Logistics Issues Research Articles

Comparing online and in-person surveys: assessing a measure of resilience with Syrian refugee youth

ABSTRACT Humanitarian research with Syrian refugees can be difficult to conduct in-person, due to COVID-19 containment, security, and logistics issues. We assessed whether the online implementation of a brief, culturally grounded resilience measure would yield reliable responses for use with children and adolescents in the Middle East region. We implemented an online survey screening for socio-economic status, insecurity, prosocial behaviour, and resilience (using the Child Youth Resilience Measure, CYRM) with 119 Syrian refugees (14–18 years old; 74 male, 45 female) living in Jordan. Responses were compared with in-person data, available for a separate cohort of 324 Syrian refugees, previously sampled in Jordan with the same survey instruments. The online CYRM produced reliable and valid responses, as shown by analyses of internal reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and 7-day test-retest consistency. We reflect on logistic, ethical, and methodological challenges of online surveys, and suggest ways to plan and execute online research with hard-to-reach, crisis-affected communities.

Conceptual Model Of Supply Chain Center For Msmes In Indonesia

MSMEs in Indonesia are one of the main drivers of the economy. There are many MSMEs with creative ideas and goods offered to the public but there are yet many weaknesses faced by MSMEs. The weaknesses of MSMEs in Indonesia, among others, are the lack of access to market information. MSMEs are often also constrained by a lack of funds for working capital and investment. The skills of human resources are still low, the technology used shows the same level. Logistics and supply chain issues also alleviate the competitiveness of local products by MSMEs in Indonesia. MSMEs have not been integrated into the supply chain. Obstacles for MSMEs also relate to economic scale. The small scale of production results in a small volume of raw material procurement and product delivery, which induces higher costs and lessens competitiveness. With these conditions, the actors in an MSMEs center need to collaborate. Hence, it is necessary to establish a Supply Chain Center (SCC) in MSME centers or industrial areas by the government and the private sector. Promoting economic scale is carried out in the procurement of raw materials, inventory storage, and delivery of finished products. SCC can also manage shared facilities such as warehousing and transportation fleets. SCC does not only handle goods, but also information, services, and fund which will increase the productivity and competitiveness of MSMEs. The development of the SCC must involve stakeholders, namely the central government, local governments, associations

A multi-objective stochastic programming model to configure a sustainable humanitarian logistics considering deprivation cost and patient severity

As the occurrence of disasters has increased frequently and has resulted in growing concern about their adverse effects on the environment, Sustainable Humanitarian Logistics (SHL) has received great attention recently. SHL aims to reduce disaster damages in an environmentally-friendly manner in the shortest possible time. The terms including ‘environmentally-friendly’ and ‘shortest possible time’ refer to the environmental and social aspects of sustainability. This research proposes a stochastic multi-objective mixed-integer programming model to configure an SHL network during the response phase. Having compared to the research literature, this is the first study that considers economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainability by incorporating relief cost, deprivation cost, and carbon emissions, respectively. Then, the improved multi-choice goal programming approach is applied to solve the proposed multi-objective model. To indicate the validity of the proposed model, an earthquake that occurred in a region of Kermanshah, Iran, in 2017 is investigated as a real case study. Finally, sensitivity analysis is performed and several managerial and theoretical insights are provided. The results show that exerting environmental issues in humanitarian logistics does not necessarily increase the relief costs, but can be in contrast with the social aspect. Furthermore, a minor increase in the budget of the preparedness phase drastically decreases the response costs.

Impact of COVID-19 on FMCG Sector

Coronavirus pandemic shows an unprecedented change globally, and the impact is even higher in emerging economies like India. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) is one of the largest sectors in India with varied businesses, including household, personal care, etc., with high demand, consumed frequently, and services are provided for a low cost. This paper is an attempt to study the outbreak of COVID-19 in the FMCG sector. It shows that FMCG is affected uncommonly with many factors like Labours moved to their natives, logistics issues, and changes in the consumer basket like a sudden increase in demand for sanitary products and surged in demand for cosmetics.

