Research on Fourth Party Reverse Logistics Based on Nonprofit Organization

Abstract

Reverse logistics has the features of uncertainty on quantity, quality, time and place of returns. It is very difficult to reach economies of scale for any individual company. Four reverse logistics modes are outlined through literature review and WEB search. After analyzing main factors impacting reverse logistics strategy and discussing each mode in details, it is concluded that there is lack of an effective reverse logistics mode. As one of advanced logistics modes, fourth party logistics can consolidate demands and resources of logistics on the bases of the data pool. It is very suitable to consolidate the scattered demands of returns. Therefore it is possible to reach economies of scale and reduce investments on reverse logistics. Based on a case study in a literature, fourth party reverse logistics based on nonprofit organization is proposed. Putting the interest of fourth party logistics outside the logistics interest group can avoid the competition between third party logistics and fourth party logistics and might promote application of fourth party logistics. Three nonprofit organizations which are potential fourth party reverse logistics are yielded. The collaborative relationships among their participators and application fields are submitted. Some conclusions are yielded.