Barriers Analysis for Reverse Logistics Implementation in Indian Electronics Industry using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process

Reverse logistics practices are gaining attention due to environmental concern, enforced legislation, rapid change in technology and corporate citizenship. Reverse logistics has been seen as a part of sustainable development due to reduction in pollution by using product again after end-of its life. The goal of this research paper is to identify and rank the barriers of RL adoption so organization can cultivate strategies to tackle them on priority. This paper proposes a methodology based on fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to prioritize the barriers of RL adoption. A numerical analysis of electronic industry of India is presented to demonstrate the use of the proposed method. This proposed method considered fuzzy framework that can handle impreciseness and uncertainty easily. This study identified 28 barriers through literature review and expert's opinion. These barriers were categorized into five major criteria. The result of the study indicates that Lack of coordination/collaboration with 3PL providers, Customer perception about RL and Lack of system to monitor returns are the three most important barriers of RL adoption. Electronics companies should overcome these barriers with higher priority for effective RL adoption. Finally sensitivity analysis is also performed to check changes in the ranking of RL adoption barriers by change in criteria weights.