Supply Channel Research Articles

Financial Profitability of Production and Marketing of Buffalo Milk in Lalitpur District, Nepal

Dairying is considered as a prestigious occupation among the agricultural sub-sectors in Lalitpur. The production of milk is concentrated in the peri urban and rural areas with the increase in demand for fresh milk in the urban areas. This study was conducted to analyse the economics of the production and marketing of buffalo milk in Lalitpur district, Nepal. This research was conducted from July 2021 to July 2022 collecting data from 123 respondents including farmers, collectors, key informants, and cooperatives working for milk related functions in Lalitpur district. The cost of rearing a milking buffalo was estimated NPR 5,762 per month, with the highest share of feed cost (47.8%) followed by labor cost (21.5%) and animal cost (13.1%). Results of Cobb-Douglas production function showed an increasing return to scale for milk production. Gross income, net income (per buffalo per month), and BCR were NPR 13,828, NPR 8,066, and 1.4, respectively. The cost of producing milk at the farmer’s level was far low than the National Dairy Development Board reported cost of production. The estimated mean technical efficiency was 92.41% for buffalo grower in a range of 88- 98%. Average monthly marketed surplus which was 92.7% of total production was around 3.05% less than the marketable surplus. Among the four milk marketing channels for buffalo milk supply, the longest channel i.e. Farmer-Collector-Large milk processors-Consumer has the highest price spread of 50.59% and producers’ share of 49.4%. The shortest channel i.e. Farmer – Collector –Consumer has the estimated price spread of 9.89% and producers’ share of 91.03%. Improving production and productivity is important in order to improve profit. The extension workers are suggested to make efforts and motivate farmers to acquire technical and management knowledge to increase dairy producers’ profits. Infrastructure development was below the standard for milking buffalo keeping and selling. Improving these weaknesses, study further suggest turning peri-urban regions of Lalitpur district as the primary milk production location within Kathmandu valley.

Design insights for upscaling spontaneous microfluidic emulsification devices based on behavior of the Upscaled Partitioned EDGE device

Microfluidic emulsification has the potential to produce emulsions with very controlled droplet sizes in a subtle manner. To support in unleashing this potential, we provide guidelines regarding upscaling based on the performance of Upscale Partitioned EDGE (UPE) devices, using rapeseed oil as the to-be-dispersed phase and whey proteins as the emulsifier. The UPE5x1 device (11,000 droplet formation units (DFUs) of 5 × 1 µm) produced 3.5-µm droplets (CV 3.2 %) at 0.3 mL/h; UPE10x2 (8,000 DFUs of 10 × 2 µm) produced 7-µm droplets (CV 3.2 %) at 0.5 mL/h, and at higher pressures, 32-µm droplets (CV 3–4 %) at 4 mL/h. These productivities are relatively high compared to those of other devices reported in literature (e.g., Microchannel, Tsukuba and Millipede, Harvard).Based on these results, and on others from literature, we conclude that: (1) the continuous phase channel dimensions need to be chosen such that they allow for gradual filling of this channel with droplets without decreasing the pressure over the droplet formation units significantly; (2) the dispersed phase supply channel design should create a wide stable droplet formation pressure range to increase productivity; and (3) higher productivities can be obtained through the choice of the ingredients used; low viscosity dispersed phase and an emulsifier that increases the interfacial tension without negatively affecting device wettability is preferred (e.g., whey protein outperforms Tween 20). These results and design guidelines are expected to contribute to the first food emulsion products prepared with microfluidics.

Сучасні технології автоматизації складської діяльності підприємств

The article is devoted to the study of new technologies in warehouses; the essence of the “distribution channel” is considered through the analysis of the definitions of this term by various authors; the difference between the supply channel, the goods movement channel and the distribution channel was analyzed; the main changes and problems in the field of distribution over the past few years have been identified; describes the most innovative technologies for digitalization of warehouses. The results of the study showed that the implementation of the latest technologies in warehouses will ensure the coordinated and fast work of all its links. Thus, the new blockchain technology guarantees the sovereignty and protection of data transmission between the user and the company, as well as avoiding the reuse of certificates of origin through real-time tracking of goods. It is guaranteed through cryptography, visibility and data usage, as well as ensuring equal access to all network participants. This technology provides protection and, at the same time, openness of enterprise data, which in turn will help prevent unfair competition in the industry. The Pick by Voice technology will help to significantly increase the efficiency of warehouse workers, because the operator does not waste time reading, has free hands and is not distracted by related operations. The implementation of Radio Frequency Identification will help enterprises to maximally systematize information about the product itself, which in turn will improve and speed up work with both suppliers and customers. Also, the introduction of robotics in warehouses will ensure the minimization of the human factor at the workplace and the reduction of employee salary costs. In general, the advantages of implementing these technologies significantly exceed the disadvantages or risks. The main advantage is the smooth operation of the warehouse, reduction of production maintenance costs, systematized information and tracking of goods. The disadvantages are the costs of implementing these projections, which are quite expensive. Therefore, the development of online business and the reduction of delivery times to the shortest terms have started a trend towards automation of even small warehouses. In turn, warehouses with huge flows of goods need large-scale systematization of all processes, which is possible only with the use of the latest warehousing technologies.

