Fulfillment & Warehousing
Receiving, storage, pick and pack, dispatch and returns for industrial and corporate supply chains, with inventory accuracy measured and reported.
Specialized / Reverse
Return logistics that bring your assets home.
Pallets, racks, returnable packaging and returned goods are recovered on a planned, consolidated schedule, reducing losses and the cost of replacing them.
In practice
- Returnable assets only pay back if they return
- Consolidation is what makes reverse flows affordable
- Disposition rules, decided in advance
Returnable assets only pay back if they return
Reusable transport packaging (stillages, racks, custom cradles, plastic pallets) is bought on a business case assuming a set number of trips per unit per year. Managed recovery keeps the real trip rate close to that assumption and protects the saving from replacement spend.
Managing the reverse flow means knowing where the units are, how long a cycle takes and where units are lost. With cycle time measured, the fleet is sized against actual use.
Consolidation is what makes reverse flows affordable
Return legs are individually small and geographically scattered, so we consolidate them into scheduled collection rounds against existing delivery routes.
Where a forward delivery is already going to a location, the return can often ride back on the same movement. We plan the forward and reverse flows together to make that possible.
Disposition rules, decided in advance
Every returned item needs a decision: restock, repair, hold for inspection, return to supplier or scrap. Clear rules make that decision quickly, while the goods still hold their value.
We agree disposition rules before the first return is received (what condition qualifies for restock, what triggers inspection, who authorises a scrap), so items move straight through.
Capabilities
What is included.
Returnable asset cycles
Tracking, recovery and cycle-time measurement for stillages, racks, cradles and reusable packaging.
Equipment repositioning
Movement of empty transport equipment back into position, planned against forward flows.
Returns consolidation
Scheduled collection rounds that consolidate scattered returns.
Inspection and disposition
Receipt, inspection and routing to restock, repair, quarantine, supplier return or disposal under pre-agreed rules.
Repair and refurbishment routing
Damaged assets routed to repair partners and returned to the active pool.
Reverse flow reporting
Cycle time, recovery rate and loss points reported so the asset fleet can be sized against measured behaviour.
Sequence
How each shipment runs.
01
Flow mapping
Existing reverse movements are mapped: what goes out, what should come back and where units are being lost.
02
Rules and authorisation
Disposition rules, condition criteria and authorisation levels are agreed in writing before the first collection.
03
Collection scheduling
Returns are consolidated into scheduled rounds aligned to existing forward routes.
04
Receipt and disposition
Units are received, inspected against the agreed criteria and routed straight to their disposition.
05
Measurement and resizing
Recovery rate, cycle time and loss points are reported, and the asset fleet is sized against measured behaviour.
Questions
Return Logistics, answered.
What makes a returnable packaging programme pay back?
Owned recovery. When the reverse flow has its own process, units return from customer sites promptly, cycle times hold and trips per unit per year track the business case. Measuring actual cycle time is the first step.
How do you make return legs economical?
By consolidating them into scheduled rounds that use existing forward routes. That requires forward and reverse flows to be planned by the same party, which is how we run them.
What happens to goods that come back damaged?
They follow the disposition rules agreed at setup: inspected against defined condition criteria and routed to repair, quarantine, supplier return or disposal, with the decision recorded. Criteria agreed before the first return keep items moving.
Can reverse logistics run alongside our existing fulfillment?
Yes, and it works considerably better that way. When the same operation handles outbound and returns, collections can ride back on delivery routes and returned stock re-enters inventory through the same controlled receipt process. One operation gives full visibility across both flows.
Reference
Key figures and specifications.
Reference data to help you plan shipments and compare quotations.
What we measure
- Recovery rate
- Units returned ÷ units dispatched
- Cycle time
- Dispatch to available-for-reuse
- Loss rate
- Units unaccounted per period
- Dwell
- Time held at the customer site
- Fleet utilisation
- Units in active cycle ÷ total fleet
Disposition routes
- Restock
- Returned to saleable or usable stock
- Repair
- Routed to refurbishment, then returned to pool
- Quarantine
- Held pending inspection or decision
- Supplier return
- Returned upstream under agreement
- Disposal
- Scrapped or recycled with record retained
Documentation set
- Returns authorisation with expected condition and quantity
- Collection manifest per consolidated round
- Inspection record and disposition decision per unit
- Asset register with location and cycle status
- Repair order and return-to-pool confirmation
- Periodic recovery, cycle time and loss report
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