Unfortunately, however, retailers ordered holiday inventory when raw material prices were at all-time highs, so they will be passing along those cost increases to the consumer in order to preserve margins, the firm said.

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Reverse logistics means controlling the flow of material, inventory and finished goods from point of consumption to point of origin, for the purpose of recapturing value or proper disposal.

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For high value manufacturing, product variety is the single biggest driver of cost as it dictates the material requirements and inventory, which is typically over 80 percent of the total cost.

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Moreover, I believe that many Wall Street firms saw the meltdown coming and dumped inventory on an unsuspecting public through material misrepresentation.

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They need to complete workorders, create quotes, authorize material requisitions, check inventory levels, enter in their time and expenses and pull up a recent design.

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