies, forcing them to operate comprehensive take-back programs. The conclusions drawn from the findings are that keeping processes in-house comes with high initial costs, although increasing the potential to gain revenue in a long-term perspective. HP considered economy to be a driver and was also able to increase its revenue from reselling returned computers through different channels. Dell sees the reverse supply chain more as a necessity than a potential source of revenue and has outsourced most of its activities.