A design proposal for the European DEMO superconducting bus bars and current leads

The integration of the feeder system in a tokamak involves complex engineering, manufacturing and logistics issues. Therefore, within the pre-conceptual design activities of the European DEMO fusion reactor, it is important to provide a preliminary sizing of the feeders at an early stage. Here we present the conceptual design of superconducting bus bars and current leads for the DEMO feeder system. The proposal is based on three main components: Nb3Sn lead extensions, NbTi bus bars and HTS current leads. We propose three different bus bar designs – for the TF, CS and PF coil feeders, respectively. Two additional values of the TF operating current are considered. The structural verification of the bus bars, including an S-bend geometry for reducing the mechanical loads due to cool down, is performed both analytically and by means of 3D finite-element simulations. In addition, we present an outline design of the HTS current leads, based on the minimisation of the cryogenic heat load and the simulation of a loss-of-flow accident. Finally, we briefly discuss the main characteristics of the joints, as well as some integration and assembly challenges.

Express delivery logistics with high-speed railway: a perspective of payment scheme and forecast information sharing

This paper investigates the payment scheme and forecast information sharing issues in the express delivery logistics with the high-speed railway. The HSR carriers need to coordinate the transportation capacity between passenger and freight. It is widely recognized that the advance payment scheme (APS) using as deposit is a beneficial way for the HSR carriers to make decisions on the transportation capacity preserved for express delivery. However, the express service providers, who possess private forecast information of express delivery demand, may share inaccurate information with the HSR carriers to acquire sufficient preserved transportation capacity. This paper discusses what payment scheme is preferred by the HSR carrier, the express service provider through discussing the deposit decisions with or without forecast information sharing. We show that sharing demand forecast information can reduce the prereserved capacity and increase the profits of the HSR carrier. With the delayed payment scheme (DPS), the express service provider has no motivation to share the information; while with the APS, the HSR carrier can reasonably choose the deposit to encourage the express service provider to share the demand information. Our analysis also shows that the HSR carrier’s profits with the APS is restricted by the investment returns and the express service provider’s information sharing decisions. We also analyze the value range of the deposit, which is a proportion of the overall payment, that allows both the HSR carrier and the express service provider to prefer the APS, as well as to encourage the express service provider to share the demand information.

Проблема обеспечения Института красной профессуры преподавателями в 1920-е годы

В статье рассматривается проблема обеспечения преподавателями в 1920-е годы нового учебного заведения — Института красной профессуры, созданного в 1921 году для подготовки новых научно-педагогических марксистских кадров — «красных профессоров». Помимо крупных ученых-большевиков, таких как историки М. Н. Покровский, Н. М. Лукин, В. П. Волгин, в Институте работали и бывшие меньшевики — историк Н. А. Рожков, философы А. М. Деборин и Л. И. Аксельрод, экономист И. И. Рубин. Руководство Института красной профессуры пыталось привлечь к преподаванию крупных партийных деятелей, что в силу их загруженности не удалось и поэтому пришлось обратиться к старой беспартийной профессуре. В 1920-е годы в Институте работали многие крупные беспартийные ученые: историки А. Н. Савин, Е. А. Косминский, А. Е. Пресняков, экономисты П. И. Лященко, И. А. Трахтенберг и др. Во второй половине 1920-х годов проблема преподавателей была решена за счет выпускников этого института. The article focuses on the problem of staffing a novel educational institution, namely the Institute of Red Professors in the 1020s. The Institute of Red Professors was established in 1921 to prepare Marxist ideologists, the so called “red professors”. The institute employed not only prominent Bolshevik scholars and scientists, such as M. N. Pokrovsky, N. M. Lukin, V. P. Volgin, but also the former Menshiviks, such as historian N. A. Rozhkov, philosophers A. M. Deborin and L. I. Akselrod, economist I. I. Rubin. The managers of the Institute hoped to employ prominent members of the Bolshevik party, but, since the latter were exceptionally busy, the institute had to employ unaffiliated professors. In the 1920s the Institute of Red Professors employed many prominent unaffiliated scholars and scientists: historians A. N. Savin, E. A. Kosminsky, A. E. Presnyakov, economists P. I. Lyashchenko. I. A. Trakhtenberg, and others. In the second half of the 1920s the staffing problem was solved by employing the graduates of the institute.