Supervisory forward guidance: the effectiveness of the 2020 euro area supervisory capital relief on the bank credit supply channel

Supervisory forward guidance: the effectiveness of the 2020 euro area supervisory capital relief on the bank credit supply channel

Regulatory capital and bank risk-resilience amid the Covid-19 pandemic: How are the Basel reforms faring?

In this paper, we address a long-standing policy question of whether higher levels of regulatory capital, ex-ante, makes banks risk-resilient in times of severe economic downturns. Using the Covid-19 crisis as an exogenous shock to the banking system in a difference-in-difference setting, the results indicate that banks with robust pre-crisis regulatory capital ratios are less risky (have a lower insolvency risk) relative to less-capitalized banks amid the crisis period. Further analyses provides evidence consistent with the presence of a potential credit supply channel. Overall, the results suggests that the post 2007-09 Basel reforms have succeeded, to some extent, in strengthening the risk-resilience of banks during the Covid-19 economic fallout.

Market of Kazakhstani organic products: problems of ensuring competitiveness

Organic agriculture is a new, promising direction for investment, which contributes to increasing the profitability and competitiveness of agricultural sector, new export supply channel, the possibility of attracting specialists to the village, additional source of income for the villagers that solve a number of environmental problems. The great popularity of organic products is that their production does not use chemical fertilizers, artificial additives, growth regulators, genetic engineering methods that have negative impact on human health and safety. The goal - is to present a comprehensive system analysis of the state of organic agriculture and the degree of competitiveness of Kazakhstan environmentally friendly products. Methods – comparative analysis, expert opinions, study of primary data. Results – classical and innovative ways of conducting agricultural production are shown. It was revealed that functioning of ecosystems is interconnected with such global socio-economic issues as sustainable development, climate change, food crises. The key factors that distinguish biological farming from traditional type are identified. A review of the key indicators of organic farming in leading countries has been conducted. The regions with the largest number of ecologically clean agricultural lands are presented. The results of the study were obtained using a system of econometric indicators in traditional and organic production. Conclusions – the market of organic products is one of the fastest growing in the world. The authors come to the conclusion that it is necessary to develop comprehensive universal tools that allow domestic ecological production to be competitive, produce products similar to other countries, and in the future to export ready-made natural food products. Priority should be given to the creation of an appropriate and effective regulatory framework.

Pricing Decision Models of the Dual Channel Supply Chain with Service Level and Return

The interests of upstream, midstream, downstream companies and consumers in the supply chain are jointly affected by service levels and returns. Improving service levels can increase market demand and improve market position, as well as reduce return rates. But the increase in service level will bring an increase in service cost. How to balance the service cost and return cost through pricing decision, so that the profit of supply chain members can be improved, is the problem studied in this paper. In this paper, we consider the effect of service level of network channel on consumers’ return behavior in the context of manufacturer’s dual-channel supply chain when dual channels provide services at the same time, and discuss the effect of service level and return rate on pricing decision of dual-channel supply chain. It was found that return behavior can stimulate manufacturers to improve service levels and increase overall supply chain profits. The higher the return rate in the network channel, the greater the benefits from improved service levels by the manufacturer and the less detrimental to retailers’ returns. This study enriches the research on pricing decisions in dual-channel supply chains, increases the motivation of merchants to improve service levels, and has some guiding implications for supply chain members to develop price and service strategies.

