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There is significant potential for adding value by involving customer in the design process and delivery of logistic services. In order to add value to the overall logistic system, the purpose of this paper is to apply an integrated systems approach for the design of forward and reverse logistics services in order to build a self-organising service that can maximise efficiencies and in particular reduce reverse logistics costs.

Two exploratory case studies were conducted in the logistics systems of housing repair and maintenance sector in the UK. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, observations, and documented evidence.

The findings of the cross-case analysis suggests that systems approach expressed as the Vanguard Method (Seddon, 2008) has a direct impact on enhancing forward logistics performance and reducing reverse product flows by nourishing three dimensions for learning from demand-driven analysis; capturing customer clean information, demand predictability and categorisation, and failure demand analysis.

Findings from exploratory case studies cannot be easily generalised. Hence, further case studies are needed to enrich the findings, and to facilitate their industrial applications. Further, the paper explores the utilisation of the Vanguard Method only in the area of housing repairs and maintenance logistics services. It would be valuable for future studies to further investigate the utilisation of the Vanguard Method in other logistics services settings.

The paper demonstrates an important dynamics of how logistics services can incorporate customer demands into the logistics design process.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the keywords used in peer-reviewed literature on green supply chain management.

To determine the keywords that were used in this area, an analysis of 629 papers was conducted. The papers were identified through searches of 13 keywords on green supply chains. Trends in keyword usage were analyzed in detail focusing on examining variables such as the most frequently used journals/keywords, their frequencies, citation frequency and research contribution from different disciplines/countries.

A number of different terms have been used for research focused on the environmental impacts of supply chains, including green supply chains, sustainable supply chains, reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chains, among others. The analysis revealed that the intensity of research in this area has more than tripled in the past six years and that the most used keyword was “reverse logistics”. The use of the terms “green supply chains” and “sustainable supply chains” is increasing, and the use of “reverse logistics” is decreasing.

The analysis is limited to 629 papers from the Scopus database during the period of 2007 and 2012.

The paper presents the first systematic analysis of keywords used in the literature on green supply chains. Given the broad array of terms used to refer to research in this area, this is a needed contribution. This work will help researchers in choosing keywords with high frequency and targeting journals for publishing their future work. The paper may also provide a basis for further work on developing consolidated definitions of terms focused on green supply chain management.

Considers the application of returnable containers as an example of reverse logistics. A returnable container is a type of secondary packaging that can be used several times in the same form, in contrast with traditional cardboard boxes. For this equipment to be used, a system for the return logistics of the containers should be available: this system should guarantee that the containers are transported from the recipients to the next senders, and that they are cleaned and maintained, if necessary. Outlines several ways in which the return of these containers can be organized. Also includes a case study involving the design of such a return logistic system in The Netherlands. Also describes a quantitative model that can be used to support the related planning process.

In a quest to meet increasing pressure to incorporate environmental and sustainability factors due to the legislations and growing public awareness, companies are rethinking of strategizing their supply chain network to take control of the reverse flow of products as well. This growing interest has also led to tremendous growth in publications occurring in several reputed journals in the last few years. In this context, the purpose of this article is to perform a systematic literature survey of recent and state-of-the-art papers in order to draw insights and highlight the future directions.

This paper has selected and reviewed 204 papers published from the year 2002–2017. The papers were collected from the web of science and Google scholar database which have the DOI number. The selected papers were then categorized into main five core areas of RSC management namely reverse supply chain (RSC), Reverse Logistics (RL), Remanufacturing, Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) and Product Recovery Systems (PRS) and then analyzed with great detail. Finally, the research gaps that were identified from the study have been highlighted for future research opportunities.

This paper would serve as a roadmap to the managers who wish to align their forward and reverse supply chains for overall growth and development. It provides an in-depth knowledge on RSC to the researchers working in this domain. The scholars would be able to identify the areas of RSC which have been already addressed and the areas which remain unaddressed.

This paper presents a systematic literature survey of state-of-the-art papers that was published in the reputed journal in the area of RSC. Total 204 numbers of papers which were published in the reputed journals between 2002 and 2017 are reviewed, categorized and analysed to draw the opportunities and future research direction in the area of RSC.

As e-commerce has expanded rapidly, online shopping platforms have become widespread in India and throughout the world. Product return, which has a negative effect on the E-Commerce Industry's economic and ecological sustainability, is one of the E-Commerce Industry's greatest challenges in light of the substantial increase in online transactions. The authors have analyzed the purchasing patterns of the customers to better comprehend their product purchase and return patterns.

The authors utilized digital transformation techniques-based recency, frequency and monetary models to better understand and segment potential customers in order to address personalized strategies to increase sales, and the authors performed seller clustering using k-means and hierarchical clustering to determine why some sellers have the most sales and what products they offer that entice customers to purchase.

The authors discovered, through the application of digital transformation models to customer segmentation, that over 61.15% of consumers are likely to purchase, loyal customers and utilize firm service, whereas approximately 35% of customers have either stopped purchasing or have relatively low spending. To retain these consumer segments, special consideration and an enticing offer are required. As the authors dug deeper into the seller clustering, we discovered that the maximum number of clusters is six, while certain clusters indicate that prompt delivery of the goods plays a crucial role in customer feedback and high sales volume.

This is one of the rare study that develops a seller segmentation strategy by utilizing digital transformation-based methods in order to achieve seller group division.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare extant framework in humanitarian supply chain management (HSCM) and to propose a framework on humanitarian supply chain (HSC) performance measurement based on the content, context and process.

