BY SUSAN K. LACEFIELD, ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR
REVERSE LOGISTICS
5ways to
improve your
refurbishment
Refurbishing and reselling
returned goods can make
operations
some serious money for
DECISIONS, DECISIONS. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WITH ALL
the returned goods flowing back to your facility through the
reverse logistics pipeline? Some companies dismantle them and
recycle the parts. Others simply destroy the goods. But there’s a
third option: repair, refurbish, and resell them.
For some companies, that third route makes an awful lot of
sense: If done right, repairs and refurbishment can be a moneymaker instead of a cost center. Trouble is, it’s not always easy to
do it right. The costs of refurbishment (labor, equipment, transportation, and so forth) tend to add up quickly, making it difficult for companies to recoup their investment. And it can be
tough to get products back on the shelves quickly enough to avoid some loss of value.
If you’re not sure whether refurbishment is right for your company—or are wondering whether there are ways to make your returns operation faster, more efficient, or more
cost effective—the following five tips might offer some guidance.
your company—if you can
do it quickly and cost
effectively. Here are some
tips for getting it right.
1. Make sure your product is a good candidate for refurbishment.
One of the keys to running a fast, cost-effective refurbishment operation is to be smart
about which products you refurbish, says Timothy Konrad, vice president of reverse
logistics for Genco, a third-party logistics service provider (3PL). He says it’s not uncom-