Environmental institutional supply that shapes a green economy: Evidence from Chinese cities

In the toolbox for environmental governance under urban governments, is environmental institutional supply an effective tool to advance the improvement of economic growth quality? This study used data mining and text analysis to obtain the institutional data of 278 cities in China on environmental pollution management and assesses the quality of urban economic growth from the perspective of pollution reduction and total factor productivity improvement. Regression analysis with the temperature inversion in cities as the instrument confirms that environmental institution supply has significantly reduced the PM2.5 emission concentration in China's urban economic growth. Increasing environmental institutional supply has a more salient effect on green transformation in inland cities relative to coastal cities. In a more in-depth discussion, we combined productivity analysis that considering resource and environmental constraints and panel quantile regression and found that, while having a positive effect on cities in the lower quantile of total factor productivity, environmental institutional supply has a negative effect on cities in the higher quantile. Promoting green technological innovation and increasing employment in the field of environmental protection are important channels for environmental institutional supply that shapes a green urban economy.

Research on Coordination Strategy of Dual Channel Supply Chain for Information and Service Sharing

E-commerce channels are favored by consumers with their low price strategy and cost advantages, while physical retail channels play games in the competition with efficient services. Each has its own advantages, which makes consumers flow between different channels, leading to conflicts between channels. This paper analyzes the dual-channel supply chain cooperation mode of information sharing and service sharing, explores the coordination model based on price compensation strategy, and discusses how the manufacturer's e-commerce channel and retailer's physical channel cooperate through the coordination incentive model based on price compensation strategy to achieve the total profit realized under centralized decision-making, and through service sharing to indirectly redistribute profits, achieving win-win cooperation between both parties.

Wheat supply logistics in wartime in Ukraine

The year 2022 was marked for the world as the year of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. The war caused considerable damage, not only to the Ukrainian economy, but also disrupted global economic relations. The agricultural sector was especially affected as agricultural enterprises cannot transfer their capacity to other, safer regions, like other sector enterprises, to conduct their activities. A significant part of the grain harvest was lost due to the war, so taking into account that Ukraine is one of the main exporters of grain, many countries did not receive the ordered deliveries. Among grains, in terms of value, wheat ranks third after corn and rice. Wheat is used not only for consumption but is also exported as seeds. Obstacles to harvesting, transportation, and export of wheat have become an extremely urgent issue for countries that are very dependent on the supplies of Ukrainian wheat. The purpose of the study is to develop a model of the Ukrainian wheat supply system in war conditions for groups of importing countries in terms of the volume and stability of supplies, to ensure food security. The ABC-XYZ analysis was used while conducting the study. This method is based on the use of statistical data on the volume of Ukrainian wheat supplies to other countries. According to this method, all countries are grouped in terms of their order volume and stability. This approach indicates the countries that are strategically important for Ukraine as a wheat exporter. As the results of the analysis show, at the beginning of the war, the behaviours of the wheat-importing countries changed. If they could previously diversify the wheat supply channels, choosing the most profitable channels for themselves, since 2022, many countries have cancelled supplies of wheat from the Russian Federation and have become more dependent on other producers. In addition, unfavourable weather conditions and the desire of powerful wheat producers to create additional stocks of wheat for their own needs have been added. It was found that such countries as Egypt, Indonesia, Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Libya are most dependent on Ukrainian wheat and have positive previous experiences of cooperation with Ukraine. The presented logistics model of wheat supply can be adapted to new changes, but the ultimate goal of its implementation should be to indicate conditions to ensure global food security.

Mathematical modeling of the theory of salt and salt dust

This article describes that at the moment the level of the Aral Sea and the volume of water has decreased rapidly. The desiccation of the sea affected the entire region of its former water area as a whole: ports were closed, fishing in industrial volumes stopped, since the salinity of the water increased almost 10 times, and many species of flora and fauna could not survive in dramatically changed conditions. The climate of the Aral Sea has also changed – winter has become colder and longer, and summer has become even drier and hotter. Salinization of unsalted arable lands and further salinization of saline soils increases every year due to wind dust and salt from the Aral Sea and other saline soils. To maintain the fertility of irrigated saline soils, their salinization is washed annually (mainly in autumn and winter). To do this, the lands are inspected and washed away. During the washing process, part of the water is absorbed into the ground and carries away part of the salt. Most of the water leaves the cultivated fields and returns to drainage channels, from which to water supply channels for irrigation of crops, and then to rivers. The distribution of the rate and concentration of salt and sand deposition depends on the height and time above the level, it was determined that a number of positive works were carried out to improve the condition of the soil, its rational use and increase soil fertility, as well as to maintain the fertility of irrigated saline soils, their washing.

