Luk N. van Wassenhove – författare

In 1994, the idea for this project (we were not then thinking about a book) arose in a context of growing publicity surrounding prizes like the D- ing Award, the Malcolm Baldrige Award, and the European Quality Award, prompting us to ask: “Could we de?ne what world-class manufacturing is? It’s got to be more than managing processes. Are the US and Japan really in the lead, as so many examples suggest?” Xavier de Groote, our colleague in the Operations Management group at INSEAD, made a major contribution to the formulation of the ?rst version of our framework, the ?rst questi- naire, and the ?rst edition of the Industrial Excellence Award (IEA) in 1995. He witnessed the crowning of the ?rst winner, STMP Laval (which became Solvay Automotive soon afterwards and later Ingeny following its merger with Plastic Omnium). The answer to our initial questions can be found in this book. While the journey took seven years and was far from easy, we believe we have made some progress. We have awarded the IEA annually since 1995 in France, and in Germany since 1997. In the course of this effort, we have analyzed questionnaires from hundreds of plants, visited 100 of them, and given prizes to 30. We did not know what we might discover when we ?rst approached this undertaking but we came away deeply impressed.

In 1994, the idea for this project (we were not then thinking about a book) arose in a context of growing publicity surrounding prizes like the D- ing Award, the Malcolm Baldrige Award, and the European Quality Award, prompting us to ask: “Could we de?ne what world-class manufacturing is? It’s got to be more than managing processes. Are the US and Japan really in the lead, as so many examples suggest?” Xavier de Groote, our colleague in the Operations Management group at INSEAD, made a major contribution to the formulation of the ?rst version of our framework, the ?rst questi- naire, and the ?rst edition of the Industrial Excellence Award (IEA) in 1995. He witnessed the crowning of the ?rst winner, STMP Laval (which became Solvay Automotive soon afterwards and later Ingeny following its merger with Plastic Omnium). The answer to our initial questions can be found in this book. While the journey took seven years and was far from easy, we believe we have made some progress. We have awarded the IEA annually since 1995 in France, and in Germany since 1997. In the course of this effort, we have analyzed questionnaires from hundreds of plants, visited 100 of them, and given prizes to 30. We did not know what we might discover when we ?rst approached this undertaking but we came away deeply impressed.

Introduction Closing supply chains refers to taking care of items once they are no longer desired or can no longer be used by their user. Smart management of closed-loop supply chains means profitable recovery of value from these items (products, functional components, materials or packaging). The company closing the supply chain may be the original equipment manuf- turer (OEM), a distribution partner or a third party not involved in the f- ward distribution. In recent years, the management of closed-loop supply chains has gained importance because of increased legislation on producer respon- bility, requiring companies to take back products from customers and to organize for proper recovery and disposal. This legislation is partially due to increased awareness of environmental issues. However, smart com- nies have also understood that returned products often contain lots of value to be recovered. They manage closed-loop supply chains simply because it is a profitable business proposition.

Reverse logistics concerns the integration of used and obsolete products back into the supply chain as valuable resources. Economic, marketing, and legislative drivers increasingly are leading companies to take back and recover their products after use. The arising product flows pose novel challenges for supply chain management.This book addresses decision making in reverse logistics. It covers a wide range of aspects, related to distribution, production and inventory management, and supply chain management. For each topic, it highlights key managerial issues in real-life examples and explains which quantitative models are available for addressing them. By treating a broad range of issues in a unified way, the book offers the reader a comprehensive view on the field of reverse logistics.

Introduction Closing supply chains refers to taking care of items once they are no longer desired or can no longer be used by their user. Smart management of closed-loop supply chains means profitable recovery of value from these items (products, functional components, materials or packaging). The company closing the supply chain may be the original equipment manuf- turer (OEM), a distribution partner or a third party not involved in the f- ward distribution. In recent years, the management of closed-loop supply chains has gained importance because of increased legislation on producer respon- bility, requiring companies to take back products from customers and to organize for proper recovery and disposal. This legislation is partially due to increased awareness of environmental issues. However, smart com- nies have also understood that returned products often contain lots of value to be recovered. They manage closed-loop supply chains simply because it is a profitable business proposition.

Increasing customer needs, the globalization of markets and the evolution of e-commerce add to the complexity of logistic processes. In today's business, it is well understood that an effective management of logistic processes is impossible without the use of computer-based tools and quantitative methods. This book presents in a systematic way quantitative approaches to distribution logistics and supply chain management. The main orientation of the book is towards practical problem solving, and numerous case studies and practical applications are presented. The topics covered include: supply chain management, revers logistics, e-commerce, facility location and network planning, vehicle routing, warehousing, inventory control.

In 1994, the idea for this project (we were not then thinking about a book) arose in a context of growing publicity surrounding prizes like the D- ing Award, the Malcolm Baldrige Award, and the European Quality Award, prompting us to ask: “Could we de?ne what world-class manufacturing is? It’s got to be more than managing processes. Are the US and Japan really in the lead, as so many examples suggest?” Xavier de Groote, our colleague in the Operations Management group at INSEAD, made a major contribution to the formulation of the ?rst version of our framework, the ?rst questi- naire, and the ?rst edition of the Industrial Excellence Award (IEA) in 1995. He witnessed the crowning of the ?rst winner, STMP Laval (which became Solvay Automotive soon afterwards and later Ingeny following its merger with Plastic Omnium). The answer to our initial questions can be found in this book. While the journey took seven years and was far from easy, we believe we have made some progress. We have awarded the IEA annually since 1995 in France, and in Germany since 1997. In the course of this effort, we have analyzed questionnaires from hundreds of plants, visited 100 of them, and given prizes to 30. We did not know what we might discover when we ?rst approached this undertaking but we came away deeply impressed.

Reverse logistics concerns the integration of used and obsolete products back into the supply chain as valuable resources. Economic, marketing, and legislative drivers increasingly are leading companies to take back and recover their products after use. The arising product flows pose novel challenges for supply chain management.This book addresses decision making in reverse logistics. It covers a wide range of aspects, related to distribution, production and inventory management, and supply chain management. For each topic, it highlights key managerial issues in real-life examples and explains which quantitative models are available for addressing them. By treating a broad range of issues in a unified way, the book offers the reader a comprehensive view on the field of reverse logistics.

Introduction Closing supply chains refers to taking care of items once they are no longer desired or can no longer be used by their user. Smart management of closed-loop supply chains means profitable recovery of value from these items (products, functional components, materials or packaging). The company closing the supply chain may be the original equipment manuf- turer (OEM), a distribution partner or a third party not involved in the f- ward distribution. In recent years, the management of closed-loop supply chains has gained importance because of increased legislation on producer respon- bility, requiring companies to take back products from customers and to organize for proper recovery and disposal. This legislation is partially due to increased awareness of environmental issues. However, smart com- nies have also understood that returned products often contain lots of value to be recovered. They manage closed-loop supply chains simply because it is a profitable business proposition.