Happy Returns

(1/22/2013) Do you ever wonder that where do the products go when your return them back to the retailers? Many returned products are not really defective. Sometimes, it might be that the consumers just bought the wrong models and the returned goods do not need to be reworked. You will be surprised that the 'return logistics' is a pretty profitable business. Though the manufacturers wont' be happy to see the returns, but they definitely appreciate these commodity 'recyclers.'

Happy Returns

(12/7/2012) You happy, retailers are happy too.

Product recall

Story 1:

Peanut butter recall expands beyond Trader Joe's

(9/24/2012) This story is a simpler form of product recall. The buyers of contaminated peanut butter can get refund from the retailer. As long as the retailer responds to this food crisis earlier, there will not be a big damage to the retailer. The bigger problem is tracing the batch of production. If the peanut butter supplier is responsible enough and release the list of recall production lot number (or production dates), they can also contain the damage better. Otherwise, it will seriously impact on the consumer's trust of this product, and that damage may spill over to the same product that is not contaminated (consumers stop buying, unsold food...). (well, however, sometimes tracing the contaminated products is not that easy. Last year, there is a news about FDA cites dirty equipment in cantaloupe outbreak)
Compared to automobile recall, this is much simpler in reverse logistics and has relatively less recall cost. 

(10/6/2012) Sony Xperia tablet is pulled out of the market after one month of launch. Sometimes you really what goes wrong with this old-time electronic manufacturer. How can this type of design defect even pass their internal quality control? Or they have no quality control at all?