Supply Channel Research Articles

USE OF ANTI-CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN THE COUNTRY'S FOOD SUPPLY

USE OF ANTI-CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN THE COUNTRY'S FOOD SUPPLY

PROBLEMATIC ISSUES OF THE EXCISE POLICY OF GEORGIA

The article considers problematic issues of excise policy related to the taxation of tobacco products. Changes in the excise duty rates on tobacco in Georgia over the last ten years are also discussed. Tobacco products (cigarettes) are commodities that are characterized by particularly inelastic demand and price changes reduce the demand for it to a lesser extent. If different taxes, iincluding the excise duty rates on cigarettes have risen sharply above reasonable levels, making them inaccessible to a statistically significant number of consumers, a strong motivations appears instantly, and illegal supply channels are quite quickly setting up. Such a scheme of development of the situation has taken place many times around the world, even in much more economically developed countries, where the share of tobacco spending in citizens' budgets is much lower. Comparing the codified versions of different periods of the Tax Code and other normative acts, it it has been established that from 2011 to 2021, excise rates on filtered cigarettes increased by an average 5.6 times, and on unfiltered cigarettes - 19 times. The share of taxes (excise and VAT) already exceeds 75% of the average retail selling prices for cigarettes. The reason for the multiple increase in the tax burden on tobacco products is usually the international obligations of the country, both in terms of tobacco taxation to the World Health Organization and in the framework of the Association Agreement with the European Union. Fiscal purposes were also important in implementing the excise policy. The state needed to find additional sources of revenue for financing the increased public expenditure, and under Georgian law, excise duty is the only common State tax that can be increased without a referendum. A sharp rise in excise rates has significantly increased the tax burden on tobacco consumption. This has led to a series of unforeseen consequences. According to official statistics, both local production and imports of tobacco products have significantly decreased. As a result, the demand for excise stamps has sharply decreased. Therefore, the fiscal effect of the multiple increase in excise duty rates on tobacco has been largely offset. However, the reduction in the intensity of tobacco use is not confirmed by any reliable research or reasonable estimates. This indicates that we are dealing with a significant increase in excise duty-free cigarette smuggling and illicit trafficking. This fact is confirmed by statistics - there is a sharp increase in both administrative and criminal offenses in this field. This situation and the discussion of the relevant threats is the subject of this article. We think that excise policy, especially with regard to tobacco products, is one of the most important issues in recent years, which needs to be addressed.

An optimization-based approach for managing downstream logistic operations: A real application in pandemic outbreak conditions

One of the most destructive effects of pandemics and epidemics outbreak is the severe deficiency of basic goods needed by society, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. Therefore, designing an efficient managerial model for making operative modifications in logistics networks beside the governmental financial support policies is considered as one of the most important managerial challenges in the critical situation of the prevalence of infectious diseases that is not investigated in the literature. In this paper, an optimization-based approach is developed to design the supply, production, and distribution channels of basic goods using the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under direct supervision of the government in order to increase both the agility and resilience of logistics networks. Since the NP-hardess of the discussed problem, an iterative two-step heuristic based on local search (ITbLS) is developed to solve the proposed problem. According to the numerical results, it can be observed that the proposed algorithm has a good performance to obtain near-optimal solutions for the case study. Moreover, the numerical analyses indicate that the percentage of the active capacity of suppliers, transportation fleet, SMEs, and distribution centers, is specifically dependent on the amount of demand and the number of the established SMEs. In general, managerial results of the proposed model make supply chains more efficient by exploiting the capacity of SMEs and improve the government finaical resources allocation to the private sector to supply basic goods in critical situations.

