Most of industries face the returns problems in a manual way. The process is usually quite intuitive; for example, trained operators in quality control open the received parcels, assign them a tracking number printed on an associated bar code label, and finally carefully inspect the article conditions; classifying in different variables each article, for example: the condition of the article, its age, visible defects or damages, seasonal category and other items returned, are assigned a disposition destination.
The following processes can be included within the classifications:
- Replace and return to inventory for immediate 95% of the items are not returned because there is something wrong with them, it is because of the customer's dissatisfaction.
- Repackaging for resale in a secondary Examples of this can be online stores or brick, or with a discount retailer.
- Repair, renew or This classification is especially for electronic products such as mobile phones and tablets.
- Return the supplier or manufacturer. Refers to most seasonal items purchased with a sales agreement that stipulates that the source will accept the inventory that was not sold.
What are the returns consequences?
When industries do not have automated systems, normally the returned items are inspected and labeled with a disposition destination, and then new crises begin for all manual operations. Flooded with a potentially overwhelming amount of discrete elements, managing your classification and routing can be a real challenge for dispatch centers.
The boxes and totes of the returned items can quickly overwhelm both the space allocated for temporary storage and the labor assigned to their management. Especially for installations with hundreds of thousands of square feet of conventional inventory storage, sending an operator to physically return an item to its original location can be a time-consuming task that affects the productivity of the company.
In the next blog we will talk to you about a storage system that will help you to manage with precision and quality each product returned to your workplace, which will give you greater productivity, certainty and control.
Do not let your resources waste time solving problems of returns and industrial processes, be part of technology and intralogistics innovation!
