Guest Blogger: Greg Hazlett, Principal, Global Supply Chain Services, Tompkins Associates
Greg lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is an expert in helping high-tech companies – including manufacturers and distributors of computer hardware and software, consumer electronics, semiconductors, components and peripherals, and capital equipment – improve their global supply chain activities.
We’ve all been to those tradeshows in Las Vegas where the highest volume of people to the lowest ranges from the casino floor, to the conference speeches and panels, to the exhibition floor.
The recent Reverse Logistics Conference in Las Vegas "reversed" all that. The Expo floor was busy from the opening reception through the closing on Feb. 10. The sessions were relatively well attended, but the casino we were in was relatively empty. Go figure!
I was at the conference to moderate a panel, attend a number of presentations and panel discussions, and tour the exhibit hall.
The panel I hosted, Creating a Customer Centric Reverse Supply Chain Strategy, was reasonably well attended, especially in light of the fact that we were up against a Wal-Mart panel. There was a lot of discussion around technology to support the reverse process, as well as its ability to support the consumer experience. Software in this space is relatively new, and most of it homegrown by providers, rather than offered to others, but we are now starting to see commercial products with the service supply chain as its main focus.
Other important topics that came across during the panel discussion were the ability to measure the customer experience, using reverse capabilities to grow revenues, and managing the customer lifecycle vs. purely focusing on the product lifecycle.
Special thanks to my panelists: John Axe of the ECN Group, Dr. Dale Rogers from Univ. of Nevada – Reno, Srini Gorty of Evavi, Jim Schoessling from Servigistics, Randy Hatheway of Ryder Supply Chain Solutions, and Patrick Sullivan from Inmar – Reverse Logistics.
Great job by all!
Based on what I learned at the conference, my Top 3 Takeaways are:
1) Reverse Logistics is attracting greater attention today as companies seek to cut costs, and the focus on this key part of the service supply chain will only continue to grow;
2) We’re now starting to see commercial products with service supply chain as the main focus vs. software created by homegrown providers; and
3) Being able to measure the customer experience is a high priority in managing the service supply chain customer lifecycle.
As a side note, the majority of conferences I’ve been to have had an "Us vs. Them" feel – the "Us" being the customers (manufacturers and retailers), and the "Them" being the various types of service providers. While the conference attendees were predominantly service providers, the manufacturers and retailers were in attendance, but the conference didn’t by any means revolve around them.
And while the service providers were interested in gaining business from the retailers and manufacturers, the majority of them were looking for partners to help grow their business – either by sharing leads or working together as part of a larger solution set. Everyone wanted to share information and get the word out on what they were doing. No games of chance here – a sure winner!
Did you attend the conference, and if so, what did you take away from it? What is your organization doing in the area of reverse logistics these days?
More Reverse Logistics Resources
Blog Post: Pause: Services Supply Chain Is Not the Same as Rewind
Blog Post: Service Supply Chain: A Golden Opportunity to Cut Costs and Make Your Customers Happier
Read the article, Returns, Refunds and Recalls: Reliable Reverse Logistics
See the scope of Service Supply Chain consulting services from Tompkins Associates (PDF).
Photo credit: Gregory Moine