Peculiarities and threats of managing humanitarian supply chains under martial law

The logistics of humanitarian cargo under martial law is definitely new for Ukraine. As a result, many business representatives rallied in a single cluster with the aim of organizing the supply of humanitarian aid in extremely difficult conditions. At the same time, logisticians have faced many significant problems and challenges, which has caused an increase in attention to humanitarian logistics. The military aggression of the Russian Federation created a large number of humanitarian threats, in particular ecocide. The scale of the destruction exceeded the worst forecasts of world experts. An important factor in the organization of humanitarian supply chain management processes in the conditions of this war is the high threat to people's lives. Due to the fact that air transport is not possible for obvious reasons, all deliveries are long and at high risk of disruption or physical destruction. Therefore, it is critically important to analyze the peculiarities of the organization of humanitarian supply chains, the main problems and challenges that logistics companies of Ukraine had to face in the conditions of martial law. It is important to perform such an analysis in order to take into account the specifics of the structure of the logistics system of humanitarian aid delivery, as well as the efficiency of its key elements. The search for solutions to establish a regular supply of humanitarian aid to Ukrainians in difficult war conditions requires a thorough analysis not only of supply channels, but also of possible threats to their organization.

Разработка методики расчета температуры внутренней стенки мультитопливной форсунки с учетом плотности теплового потока

The article presents results of development of a new method for temperature calculation of the multi-fuel nozzle inner wall based on data on heat flux. A patent search and an analysis of scientific and technical information on the multi-fuel nozzles were carried out. It was established that one of the most effective ways to prevent appearance and rapid formation of carbonaceous deposits in liquid hydrocarbon fuels was to reduce temperature of the metal wall. New formulae were obtained to calculate the inner surface temperature depending on the amount of heat-transfer agents and their thermophysical properties, geometric characteristics of the supply channels and the injector “dry” mass. A comparative theoretical calculation of the temperature decrease inside a single-fuel and a dual-fuel nozzles was carried out at different mass flow rates of kerosene. The results obtained indicate higher cooling efficiency of multi-fuel nozzles compared to the single-fuel ones.

Current Distribution in the Discharge Unit of a 10-Cell Vanadium Redox Flow Battery: Comparison of the Computational Model with Experiment.

Shunting currents are among the main problems of all-vanadium redox flow battery stacks since, in addition to capacity losses, they cause negative effects associated with the local destruction of electrodes and bipolar plates. The values of both the shunting currents and their destructive effects on materials can be reduced at the battery development stage by adjusting the resistance of the electrolyte supply channels. The solution to this problem can be found using a calculation model for current distribution based on the current balance in the nodes as well as voltage drops and electromotive force in internal circuits according to Kirchhoff's laws. This paper presents the verification of the model of current distribution in an all-vanadium redox flow battery stack of an original design that allows for the determination of membrane-electrode assembly resistances and electrolyte supply channels via direct measurements. Based on a comparison of the calculated and experimental values of the coulombic efficiency of charge-discharge cycles, the capacity fade associated with the crossover of vanadium compounds through the membrane has been determined.

Impact of Ceramic Matrix Composite Topology on Overall Effectiveness

Abstract Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are a material of interest for components in the hot section of gas turbine engines due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and high temperature capabilities. CMCs are a class of material made of macro scale woven ceramic fibers infiltrated with a ceramic matrix making them significantly different than their nickel superalloy counterparts. As CMCs are implemented into gas turbine engines, the effects of the inherent topology of the CMC weave on convective heat transfer must be understood. In this study, film cooling holes were integrated into a representative CMC weave for three test coupons that were printed using additive manufacturing. The three coupons included: one having a weave topology along the surface of the internal channel supplying coolant to the film cooling holes; one having a weave topology along the external film cooled surface; and one having a weave topology on both the coolant supply channel as well as the external film cooled surface. Overall effectiveness levels for the two cases with a weave surface on the external film cooled wall were measured to be lower than levels for the case with the smooth external surface. The external weave significantly increased the mixing of the coolant jet with the hot mainstream resulting in poor cooling.

The demographic transition and the asset supply channel

This paper examines the macroeconomic consequences of a demographic transition in an environment where a producer’s capital structure is relevant, thereby introducing an asset supply channel. Producers are heterogeneous with respect to how productive they are in different states of the world, and may pursue different combinations of safe and/or risky securities issuance when financing projects. I simulate a demographic transition calibrated to replicate the US experience starting in 1880. This transition results in modest increases in output, larger increases in saving as a whole and, particularly, in a relative increase in saving in the form of safe assets. Lower capital costs lead to producer entry (and more issuance) and to a tilt towards safe issuance. I show that omitting this asset supply channel, as standard representative firm models do, results in a quantitatively important overestimation of the transmission effects of the demographic transition, with larger output gains despite smaller interest rate reductions.

