Initial Collection Point Research Articles

How the Impact of Social Media Influencer Disclosures Changes over Time

Despite substantial research on disclosure-related effects in social media influencer advertising, less is known about the impact of varied exposure levels on social media influencer advertising outcomes over time. Through a mixed-factorial online experiment, the authors of this study explore how evaluative persuasion knowledge expressed through skepticism mediates the effects of disclosures and exposure level on brand attitude and purchase intention measured at an initial data collection point and a second one 20 days later. Of specific interest to managers using social media influencer advertising, this article finds that multiple exposures to promotional social media influencer content has negative short-term effects for the brand that appear to dissipate over time.

Model for Reverse Logistic Problem of Recycling under Stochastic Demand

It has become obligatory for businesses to carry out recycling activities in the face of increasing environmental pollution and the danger of depletion of natural resources. The waste collection phase of the recycling process requires interactive transportation that uses a reverse logistics flow from customers to recycling facilities. Businesses need to create appropriate network structures to carry out these activities at minimum cost. This study has developed a model, based on reverse logistics, of collecting products from customers and sending them to warehouses and then to recycling facilities. The chance-constrained programming (CCP) approach was used to regulate the constraints involving stochastic demand in the model. Linearization was performed using the linear approximation method. The cost of transportation from Initial Collection Points (ICP) warehouses to recycling facilities is the most influential component on the objective function. This linearized model was solved by creating different scenarios by changing the standard deviation ratio, reliability level, and warehouse capacities within the scope of sensitivity analysis. In the sensitivity analysis, it was determined that the increase in confidence level and variance negatively affected the objective function. In addition, it has been concluded that the increase in demand has no effect on costs as long as the capacity of the facility is not exceeded.

Determining the optimal collection period for returned products in a stochastic environment

As the customer centricity has become a norm for today's business practices, a growing number of firms adopted liberal product return policies. Such policies, however, can backfire due to their costly operations and unpredictability associated with product returns. To minimise the adverse impact of product returns on the firm's bottom line and enhance customer satisfaction with hassle-free handling of product returns processes, we develop and propose a mathematical model that determines the optimal collection period at an initial collection point (ICP) before transshipping the returned products to a centralised return centre (CRC) while taking into account the uncertain rate of returns for these products. To reflect the complexity and uncertainty of the product return processes, we formulate a general model for daily returns following a discrete probability distribution and analyse the case for Poisson distribution.

When ivory came from the seas. On some traits of the trade of raw and carved sea-mammal ivories in the Middle Ages

Even if it played a part, it is not so much the lesser availability of elephant ivory as the Norse expansion in the Northern Atlantic that brought the success of walrus ivory throughout Western Europe and far beyond. The strength of demand did not only bring the extinction of the species in Iceland, but it was also, most probably, one of the main drivers of the sustained Norse settlement of Greenland. Maybe for the first time, at least for such an important luxury production, the division between the places the commodity was gathered and those it was processed is complete. The main workshops were in Norway, mostly in Trondheim, but also in Germany, in England, long after the end of the Danelaw, and even in France and in Castila. Raw tusks were traded, but also carved ivories, which sometimes went back to the initial collection point. Another ivory exported from the Arctic seas, narwhal teeth are even more problematic. The Greenland Norse probably never were in contact with the live sea mammal, but would find its inidentifiable body, or fragments of it, on the shore, after the animals had been eaten by killer whales.

Design of a multi echelon product recovery embeded reverse logistics network for multi products and multi periods

Product recovery, accompanied by cradle to cradle policies from the contemporary supply chain, becomes an essential element in meeting environmental compliance and waste management policies. Incorporation of reverse logistics into the traditional supply chains becomes a complementary factor for efficient product recovery. To begin with product recovery, consumers are encouraged to return their end-of-use/end-of-life products, and the steps of collecting and planning the movement of returned products are crucial decisions. The efficient planning of a cost effective recovery process in reverse logistics requires dealing with the uncertainty underlying in the quantity and quality of the returned products. In this paper, we propose establishing an initial collection point within a permissible radius of the customer zones to overcome some of the issues of uncertainty. The uncertainty in the quantity and quality of the returned products are modelled using fuzzy triangular numbers. To capture the real world conditions of the proposed problem, our model aims at maximizing the profit incurred in the recovery process in an uncertain environment. The model was solved with the help of fuzzy mathematical programming. The model is validated by a company case belonging to the manufacturing of electronic products. To increase the applicability of the product recovery process in the industry, we propose a recovery process for the planning horizon consisting of multi periods and multi products. The outcomes of the proposed model indicate that for the successful realisation of such network, customers need to be legally enforced to return their end of used products in the channels established for value recovery.

