AI for Supply Chain and Logistics · Solutions

Know what comes back, and why.

AI Reverse Logistics reads sales returns and the reasons given, shows which products and customers send items back most, and suggests where each returned piece should go. Routes include restock, repair, refurbish, supplier return, recycle and scrap. A person inspects and approves. Accounts keeps credit notes and refunds.

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What it is

Returns pile up at the dock. Nobody is sure whose job a returned carton is, the customer waits for a credit, and a perfectly good item loses its season.

This capability records why things come back, groups the causes, and proposes a route for each item once it has been inspected by your own quality team. You see which products return most. The storekeeper still decides. Accounts still issues the credit.

Where it goes wrong today

The problems this is meant to ease.

Cartons nobody owns

A returned carton arrives and sits at the dock. Warehouse, sales and accounts each assume another will handle it, and the customer waits for a credit.

Good stock losing its season

A sellable item waits for inspection for weeks. By the time it reaches the shelf the season, or its shelf life, has passed.

Reasons that cannot be counted

Returns are noted as free text on a delivery slip, if at all. Nobody can say whether sizing, packing or a supplier lot causes most of them.

Supplier faults absorbed by the business

A defective lot is returned by customers and quietly written off. The claim to the supplier is never raised because the paperwork was never gathered.

Returns that look wrong but are not examined

A customer who returns again and again is spotted by memory, if at all. Nobody checks the pattern, so it is either ignored or handled by guesswork.

Inside the module

What AI reverse logistics does.

Returns and exchanges in one record

Each return or exchange is logged against its original order and invoice, with the customer, the carrier and the date received. Nothing sits at the dock without a record.

Return reasons grouped

Free-text reasons such as torn pack, wrong size or arrived late are sorted into causes you can count, with the original wording kept alongside each one.

Condition recorded at inspection

At the bench, an inspector enters a grade, photos and a short note. The grade, not the customer’s description, drives what the screen proposes next.

Products and causes that repeat

Items, batches, suppliers, carriers and packing routes with repeated returns are listed. A bad lot is noticed before it ships to everyone who ordered it.

Suggested route per item

After inspection the screen proposes restock, repair, refurbish, return to supplier, recycle or scrap, using the grade the inspector entered. The inspector can override it.

Repair, refurbish and recycle steps

Items sent for repair or refurbishment get a job with an owner, parts used and a date back in stock. Recycled or scrapped items are logged with the reason and the weight or count.

Supplier claim list

Returns caused by a supplier’s fault are collected into a claim sheet with the purchase order, batch and photos attached for the buyer.

Unusual return patterns for review

One customer returning far more than others in the same segment is shown to a person, with the orders behind it. The screen accuses no one and decides nothing.

Where it gets used

What this looks like in a working week.

A retailer handling size and fit returns

Each return is tied to its order. Reasons are then grouped. The store manager sees that one style accounts for most size exchanges and raises it with the buyer.

A distributor of branded goods

Damaged-in-transit returns are tied to a carrier and a packing route. The logistics lead takes the pattern to the carrier and changes the packaging.

A workshop with warranty items

Failed units come back with a fault note. The technician grades each one, and repairable items go to a job while the rest are listed for a supplier claim.

A clinic supplier with batch recalls

Items from a named batch are traced to the customers who received them. Returns for that batch are routed to the supplier claim list.

A refurbisher of equipment

Returned units are graded, repaired and put back into stock with a note on the work done. Parts that cannot be saved are logged for recycling.

Who touches it

The people who open this every day.

Returns clerk

Logs each arrival against the original order and records the customer’s reason in their own words, then hands the carton to the inspector.

Quality inspector

Grades every returned item. Confirms or overrides the proposed route, and writes a short note whenever the screen’s suggestion is changed, so the reason is on file for accounts and the supplier.

Customer service lead

Answers where a customer’s return is without phoning the warehouse, because the status board shows the holder and the days waited so far.

Finance executive

Issues the credit note only once the item is graded, with the grade, the route and the inspector’s name on screen beside the original invoice.

How it is set up

From first conversation to daily use.

