Item-Level Traceability: How a 1920s Library System Still Shapes Modern Returns Processing
In 1900, John Cotton Dana solved a problem at the Newark Public Library that most modern brands still don't grasp. He understood that return scalability requires discipline at the unit level: every item needs its own history as it moves through the network. A century later, brands are finally learning to do the same thing, using item-level data not just to track returns, but to identify and fix design flaws to improve the quality of their products.