Optimization Model and Algorithm for Responsive Closed-Loop Supply Chain Logistics Network with Direct Shipment under E-Commerce

In view of the characteristic of goods return in electronic commerce which some returned goods can be redistributed directly to customers after handling simply, a responsive closed-loop supply chain logistics network with integrating forward and reverse flow is researched. The returning feature of online commodity and economy of scale of return goods at initial collection point are based, and the optimization design model of closed-loop supply chain network aiming at determining the number and location of hybrid centers and initial collection points is presented, and a hybrid genetic algorithm is devised to solve the closed-loop supply chain logistics network problem. The usefulness of the proposed model and algorithm is validated by its application to an illustrative example.

A Reverse Logistics Network Model for Handling Returned Products

Due to the emergence of e-commerce and the proliferation of liberal return policies, product returns have become daily routines for many companies. Considering the significant impact of product returns on the company's bottom line, a growing number of companies have attempted to streamline the reverse logistics process. Products are usually returned to initial collection points (ICPs) in small quantities and thus increase the unit shipping cost due to lack of freight discount opportunities. One way to address this issue is to aggregate the returned products into a larger shipment. However, such aggregation increases the holding time at the ICP, which in turn increases the inventory carrying costs. Considering this logistics dilemma, the main objectives of this research are to minimize the total cost by determining the optimal location and collection period of holding time of ICPs; determining the optimal location of a centralized return centre; transforming the nonlinear objective function of the proposed model formulation by Min et al. (2006a) into a linear form; and conducting a sensitivity analysis to the model solutions according to varying parameters such as shipping volume. Existing models and solution procedures are too complicated to solve real-world problems. Through a series of computational experiments, we discovered that the linearization model obtained the optimal solution at a fraction of the time used by the traditional nonlinear model and solution procedure, as well as the ability to handle up to 150 customers as compared to 30 in the conventional nonlinear model. As such, the proposed linear model is more suitable for actual industry applications than the existing models.

Induced reproduction and early development histology of Oscar Astronotus ocellatus (Agassiz, 1831)

Oscar (Astronotus ocellatus) is an important fish from the Amazon Basin that has great potential for fish farming, human consumption, sport fishing and fish keeping. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of two hormonal treatments on the induction of artificial reproduction in broodstock and to describe the histological development of embryos and larvae. Broodstocks were selected and induced using two different hormones: (i) extract of carp pituitary (ECP); and (ii) synthetic human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Spawnings were transferred to hatcheries, collected at pre-established times, processed and analysed by histology. Astronotus ocellatus did not respond well to induced reproduction. From 16 couples of breeding fish, only five out of the eight females released oocytes after the hormonal action time, three with hCG and two with ECP; just one male responded positively to hCG. Oscar eggs were oval, and semi-adhesive, the yolk contained granules, and egg diameter was approximately 1.65 ± 0.057 to 1.98 ± 0.038 mm. Development from the initial collection (IC) point until the total absorption of the yolk lasted 315 h, at an average temperature of 27.45 ± 2.13°C. Several events marked embryonic and larval development, including the formation of the optic cup, forebrain, otic vesicle and cephalic divisions. The newly hatched larvae had non-pigmented eyes, and a closed mouth and anus, as well as the presence of adhesive glands on the head. Larval development was characterized by formation of the heart, liver, gaseous bladder, gills, pronephros, brain, fins and also the digestive tract. These results provide important information for the rearing and reproduction of A. ocellatus.

The optimal determination of the collection period for returned products in the sustainable supply chain

With the increasing attention paid to corporate social responsibility, a growing number of firms have attempted to leverage their sustainability initiatives as their competitive strategic weapons. These initiatives include the firm's efforts to streamline a closed-loop supply chain involving returned products. Though considerable efforts have been made to develop an optimal reverse logistics network for retrieving the returned products in the existing literature, prior research often overlooked the environmental and economic ramifications of the length of retrieval time associated with the product return process. This paper is one of the first to develop a mathematical model that can determine the optimal collection period at an initial collection point before transshipping the returned products to a centralised return centre. To reflect the realistic complexity of the product return process, we analysed the cases of both discrete and continuous collection periods, while drawing necessary theorems and corollaries.