Construction of Equilibria in Strategic Stackelberg Games in Multi-Period Supply Chain Contracts

Almost every supplier faces uncertain and time-varying demand. E-commerce and online shopping have given suppliers unprecedented access to data on customers’ behavior, which sheds light on demand uncertainty. The main purpose of this research project is to provide an analytic tool for decentralized supply channel members to devise optimal long-term (multi-period) supply, pricing, and timing strategies while catering to stochastic demand in a diverse set of market scenarios. Despite its ubiquity in potential applications, the time-dependent channel optimization problem in its general form has received limited attention in the literature due to its complexity and the highly nested structure of its ensuing equilibrium problems. However, there are many scenarios where a single-period channel optimization solution may turn out to be myopic as it does not consider the after-effects of current pricing on future demand. To remedy this typical shortcoming, using general memory functions, we include the strategic customers’ cognitive bias toward pricing history in the supply channel equilibrium problem. In the form of two constructive theorems, we provide explicit solution algorithms for the ensuing Nash–Stackelberg equilibrium problems. In particular, we prove that our recursive solution algorithm can find equilibria in the multi-periodic variation of many standard supply channel contracts such as wholesale, buyback, and revenue-sharing contracts.

Global oil price uncertainty and excessive corporate debt in China

Oil price uncertainty has widely influenced the economic development of the world. This study explores the influence of oil price uncertainty on the excessive debt behavior of Chinese listed companies during 2010–2019. Our results show that a global oil price uncertainty can significantly reduce excessive corporate debt, and the impact is predominant among small, non-state-owned, non-high-tech, or non-energy firms. Results also show that oil price uncertainty acts from both demand and supply channels. In particular, at the demand level higher product-market demand can weaken the impact of oil price uncertainty, while at the supply level higher financing constraints can enhance the impact of oil price uncertainty. Our findings are robust to a range of tests. Under the construction of the market-oriented system, enterprises should establish differentiated financing decisions for different businesses to deal with oil price fluctuations, and financial institutions also need to pay more attention to the excessive debt phenomenon of different types of corporate under the uncertain oil price.

Global evidence of the exposure-lag-response associations between temperature anomalies and food markets

Recent years have witnessed a landmark shift in global food prices due to the frequency of extreme weather events caused by temperature anomalies as well as the overlapping risks of COVID-19. Notably, the threat posed by temperature anomalies has spread beyond agricultural production to all aspects across food supply and demand channels, further amplifying volatility in food markets. Exploring trends in global food prices will give nations early warning signs to ensure the stability of food market. Accordingly, we utilize the Distributed Lag Non-Linear Model (DLNM) to simultaneously establish the exposure-lag-response associations between global temperature anomalies and food price returns in two dimensions: “Anomaly Degree” and “Response Time”. Meanwhile, we also examine the cumulative lagged effects of temperature anomalies in terms of different quantiles and lag times. Several conclusions have been drawn. First, global food price returns will continue to decrease when the average temperature drops or rises slightly. While it turns up once the average temperature rises more than 1.1 °C. Second, major food commodities are more sensitive to temperature changes, and their price returns may also trend in a directional shift at different lags, with the trend in meat price being more particular. Third, food markets are more strongly affected in the case of extreme temperature anomalies. Many uncertainties still exist regarding the impact of climate change on food markets, and our work serves as a valuable reference for international trade regulation as well as the creation of dynamic climate risk hedging strategies.

Do FinTech Mortgage Lenders Fill the Credit Gap? Evidence from Natural Disasters

AbstractAfter exogenous demand shocks caused by natural disasters, FinTech lenders are more responsive to increased demand for reconstruction mortgages than traditional banks and non-FinTech shadow banks. Both FinTech and traditional banks increase credit supply, but FinTech supply is more elastic without increases in risk-adjusted interest rates or delinquency rates. Comparing lending supply channels, banks respond to regulatory incentives to lend to damaged areas, whereas FinTech lenders supply more credit when traditional banks rely more on balance sheet financing and physical branch networks. Compared to traditional banks, FinTech lenders increase supply elasticity more aggressively in response to local competitive pressure.