Robotic Endoscope System for Future Application in Minimally Invasive Laser Osteotomy: First Concept Evaluation

We are developing a robotic system for future application in minimally invasive laser osteotomy. This paper presents the mechanical system concept as a macro-milli-micro system and focuses on designing and evaluating the milli-system. The milli-system consists of an articulated tendon-driven robotic endoscope with seven rigid links with an outer diameter of 8mm connected by six discrete rotational joints (±30°). These joints can be controlled individually, however, controlling one joint’s motion influences all joints located more distally, making joint control an interesting challenge. Controlling each joint as desired will allow positioning the micro-system mounted at the endoscope’s tip. The micro-system is itself a robot that will accurately position the laser. The robotic endoscope incorporates a hollow core with a diameter of 4.8mm that holds a supply channel for the micro-system with the necessary means for actuation and surgical intervention. We demonstrated the functionality of the robotic endoscope in tracking experiments. Despite the joints’ mutual influence, the articulated robotic endoscope could be handled successfully and achieved an angular settling error of less than 1° in the individual joints. The overall robotic system’s functionality was successfully demonstrated with a time-synchronized joint movement of the macro-system (serial manipulator) and the robotic endoscope.

Bending stiffness variability between a deployable robotic laser osteotome and its insertion device

Abstract Varying device stiffness on purpose can provide safety and performance improvements in interventions involving flexible minimal-invasive surgical robotic devices. For example, when flexible robotic devices are used for inserting minimal-invasive tools along curved paths into the knee joint for arthroscopy, a high device stiffness can allow precise path following where desirable. In contrast, when the minimalinvasive flexible device has reached its desired location inside the patient’s body, decoupling the surgical tool (end-effector) from the flexible robotic insertion device can be beneficial in avoiding transferring disturbances such as vibrations to the robot-patient interaction. In this paper, we investigate bending stiffness variability in dependence on the length of a flexible supply channel. Our experiments have shown that bending stiffness in fact decreases with the length of the supply channel but the highest stiffness connection is not sufficiently rigid and we plan to implement a more rigid connection to allow precise path following during insertion.

Dual channel supply chain inventory policies for controllable deteriorating items having dynamic demand under trade credit policy with default risk

Presently in the commercial environment, because of the high level of market globalization and rapid increase in industrialization, supply chain synchronization is playing an increasingly significant role in the proper management of the whole system including several factors at the same time. In real business world, both manufacturer and retailer accept credit to make their business position strong, as credit not only strengthens their business relationships but also increases the scale of their profits. The long period of credit may increase the demand ratebut simultaneously it can also increase the credit risk. We investigate a two-layer supply chain model under dynamic demand with a manufacturer and a retailer maintaining decaying items with controllable deterioration rates under two levels of trade credit policies. For the time of trade credit granted to the retailer, the manufacturer bears opportunity costs. To promote sales and optimize sales volume, both supply chain participants give trade credit periods to downstream members and due to the credit period, both of them are facing default risk. Both members work together to invest in preservation technologies to abate the rate of degradation. The proposed models are developed for both the centralized and the decentralized scenarios. A closed form model having profit maximization problem is developed for both the centralized and the decentralized scenarios. The focus of this study is to obtain the optimal selling price, replenishment cycle time, preservation technology cost, upstream and downstream trade credit period to optimize supply chain profit. The paper’s novelty lies in introducing two level trade credit with default risk considering decaying items with controllable deterioration and price and credit sensitive customer’s demand in a dual channel supply chain inventory policy. It is found that joint supply chain model can be able to enhance the total profit of the whole supply chain. Lastly, sensitivity analysis highlights the influence of major model parameters using numerical examples.

An Evaluation of the Reflective Constructs Influencing Community Pharmacists’ Decision-to-Procure from Pharmaceutical Suppliers: A Structural Equation Modeling Study