The structured keywords, namely humanitarian supply chain (HSC), humanitarian logistic (HL), humanitarian relief chain (HRC) and humanitarian chain (HC) as an exact phrase were searched in the title, abstract and keywords in the academic database. A total of 66 peer-reviewed articles were selected for analysis purpose that reports framework from the reviewed literature. These selected frameworks are categorized in dimensions, namely framework novelty, framework source, recognize elements/constructs of framework, comparative analysis of the framework and in-depth study of HSCM performance measurement.

The analysis reveals that the majority of these developed frameworks are novel and academic based. Case study is most prominent research methodology in the development of HSCM framework. Lack of coordination among humanitarian stakeholders is the major challenge in the empirical implementation of framework. This study proposes future research trend toward a unified HSCM framework that will facilitate to uncover the coherent set of elements/constructs in the field of HSCM.

This study considers peer-reviewed articles published in English language, and excludes conference papers, working articles, technical data/reports and book chapters.

This study categorizes new dimension for framework analysis and proposed an HSC performance measurement framework which gives new insights to the academicians, practitioners and policy makers for future work.

This examination gives the establishment to facilitate investigation of viable, efficient and effective HSCM, and detail opportunities for practices.

This study critically analyzes 66 frameworks under the different criteria to identify research gap and trends. Furthermore, this study proposes the HSC performance measurement framework.

This study aims to provide a rich learning opportunity from COVID-19 crisis for making resilient supply chain by adopting new strategies for the procurement system.

The systematic literature review has been conducted from the year 2012 to 2022 with the objective of developing procurement system for resilient supply chain. Fifty-four research papers are selected for this study.

The study exhibits that procurement function makes a significant contribution in creating supply chain resilience in the time of COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 emergency has enforced companies to operate in new ways to face supply chain disruptions. The new strategies and actions appropriate for resilient procurement system have been identified.

This study is limited to the papers that were indexed in the Scopus database. It has also been limited to the procurement function and supply chain resilience.

This research highlights strategies for supply chain resilience to improve the business performance in COVID-19 or similar types of crisis.

The originality of this paper is to identify the strategies and new practices followed in procurement function to improve the supply chain resilience. This study suggests directions for future research on the integration of procurement and manufacturing for making resilience in the supply chain.

The purpose of this paper is to report on research undertaken to investigate whether current reverse logistics theories and models can be totally applied in developing countries like China using the electronic industry as a case study.

A case study approach was adopted with information collected from company web sites, direct observation, and in‐depth interviews with four major consumer electronic product manufacturers in China. Findings were analyzed and compared across all the cases studied to determine the common external and internal drivers for reverse logistics implementation as well as the obstacles faced by the whole electronic industry. A comparison with the literature was made to identify the gaps between current theories and models and actual practices in China.

The findings suggest that while reverse logistics drivers vary from company to company, barriers to reverse logistics are common and are mainly external. The major difficulty in implementing reverse logistics in the electronic industry of China is the lack of enforceable laws, regulations or directives to motivate manufacturers. Furthermore, economic support and preferential tax policies are absent to help manufacturers offset the high investment costs of reverse logistics. Low public awareness of environmental protection and underdevelopment of recycling technologies are also some of the obstacles to widespread reverse logistics implementation. The findings also reveal the presence of linkages between the various external factors that are not fully explored in current reverse logistics models.

The study corroborates the application of transaction cost economics and resource‐based view theory to account for the different approaches to reverse logistics adopted by firms in developing countries. It also reveals a need for further research on the linkages between external factors affecting reverse logistics implementation. The four case studies of large corporations are drawn from a Chinese setting in which implementation of reverse logistics is still in an early stage. The complex nature of China's transitional economy and political considerations may influence the perspectives and practices of small manufacturers in the management of environmental issues thus limiting the generalizability of the findings.

The study reveals the problems encountered in the implementation of reverse logistics in China and proposes measures to expedite the development.

This paper presents a systematic analysis of the external and the internal factors affecting reverse logistics implementation in developing countries like China. It reveals the need to investigate the linkages between the various external factors that are less explored in current reverse logistic theories and models. The study also identifies the major drivers and obstacles faced by the industry, a clear understanding of which might facilitate the formulation of appropriate nation‐wide reverse logistics policy and strategy through the support of the government and the investment of the manufacturers.

Overconsumption of resources has become a global issue. To deal with resource depletion and mitigate these impending crises, the circular economy (CE) holds some promise. A wide range of performance measurements for CE have emerged over the years. However, with increasing complexity of supply chains, appropriate and potentially new performance measurements are needed for effective CE management. Blockchain is an innovative technology that may advance CE development. This chapter provides an overview of the potential linkages between blockchain technology and CE from sustainability perspectives – the specific focus will be on the performance measurement of reverse logistics activities. One of the main findings indicates that both blockchain and CE performance measurements – especially reverse logistics processes – are still evolving in both theory and practical developments. Future directions with a critical analysis including research and theoretical applications will conclude this chapter.

Of great concern today is how to collect and recycle post‐consumer waste efficiently. Reports the results of a study of 47 collection schemes for household waste which examined their logistical characteristics. An extensive literature review revealed that much recycling research suffers from a lack of theory. Discusses why and how logistics theory can contribute to the understanding of what is happening in reverse distribution channels. Suggests a number of propositions on relationships between logistical characteristics and performance. Of particular interest is whether separation of waste is to take place at the source by the consumer or in a central processing facility. Suggests that postponing separation to a separation facility can enhance performance by reducing cost and increasing service.