Closed-Loop Supply Chains: A Strategic Overview

Managers that consider a closed-loop supply chain just another environmental initiative need to update their thinking. Modern firms that use closed-loop supply chains as a competitive strategy receive many benefits—particularly higher profitability and control over a product’s entire lifecycle. In fact, the market for multiple lifecycle products continues to grow, with estimates holding that remanufactured product sales exceed $100 billion per year. As a result of analyzing the ever-growing remanufacturing sector through years of working with managers in numerous industries, various levers and themes surrounding effective closed-loop supply chain strategies became apparent. This chapter presents these findings and shows how firms in multiple industries experienced both successes and failures of their closed-loop supply chain strategies, recently also synonymously called circular economy strategies.