In low-and middle-income countries, patients’ access to affordable medicines is a perennial challenge at all levels of healthcare delivery. Community pharmacists are expected to bridge the supply and demand gap. Unlike the plethora of studies done at the hospital and government institutions level, there is a paucity of empirical evidence on the factors influencing medicine procurement decisions from supply channels at the community pharmacy level. The study aimed to investigate the influence of community pharmacists’ professional and entrepreneurial considerations on their decision-to-procure from medicine suppliers. A cross-sectional survey which adopted a self-administered questionnaire approach to obtain primary data from randomly sampled respondents (N=398) from three purposively selected states in southwestern, Nigeria. Structural equation modeling (SEM) methodology was used to test the hypothesized model at p<0.05. The study revealed acceptable model fit and validity measures for measurement and structural models. Cost and profitability factors were significant predictors of decision-to-procure compared to service and product quality factors among respondents [β=0.343, p=0.001 vs. β=0.044, p=0.606]. Product selection had a positive moderating effect on cost and profitability factors [t=1.980, p=0.048] and a negative directional effect on service and product quality factors in the hypothesized model [t=-2.960, p=0.003]. Community pharmacists should balance financial considerations with a professional focus to ensure patients’ access to quality and affordable medicines. Study outcomes suggest the development and implementation of universally acceptable guidelines on medicine procurement in community pharmacy settings in low-and middle-income countries. The study validated the SEM model for evaluating priorities influencing community pharmacists’ buying decisions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to use the SEM framework to explore factors informing drug procurement decisions from the community pharmacists’ perspective in low-and middle-income countries.

RESILINK: increasing resilience of smallholders with multi-platforms linking localized resource sharing

Agriculture is an important sector for income generation, employment and food security in North Africa. Increasing the resilience of smallholders to face unexpected crises is a multidimensional challenge that requires a multifaceted policy. However, common to most crisis situations, the restrictions on movements has many impacts on the availability of distant resources such as agricultural supplies, equipment, services, labours and access to markets to name a few. RESILINK [1] is a Research & Innovation Action (RIA) project funded by the PRIMA organization in the context of the 2021 Section 2 call on Increasing the resilience of small-scale farms to global challenges and COVID-like crisis by using adapted technologies, smart agri-food supply chain and crisis management tools. RESILINK will increase smallholder’s resilience by providing continuity of access to both resources and markets in crisis situations. It will empower the local agri-food value chain model by optimizing usage of local resources, promoting and generalizing local resource sharing approach and facilitating territorial markets. This local agri-food value chain model will also be integrated with the local e-commerce, supply & distribution channels. The concept of localized and short agri-food value chain will also impact on the agro ecological system by minimizing the food losses and contributing to the climate & environment changes with shorter food supply chains and logistics. As a result, new and local innovative services can be identified and created, enhancing further the smallholders' agri-food chain. To implement the generalizing local resource sharing approach, RESILINK will develop a distributed digital resource management platform for real-time exchange of information on territorial resources and supplies & demands; connecting smallholders to new supply, sharing opportunities and distribution channels. While the ideas of connecting smallholders to market and sharing resources are not new, the approach taken by RESILINK is to provide a unique platform-of-platforms capable of integrating existing or future platforms into comprehensive dashboards/portfolios. To achieve its objectives, RESILINK will: develop a resilient RESILINK network ensuring high availability of services where number of distributed, light-weight and collaborating platforms that will be run on the network of Edge-IoT gateways; implement the platform-of-platforms approach for large-scale adoption and sustainability: (a) RESILINK wrapper components will enable resources from existing digital platforms to be discovered & integrated and, (b) RESILINK open API will allow development of new digital sharing platforms that can fully inter-operate with the RESILINK digital resource management platform to benefit from the RESILINK community; use cutting-edge modern Artificial Intelligence where RESILINK’s digital platform will leverage contextual intelligence to efficiently discover resources, identify trends, forecast and propose pertinent correlated resources; seamlessly integrate IoT technologies to automatize a number of information exchanges related to resource sharing. RESILINK will further develop Edge-IoT components and demonstrate IoT integration benefits for resource sharing; run an extensive piloting & evaluation program with smallholders for large-scale testing to ensure RESILINK’s concepts acceptance and validate RESILINK components in a step-by-step and incremental manner

Supply spillovers during the pandemic: Evidence from high-frequency shipping data.

World trade contracted dramatically during the global economic crisis induced by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Disruptions in international supply chains were widely reported as governments imposed containment measures (lockdowns) to halt the spread of the disease. At the same time, demand declined as households and firms scaled back spending. This paper attempts to disentangle the supply and demand channels in trade by quantifying the causal effect of supply spillovers from lockdowns. We utilise a novel dataset of daily bilateral seaborne trade and design a shift‐share identification strategy that leverages geography‐induced cargo delivery lags to track the transmission of supply disruptions across space. We find strong but short‐lived supply spillovers of lockdowns through international trade. Moreover, the evidence is suggestive of the downstream propagation of countries' lockdowns through global supply chains. The short‐lived nature of the disruptions despite the unprecedented scale of the shock caution against any blunt use of trade and tax policies to create costly redundancies in global supply chains.

