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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/09600039210022574. When citing the article, please cite: Dale S. Rogers, Patricia J. Daugherty, Theodore P. Stank, (1992), “Enhancing Service Responsiveness: The Strategic Potential of EDI”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 22 Iss: 8, pp. 15 - 20.

Interest in reverse logistics (RL) as a critical component of supply chain management (SCM) is gaining more traction with both practitioners and academics. Because of RL’s growing strategic importance, it is imperative to conduct a timely and comprehensive literature review and to identify associated opportunities for future research. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this paper, the researchers conduct an extensive bibliometric analysis of published academic articles on RL for the period of 1992-2015. Specifically, the CiteSpace software is utilized to conduct document co-citation analysis and burst detection analysis on 912 selected RL articles and their 22,642 references.

This research identifies the most influential RL research publications/citations in each of the five periods and their research contribution. Using co-citation analysis, the authors are able to identify and illustrate major research themes, knowledge groups, and future research opportunities in the RL field.

In contrast to existing literature review studies in the logistics field, the study uses impact factor as a key article selection criterion. The influential articles identified in this process well represent the core literature and RL body of knowledge and have important implications for future research.

Secondary markets provide a place for unwanted items to be bought and sold, which diverts them from landfills, reducing the products' ecological impact and creating economic value. The purpose of this paper is study the secondary markets to understand the size of this important portion of the US economy.

The data were collected from financial reports, news articles, and interviews with subject experts. From all of these sources, the scope and size of secondary markets can be estimated.

Secondary markets are effective in diverting a large number of products from landfills, creating numerous jobs, resulting in substantial economic value in the process. Although not reflected in current government metrics, a conservative estimate is that the secondary market represents 2.28 percent of the 2008 US gross domestic product.

Several of the secondary markets have many small players, with no strong trade associations or other authorities to estimate their size. The paper's estimates based on known sources are very conservative, perhaps underestimating the size of these sectors.

As society increasingly pays attention to the ecological impact of its products, secondary markets will play an important role in supply chains. Understanding the magnitude, structure and reach of these markets can help firms develop better product stewardship and lifecycle management.

Individuals will not directly change their behavior from this research, but the findings should help companies behave differently, which in the end will offer products with lower ecological impact.

Secondary markets are an integral part of the US economy, and have not been adequately studied.

Reports a recent survey of warehousing firms which examined the extent of involvement in electronic data interchange (EDI) and the impact which EDI has had on the firms′ operations and service capabilities. Warehousing firms providing EDI services to their customers were found to be better able to accommodate selected customers′ requests than firms not providing EDI services. Additionally, the firms providing EDI service were offering more services to their customers than firms not providing EDI service. Based on the research results, EDI firms appear to be more flexible and more responsive to customer requests. EDI offers significant potential for helping firms to gain competitive advantage and enhance customer responsiveness.

This paper compares and contrasts forward and reverse logistics in a retail environment, with the focus on the reverse flow of product. Many differences between forward and reverse flows of logistics systems are presented. The impact of these factors depends to some extent on the supply chain position of a firm. Unlike much reverse logistics research, which is written from the perspective of the firm which will remanufacture or refurbish the product in the reverse flow, we consider the issues from the perspective of the firm generating the reverse flow.

Many of today's most successful companies have decided to focus on their core business and purchase other functional needs from outside vendors. Time and resource constraints make utilization of public or contract warehousing providers an attractive option. Because of their specialized expertise, external warehousing firms are often able to deliver services in a more cost‐effective and efficient manner. The researchers examined differential capabilities among warehousing service providers based upon the degree of formalized internal processes developed. Formalization was shown to impact: 1) the average number of services provided; 2) the average number of computer applications used in providing services to customers; and 3) the average number of installed technologies within the respondent firms. More highly formalized firms are positioned to be able to “offer more”.

It has been proposed that the just‐in‐time (JIT) philosophy can be effectively integrated systemwide to yield increased efficiencies and excellence throughout an organization. Greater understanding is needed as to what this entails. The researchers empirically test and attempt to validate a previously developed basic functional model of JIT comprising three components – respect for people in the system, the execution system and planning process prerequisites – needed to support JIT′s goal of elimination of waste through a process of continual improvement. Regression model results support the hypothesized relationships between the model components and the JIT waste‐elimination goal.

Returns management is the supply chain management process by which activities associated with returns, reverse logistics, gatekeeping, and avoidance are managed within the firm and across key members of the supply chain. The correct implementation of this process enables management not only to manage the reverse product flow efficiently, but to identify opportunities to reduce unwanted returns and to control reusable assets such as containers. In this paper, we describe how the returns management process can be implemented within a firm and across the supply chain. The process is described in terms of its sub‐processes and associated activities, and the interfaces with corporate functions, other supply chain management processes and other firms. Examples of successful implementation are provided.

Product development and commercialization is the supply chain management process that provides structure for developing and bringing to market new products jointly with customers and suppliers. Effective implementation of the process not only enables management to coordinate the efficient flow of new products across the supply chain, but also assists supply chain members with the ramp‐up of manufacturing, logistics, marketing and other related activities to support the commercialization of the product In this paper, the product development and commercialization process is described in detail to show how it can be implemented. To do this, the process is described in terms of its sub‐processes and associated activities, and the interfaces with business functions, other supply chain processes and other firms. Examples of successful implementation are provided.

Demand management is the supply chain management process that balances the customers' requirements with the capabilities of the supply chain. With the right process in place, management can match supply with demand proactively and execute the plan with minimal disruptions. The process is not limited to forecasting. It includes synchronizing supply and demand, increasing flexibility, and reducing variability. In this paper, we describe the demand management process in detail to show how it can be implemented within a company and managed across firms in the supply chain. We examine the activities of each sub‐process; evaluate the interfaces with corporate functions, processes and firms; and provide examples of successful implementation.