Planning is the most critical fundamental. This involves demand forecasting, supply planning, and inventory optimization. You need to answer: How much do we need? When do we need it? Where should it be stored? A bad plan leads to stockouts (lost revenue) or overstock (dead cash).
Returning is the reverse logistics stage. It deals with handling defective, excess, or unwanted products returned by customers. It requires a structured network to receive returned products, inspect them, scrap them, or reintroduce them into inventory. fundamentals of supply chain management