IMPACT OF CATALYTIC FUEL ADDITIVE ON CLINKER PRODUCTION PROCESS

Industrial studies of the effect of supplying a liquid catalytic fuel additive to 4 clinker kilns operating according to the dry method on the quality characteristics of clinker, the operation of technological equipment and environmental indicators have been carried out. The supply of REDUXCO catalytic additive with a flow rate of at least 100 mg/t of fuel into the primary air channels of the furnace burner and the air supply channels to the calciner helped to reduce the specific energy consumption of fuel by 3.6–6.7% when using anthracite as fuel; for petroleum coke - by 3.4–3.6%; mixtures of coal and RDF - by 5.7%. An increase in the content of alite - the main component of clinker - by 0.46–0.9% and a decrease in the content of free calcium oxide by 0.9% as a result of an increase in temperature in the sintering zone due to the intensification of gas-phase combustion reactions. Experimental confirmations of the improvement of the stability of the clinker kiln operating modes and the reduction of the carbon monoxide content in the exhaust gases were obtained. Bibl. 14, fig. 7, table. 1.

Synchronously managed water and heat transportation for highly efficient interfacial solar desalination

Interfacial photothermal water evaporation technology has shown great potentials in the fields of water resource exploitation and solar energy utilization. The trade-off between rapid evaporation and salt accumulation has been continuously explored in recent years. Herein, a two-stage evaporator (TSE) that synchronously manages the water and heat transportation is introduced. The TSE is designed to improve the evaporation rate by harvesting the dissipated heat including the radiative and convective heat losses on the surface of the solar absorber together with the conductive heat loss to the insulator. The surface temperature of the upper solar absorber is lower than that of a conventional single-stage evaporator (SSE) with a thermal insulator because energy from the upper evaporation surface is partially transferred to the secondary evaporation surface. Importantly, the typical TSE configuration improves the evaporation rate of the traditional SSE from 1.39 to 1.57 kg m−2 h−1, which excludes the contribution of the ambient energy-assisted heating to evaporation. Importantly, by introducing a unilateral water supply channel, the TSE maintains a high evaporation flux of 1.48 kg m−2 h−1 in saline water with a concentration of up to 20% (w/w). The synchronous scheme of water and heat management provides an effective way to overcome the contradiction between rapid evaporation and salt accumulation.

The spatial evolution and optimization of supply channels for marine products consumed in China

ABSTRACT We introduce quaternary and ternary diagrams to analyze temporal-spatial changes in the supply and demand shares of marine products, respectively. Subsequently, we build a marine product supply selection model to calculate the quantities of marine products furnished by supply channels and estimate the demand for marine products in China’s three coastal areas. These are used to demonstrate the supply gap of marine products in China before we optimize and adjust the supply scheme of marine products for China. The results show that China’s coastal areas import large volumes of fish, crustaceans and molluscs. In the Bohai Bay Rim, the domestic supply of marine products (except for fish and crustaceans) is greater than imports, while in the Yangtze River Delta and Southern China coastal areas, the domestic supply of all marine products is greater than imports. Domestic channels thus cannot fully satisfy coastal demand for marine products. In order to meet the demand, China should enlarge its imports from Europe and Asia, encourage ocean-going fishing vessels to directly transport all harvests back to China, and strengthen fishing port construction so as to promote the development of China’s seafood imports and pelagic fisheries.

