Abstract:
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of reverse logistics practices on
enhancing competitiveness in manufacturing firms in Kenya.
Methodology: The study population was 240 staff in the department of logistics Procurement and
Finance at East Africa Breweries Limited. A questionnaire with both open ended and closed
questions was used to collect raw data from the respondents. The simple random was carried out
and primary data was through the use of questionnaires. The secondary data was obtained from
published documents such as journals, periodicals, magazines and reports to supplement the
primary data. A pilot study was conducted to test the reliability and validity of the data collection
instrument. The data was analyzed with the help of SPSS. The study adopted a regression analysis
at 5% level of significance to determine strength and direction of the relationship of the variables
under study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data in frequency distributions and
percentages presented herein in tables of frequency distribution, percentages, bar graphs and piecharts.
The study adopted a multiple regression analysis so as to establish the relationship of
independent variables and dependent variables. The study applied SPSS compute the
measurements of the multiple regression analysis.
Results: The findings revealed that there exists a relationship between independent variables and
dependent variable with a correlation coefficient of 0.789. The coefficient of determination is
between zero and one. The data showed that the high R square is 0.622. It showed that the
independent variables in the study were able to explain 62.20% variation in the competitiveness of
the manufacturing firms while the remaining 37.80% is explained by the variables or other aspects
outside the model. This implies that these variables are very significant and they therefore need to
be considered in any effort to boost competitiveness of the manufacturing firms.
Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Based on the findings, the study
recommended that the manufacturing firms should collect used products to the repair workshops
from customers to make new products. The firms should train their employees on repair and
refurbishing of the products to meet customers‟ expectations. The manufacturing firms should repackage the product and resend the same product to the market. There is need to enhance
distributor returns the product for repackaging to the manufacturing firm and thus the firm is able
to save transport costs. Through repackaging the manufacturing firm is able to portray high levels
of responsibility and care for the end users. The study recommended that the manufacturing firms‟
returns used products and packaging to suppliers for recycling. There is need for awareness
creation to the public about recycling of the products, have a well documented and implemented
recycling policy. The study recommended that the manufacturing firm material handling, storage
locations should be where the shipping of the products to minimize picking time. The storage
locations will enable the firm to achieve competitive advantage by consistently reviewing sales
data as the items are stored close to the shipping area. The firm warehouse layout should be in such
that minimize travel time between picking locations. There is need to adopt material handling
technologies such as hand-held reader, pick to light and voice recognition technology to enhance
competitiveness of the firms.