Discovery at the dock and in accounts
We follow a returned item from arrival to credit, noting who touches it and where it waits. The routes in use today and the people who decide them are written down.
Data readiness for orders and returns
Original orders, return reasons, grades and batch or serial numbers are checked for gaps. Where reasons are free text, we agree a short list of causes with the returns clerk.
A trial run on past returns
A month of past returns is sorted and routed on screen, with decisions hidden. Proposed routes are then compared with what was actually done.
A walk-through with the returns team
The returns clerk, inspector, customer service lead and accounts go through the screens together. Wrongly sorted returns are corrected and unclear grades are redefined.
Going live on one channel
One sales channel or product group starts logging returns on the new screens. The status board and supplier claim list are used alongside the old process for a while.
Review after a few weeks
The team looks at how long items waited, which routes were overridden and which causes recur. Reason lists, grades and routes are revised.

Measuring it

How you would know it is working.

Record where you stand before it goes live, so the change is measured against your own figures.

Return processing cost is the staff time and handling spent on each return. The baseline comes from a sample of returns timed before go-live.
Turnaround time is the days from a return arriving to its credit or restock, with the starting figure read from dates already on the records.
Recovery value is what comes back through restock, resale, refurbishment or supplier claims. Compare it with the value written off before the trial began.
Repeat causes counts how many returns share a product, batch or carrier cause, compared with the grouped reasons from a sample taken before the screen is used.

Used responsibly

Where a person stays in charge.

A person inspects and approves

The proposed route is a suggestion. An inspector confirms or changes it, and writes a short note when the screen’s suggestion is overridden.

Accounts keeps refunds and credits

The screen shows grade and route only. Your finance team issues credit under your own return policy. Refund and consumer law varies from one country to another. Writing that policy and keeping it current is your job.

Return abuse is a question, not a finding

A pattern is shown to a person with the orders behind it. The software never blocks a customer or accuses anyone. What to do about a pattern is decided by a manager.

Photos and customer details are limited

Inspection photos and contact details are visible to the roles that handle the return. Access is set per role, and your security adviser should review who sees what.

Recycling and disposal follow local rules

The workflow records what was scrapped or recycled. Rules on waste, electronics and hazardous goods differ by country, and your adviser sets them out; the software gives no compliance advice.

How it fits

It is one part of a system, not an island.

A module earns its place by what it passes to the next one. These are the connections we set up most often.

Sales returns
Purchase returns
Warehouse management
Quality control
Batch and serial tracking
Shipping integration

Already built in

Products that include it.

Built for you

How we would put it in.

Common questions

Questions owners ask about AI reverse logistics.

Does it approve refunds or credit notes?

No, it does not. It only shows grade and route. Your accounts team issues the credit under your own return policy, and because refund rules differ by country, that policy is yours to write and keep current.

Can it tell whether a return is fraudulent?

It can show that one customer returns far more items than others in the same segment, and a person then looks at the pattern. It accuses no one. It is no verdict on the customer.

What if returns are only a handful a month?

A sheet and a shelf will do. This starts to help when returns arrive daily, come from several channels or involve goods that can be resold only if handled quickly.

What does it need before it works?

Every return logged against its original order, with a reason and an inspection grade filled in at the dock by the clerk and the inspector. Without them it has nothing to sort.

How accurate is the sorting of reasons?

It improves with use, and no result is promised. Early on, a person checks the groups, fixes wrong ones and keeps the original wording. The corrections are kept and applied to later returns.

What does it connect to?

Your sales, purchase returns, warehouse and batch records, and a shipping tool if you use one. Some systems allow a direct link, while others need a scheduled export. We confirm which applies first.

Who approves a repair, refurbishment or scrap?

A named lead or the inspector, as you decide. The screen records who approved each route and why. Scrap above a value you set can require a second signature.

What effort does it ask of our staff?

A clerk logs each arrival and an inspector grades each item, usually within the same minutes at the bench. The extra entry is the price of knowing why things come back.

Who needs it most

Businesses that ask for this.

Next to it

Modules that work with it.

Talk to us

Tell us how you handle AI reverse logistics today.

A spreadsheet, a register or another system: say which, and we will tell you plainly what is worth changing.

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