Water biological resources in the structure of environmental problems of energy facilities

THE PURPOSE. The study of a fish protection structure such as a water-air curtain as an example of an ecological solution to the problem of conservation of aquatic biological resources at an energy facility.METHODS. A comparative analysis of our own research and literature data on the use and evaluation of the effectiveness of fish protection structures (FPS) has been carried out. For the selection of ichthyological samples, mesh networks of 10, 18, 22, 30 and 70 mm were used, installed in front of the water supply channels to the shore pumping stations (SPS). When analyzing the efficiency of the FPS, the methods of fish accounting are considered: the method of catching fish and the procedure for conducting observations at the facility. The assessment of fish ingress to the SPS (after the FPS) was carried out by round-the-clock observations of fish penetrating into the water supply channel in comparison with their ingress to the water-retaining rotating nets of water treatment machines on the SPS. The efficiency coefficient was determined by the difference in the concentration of fish before the FPS (at the reservoir) and after the FPS (at the SPS).RESULTS. It is shown that the efficiency coefficient of the FPS by the type of water-air curtain averaged 86.9%, which exceeds the regulatory efficiency. It has been revealed that a fish protection structure (FPS) by the type of a water-air curtain is the most environmentally friendly technical solution for water intake at power facilities.CONCLUSION. The improvement of the ecological situation in the area of the location of the RSL by the type of water-air curtain in terms of the concentration of oxygen in the water and the reduction of trophies due to the oxidation of organic substances was noted.concentration in water and of decrease in trophy due to the oxidation of organic substances.

Retailer’s optimal CSR investment in closed-loop supply chains: the impacts of supply chain structure and channel power structure

Retailer’s optimal CSR investment in closed-loop supply chains: the impacts of supply chain structure and channel power structure

Research on Dual Channel Supply Chain Decision Making of New Retailing Enterprises Considering Service Behavior in the Era of Big Data

Drawing from extant retailing and supply chain research, this paper studies the dual channel supply chain decision-making of member channel, and obtains the optimal price strategy, maximum demand and maximum total revenue of the supply chain of network channel and retailing channel under the centralized decision-making and decentralized decision-making respectively. The contributions of this study identify that investing in big data within a certain threshold can improve the channel service level, reduce the channel price and improve the income of the supply chain. Supply chain members improve the channel service level and increase the corresponding channel price. The supply chain can get the most advantages when manufacturers and retailers make centralized decisions. This paper provides a starting point for new retailing academic and practical research in a domain that is deficient in empirical research, provides the theoretical framework to new retailing enterprises and decision-making model for their sustainable competitive advantage.

Limited Utility of Self-made Oxygen Generators Assembled From Everyday Commodities During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated pre-existing oxygen supply gaps all over the world. In fact, oxygen shortages occurred in affluent areas with highly developed healthcare systems. The state-of-affairs created much suffering and resulted in potentially preventable deaths. Meanwhile, several international activities have been initiated to improve oxygen availability in the long-term by creating new networks of oxygen plants and supply channels. However, disasters such as the current pandemic may require rapid, autarkic oxygen production. Therefore, we determined whether oxygen resilience could conceivably be improved through self-made oxygen generators using material that is easily available even in remote areas. The team comprised engineers and physicians with hands-on experience in low- and middle-income countries. We constructed and tested self-made setups for water hydrolysis and membrane-based oxygen purification. We must conclude, however, that the massive amounts of oxygen patients with COVID-19 require cannot be reasonably met with such simple measures, which would require high efforts and hold potential risks.

The Model Strategy of Offering Microtakaful under Perlindungan Tenang Initiative/ Model Strategi Penawaran Takaful Mikro di bawah Inisiatif Perlindungan Tenang

This article discusses the strategy of offering microtakaful under Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is an initiative named “Perlindungan Tenang", there are three takaful companies are participating in this initiative. Therefore, this study was conducted on BNM and three takaful companies to look at the micro takaful offering strategies. This study used qualitative methods that conducted interviews with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the three Takaful companies involved. Then, the data are analysed using thematic analysis, which discusses the theme of product design, participation response, distribution channel, participation method, physical product offering, contribution payment method, and product promotion method. Besides, the analysis in this study also used comparative analysis to compare the strategies of offering micro takaful with three takaful companies and documentation analysis involving analysis of journals, books, conference papers, and websites related to corroborate the findings of the analysis. The results of the analysis found that the takaful product coded as product C has the best strategy in terms of the first aspect, a simple product design. Second, the response to participation was so good that group offerings had to be discontinued. Third, the method of offering in collaboration with Agro Bank branches throughout the state. Fourth, participatory methods are offered individually and in groups. Fifth, the physical offer products in the form of cards when joining the scheme. Sixth, the method of payment of contributions at Agro Bank branch counters for individual participation and group participation can be paid to the head or representative. Lastly seventh, the method of promoting the product is offered in collaboration with Agro Bank to customers who deal directly or indirectly with the customers of this bank. Overall, this study can produce a micro takaful offering strategy model that has the characteristics and advantages of product design, supply channel strategy and product promotion method, supply method strategy, and payment method as well as product physical strategy after a comparative analysis of the three products. offering takaful products under this initiative.

