Karolina's study blog

With our third trigger we are looking at a different aspect of logistics- reverse logistics. Cerasis defines reverse logistics as ' the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value, or proper disposal'. So in other words, reverse logistics deals with what to do with a product after it has served its purpose for a customer. With the increasing problem of waste companies are more and more responsible for managing the final stage a product life cycle. Our PBL Team decided on the following learning objectives to study this topic: How to implement the 3 R's model in the reverse logistics process Pros and cons of e-commerce and regular stores from the logistics point of view Which legislative aspects you have to take into account when dealing with reverse logistics in Europe How can home decor companies reduce their returns 1. The implementation of the 3 R's model in the reverse logistics process The R...

Our second trigger described a case of a large retail operator in northern Europe that started to cooperate with an e-commerce company Alibaba to export Finnish food to China.  Some international challenges, outbound functions, and competitive advantages were introduced and described in this case. Our PBL team agreed on the following learning objectives to cover the main problem: 1. How to develop outbound logistics functions 2. What are the main competitive advantages 3. Things to consider when adapting to Chinese markets 1. Developing outbound logistics It is good to start with a definition of outbound logistics, I found a short one on Key Differences , which describes outbound logistics as the outward movement of final goods from the company to the end user.   Last week, we studied inbound logistics, which describes the process of transporting the material or parts to a company that manufactures final products. So the outbound logistics follow the inbo...

After getting familiar with basics of SCM through lecture, logistics game and assignment, we opened the first out of three triggers that dealt with the contemporary danger of outsourcing and introduced example of truck drivers being attacked. Our team decided to study the topic of challenges of outsourcing and focus on the following learning objectives: What makes a good outsourcing strategy How does the black market affect the supply chain How to minimize the risks of thefts 1. What makes a good outsourcing strategy One of our recommended textbooks (Contemporary logistics) states that there is no actual definition of outsourcing, also commonly called Third-party logistics (3PL) or contract logistics. The book describes this practice as 'one company allowing a specialist company to provide it with one or more logistics functions.' (Murhpy, P. & Knemeyer, A. p.101). These functions usually cover warehousing or outbound logistics. Nowadays we would hardly find a ...