An optimization model for product returns using genetic algorithms and artificial immune system

Current environmental issues emerging in the world are reflected in the environmental legislation of several countries. Because environmental issues are important, industries actively seek ways in which to reduce their environmental footprint. One effective method is through the use of reverse logistics. Reverse logistics is the concept of reusing used products in order to reduce wastes and to increase an industry's environmental performance and resulting profits. Stock selection, transportation, centralized collection, data collection, refurbishing, and remanufacturing are some of the more commonly utilized reverse logistic operations. An effective reverse logistics network is essential for increasing the flow of goods from customers to producers. The objective of this paper is to develop a multi-echelon reverse logistics network for product returns to minimize the total reverse logistics cost, which consists of renting, inventory carrying, material handling, setup, and shipping costs. Industries need to give more attention to the task of collecting used products from customers and establishing collection facilities. In this study, a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model is developed to find out the number and location of initial collection points and centralized return centers required for an effective return and collection system, and also the maximum holding time (collection frequency) for aggregation of small volumes of returned products into large shipments. Two solution approaches, namely genetic algorithm and artificial immune system, are implemented and compared. The usefulness of the proposed model and algorithm are demonstrated via an illustrative example.

Optimal Collection Period for Returned Products in the Reverse Supply Chain

This paper deals with return flows of products from the consumers to the manufacturer in the closed loop supply chain. A mathematical model is developed to determine the optimal collection period at an initial collection point before transshipping the returned products to a centralized return center. Inventory cost at an initial collection point is traded off with transportation cost to the centralized return center in the presence of freight quantity discounts. To reflect a realistic product return process, we analyzed the case of discrete collection time period.

A multi-echelon reverse logistics network design for product recovery—a case of truck tire remanufacturing

Due to increasing environmental deterioration, government regulations, social responsibilities, resource reduction, and economic factors, many companies are engaged in the product recovery business. Product recovery refers to the set of activities designed to reclaim value from a product at the end of its useful life. Due to the increasing number of vehicles in the country like India, large quantities of used tires are generated every year, and proper disposal of these used tires creates a significant problem in the day-to-day life. An alternative way to recover the value (tire remanufacturing also called retreading) from the used tire is proposed in this work. The implementation of such remanufacturing system usually requires an appropriate reverse logistics network for choosing the physical locations, facilities, and transportation links to convey the used products from customers to the remanufacturing facility and from there to secondary markets. The main objective of this work is to develop a mixed integer nonlinear programming model for maximizing the profit of a multi-echelon reverse logistics network and also to present a real-life case study of truck tire remanufacturing for the secondary market segment. The proposed model is solved using LINGO 8.0 optimization solver which provides the decisions related to the number of facilities to open, their locations, and also the allocation of the corresponding product flows. Finally, it is concluded that the choice of using retreaded tires is a profitable one by the way of cost reduction. Sensitivity analysis of the model is also presented to find the maximum allowable distance between the customers and initial collection points.

Managing product returns in customer-centric e-tail environments

Owing to liberal customer service policies and the rapid product obsolescence resulting from ever-shortening product life cycles, product returns have become daily routines for many retailers. As product returns slow down the retailer's supply chain and consequently affect the retailer's bottom line, a growing number of retailers have begun to explore the possibility of managing product returns in a more cost-efficient and timely manner. Such a possibility includes the determination of the number and location of initial collection points and the establishment of the desirable holding time for consolidation of returned products into a large shipment. With this in mind, this paper proposes a mixed-integer programming model and a genetic algorithm that can solve the reverse logistics problem involving consolidation of returned products. The validity of the proposed model and algorithm was tested by their application to an illustrative example dealing with products returned from online retail sales.

The spatial and temporal consolidation of returned products in a closed-loop supply chain network

As cost pressures continue to mount in this era of economic slowdowns, a growing number of firms have begun to explore the possibility of managing product returns in a more cost-efficient and timely manner. However, few studies have addressed the problem of determining the number and location of initial collection points in a multiple time horizon, while determining the desirable holding time for consolidation of returned products into a large shipment. To fill the void in such a line of research, this paper proposes a mixed-integer, nonlinear programming model and a genetic algorithm that can solve the reverse logistics problem involving both spatial and temporal consolidation of returned products. The robustness of the proposed model and algorithm was tested by its application to an illustrative example dealing with products returned from online and retail sales.