Logistics
Returns and reverse logistics
What comes back also needs documenting, and almost never is.
All the documentary effort goes into what leaves. What comes back arrives uncontrolled, piles up in a warehouse corner and surfaces in an argument three months later: what condition did it return in, who collected it, and is what came back what was sent.
What to document on receipt
| Type of return | What gets argued later |
|---|---|
| Defective product | Whether the defect was original or from use |
| Order error | Whether it came back complete and sellable |
| End of life or recall | Where it ended up and who handled it |
| Hired equipment | What condition it returned in versus how it left |
Important
The last row is the costliest and the most forgotten. Hired equipment returning damaged with no photos of departure or arrival is an argument almost always lost, because whoever hired it has no evidence to the contrary either.
If what comes back is waste
It changes nature: it stops being a return and becomes waste with its own management and traceability duties. Confusing the two is what produces piles of material nobody knows how to dispose of.
Watch out
If you handle returns of product that ends up as waste, check with your adviser at what point the regime changes. It is not a warehouse question: it is a question of which duties apply to you from that moment.
Worth knowing
Photographing hired equipment on departure costs a minute and is the only thing that sustains the return conversation. It is the same case as prior condition on a site.
›Is it worth it for small returns?
For those that get disputed, yes. For the rest, recording what came back suffices.
›What if it arrives unannounced?
Documenting receipt matters even more: nobody else did.
›Does it help claim against the carrier?
Dated photos of receipt are what is asked for.
A real case
The situation
A machinery hire company argues monthly about damage on returned equipment.
What you do
- Certified photos on departure and on return
What you get
Arguments close by comparing two dated series, and repairs are paid by whoever caused them.
The situation
A return arrives without knowing which shipment it belongs to.
What you do
- Records the return against the original shipment
What you get
The order's history stays complete.
The situation
There is a dispute about the condition goods came back in.
What you do
- Captures the condition on receipt
What you get
The dispute closes on the record.
The situation
Returns are noted on a separate sheet.
What you do
- Records them in the order's file
What you get
There is one picture of the order.
The situation
A client asks about a return from months ago.
What you do
- Checks that order's file
What you get
You answer without searching email.
The situation
Nobody knows how many returns come from one client.
What you do
- Checks the history per client
What you get
The pattern shows with data.
This article answers
- documenting goods returns
- reverse logistics traceability
- condition of a returned product
- who is responsible for a returned product