Shifting into reverse: as supply chains grow more complex, shippers realize need for a separate returns process for speed, cost savings.(American consumers attitudes makes shipping logistics service a tough one)

American consumers, whose demands for ever-faster delivery of cheaper products helped stretch supply chains halfway around the world, are further complicating shippers' logistics with the increasingly heard refrain: Take it back, I wanted it in blue.

Logistics, said Andrew Lang,"is complex enough outbound. It's kind of crazy complex on the return."

"De-manufacturing" services that recapture the value of opened and returned products, remarketing to assure the maximum profit is preserved on returns, and government regulations that more frequently dictate what can sent to landfills and what can be reclaimed have brought reverse logistics out of its dimly lit …