Co-firing의 위험분석 및 완화방안: 인도네시아 사례로부터

The co-firing program initiative in Indonesia involves mixing a portion of biomass into the coal that is being used for the operation of coal power plants. It is expected that biomass will replace 10% of the coal that currently is being used by 2025. Through robust risk analysis and appropriate mitigation plans, all of the challenges and obstacles that are encountered should be overcome, thereby achieving the desired goals of the renewable policy. This research assesses the risk of co-firing based on the empirical data of the coal powered plants in Indonesia. The two extreme risk factors of co-firing are identified as the discontinuous supply of the required volume of biomass and the low quality of the available biomass. The remaining risk factors, which are classified as moderate, are the technical efficiency, reliability, the cost of the fuel, environmental impact, the management of the Fly Ash Bottom Ash (FABA), and the decreasing quality of the biomass. We found that the greatest challenge in implementing co-firing power plants is not their technical readiness; rather, it is the development of the supply channel, using the advantage of the abundant local biomass potential. As such, risk mitigation measures are needed to sustain the supply of biomass for the long term and to ensure that the biomass is available at a competitive price to ensure that electricity can be supplied at an acceptable price.

3D Mapping of Bone Channel of Blood Supply to Femoral Head in Proximal Femur.

BackgroundA detailed depiction of nutrient foramina is useful for defining guidelines and minimising iatrogenic damage during hip surgery. Therefore, this study aimed to define the location and frequency of nutrient foramina in the proximal femur using mapping techniques.MethodsOne hundred dry human cadaveric proximal femurs, comprising 56 left and 44 right femurs, were scanned using a three-dimensional scanner, with scanning distance 200 mm, precision 0.01 mm, and measuring point 0.04 mm. The image resolution of 1,310,000 pixels was obtained. Digital imaging models were acquired from the proximal femur surface. All the nutrient foramina in each model were identified and marked. The nutrient foramina models were superimposed on one another and oriented to fit a standard template of the femur’s proximal aspect. Three-dimensional mapping in the proximal femur’s nutrient foramina was performed.ResultsThe nutrient foramina’s location and dense zones were identified. The dense zones were distributed along the vascular course and gaps between the muscle attachment sites. Eighteen dense zones were identified and found to be location-dependent. They were located in the central part of the fovea capitis femoris, subcapital and basicervical areas of the femoral neck, and muscle attachment gaps of the femoral trochanter.ConclusionsThe terminal branch of the nutrient vessels entering the nutrient foramina is at risk for iatrogenic damage during hip surgeries, especially in cases of close bone exposures. There are 18 dense zones that need to be considered for a safer approach to the proximal femur. To minimise iatrogenic damage to the nutrient vessels entering the nutrient foramina, the dense areas should be avoided when technically possible.

The Macroeconomic Impact of the 1918–19 Influenza Pandemic in Sweden

Abstract In this paper, we develop an overlapping generations model with endogenous fertility and calibrate it to the Swedish historical data in order to estimate the economic cost of the 1918–19 influenza pandemic. The model identifies survivors from younger cohorts as main benefactors of the windfall bequests following the influenza mortality shock. We also show that the general equilibrium effects of the pandemic reveal themselves over the wage channel rather than the interest rate, fertility or labor supply channels. Finally, we demonstrate that the influenza mortality shock becomes persistent, driving the aggregate variables to lower steady states which costs the economy 1.819% of the output loss over the next century.