An environmental management information system for improving reverse logistics decision-making

Abstract

Due to increased pressure from legislation, customers and the competitive environment, corporations are forced to consider product take-back and reprocessing. Such issues of reverse logistics cause significant intricacies which requires an adaption of prevalent decision-support models. Those models face severe criticism concerning the quality of fundamental data and transferability of its results. Hence, the practical usefulness and applicability of generated insights is doubtable. We propose an environmental management information system (EMIS) that ultimately helps to improve decision-making processes in reverse logistics. Hereby, we apply a design-science approach based on technical feasibility and business requirements. Therefore, we identify domain-specific information requirements and according information sources. In addition, we provide a description of those source systems and depict their interrelations. In sum, both academia and business practice may benefit from the developed artifact that is tailored for issues of reverse logistics.