Moving towards “mobile warehouse”: Last-mile logistics during COVID-19 and beyond

Supply chains in general and last-mile logistics in particular, have been disrupted due to COVID-19. Though several innovative last-mile logistics solutions have been proposed in the past, they possess certain limitations, especially during COVID-19 motivating the need for an alternative last-mile logistics solution. We present a review of literature related to last-mile logistics and supply chain disruptions to identify the limitations of existing last-mile delivery practices during COVID-19. Using a stylized analytical model, we then propose that “mobile warehouse” can be an effective solution to last-mile logistics issues faced during COVID-19 and beyond under certain conditions. A mobile warehouse is a truck dedicated to a particular geographical location and carries the inventory of various products based on the estimated demand requirements for these products in that geographical location. We provide the condition under which the B2C e-commerce providers find it profitable to adopt a truck as a mobile warehouse to sell high demand items quickly.

Competitiveness and the Logistics Performance Index: The ANOVA method application for Africa, Asia, and the EU regions

This paper analyses the impact of strategic sub-components of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) on the Logistics Performance Index (LPI). As a hypothesis, it is assumed that there is a relationship between the LPI and selected factors in GCI, which were grouped into three clusters: infrastructure, human factor, and institutions. The purpose is to investigate which of those groups has the most significant impact on the LPI - an interactive comparative analysis tool created by the World Bank that addresses logistics issues in a broad context against world regions' development or countries' economies. For this purpose, the LPI was used as the dependent variable, while a linear regression model measured some GCI components' influence. The study was conducted for Africa, Asia, and the EU, employing the ANOVA method. The paper finds the three clusters are related to higher efficiency. While the new method shows these clusters are essential for improving the logistics performance index, an extensive range of factors might affect logistics sector performance in both geography and stage of development. In Europe, human factor is far more critical for progressively improving the LPI, while necessary infrastructure remains crucial in Asia. All three factors are central to Africa's logistics development.

PROBLEMS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSINESS OF 
 KHABAROVSK KRAI IN ENTERING THE FOREIGN MARKET

The article analyzes the problems of small and medium-sized business of Khabarovsk Krai, in particular, the problems associated with the process of entering the foreign markets. It is concluded that the key problems of small and medium-sized business of Khabarovsk Krai are the issues of logistics and innovative development. These are the strategic and systemic problems

EU and Russian Federation Cooperation within the “Northern Dimension” Partnership in the Framework of Transport and Logistics: International Legal Analysis

This article focuses on the interaction of a major integration association of the European Union and the Russian Federation. The article analyzes the existing forms of cooperation, primarily in the framework of the Northern Dimension Partnership in the field of transport and logistics. The charter document of the Memorandum of Understanding 2009 is considered in more detail. First of all, attention is focused on the compliance of the established international legal norms in the Memorandum with the practical actions undertaken by the participants of the Partnership. The current situation regarding relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation is analyzed through the prism of the political tendencies of our time. The article emphasizes the importance of the research, especially in the field of transport and logistics, as transport is a strategic arsenal of any state. The future economy of the country depends on the development of transport relations with partners. At the beginning of the article, an important issue is studied – cooperation, as a form of interaction between the subjects of international public law. The specificity of cooperation is noted, which consists in the fact that as a form of interaction, it is fixed in several international legal acts and is considered as a generally accepted principle of public international law, and, accordingly, as jus cogens norms. The article also presents an excursion into the history of the origin and further development of relations on the issue of transport and logistics between the European Union and the Russian Federation. The purpose of the research is to identify specific prospects for the future interaction of the Partnership participants, and also, on the basis of the existing information, to suggest areas in which there is need to work with great effort.

Completion of FCVRP using Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

The issue of green logistics has received full attention from the government and business people. It is closely related to the increase in Green House Gas (GHG) by transportation activities in the logistics sector. Controlling fuel consumption in transportation activities is fundamental in dealing with GHG. Therefore, the Fuel Consumption Vehicle Routing Problem (FCVRP) is proposed as a solution model in optimizing fuel consumption in the logistics sector. This study aims to develop a Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization (HPSO) algorithm to solve the FCVRP problem. The proposed algorithm is the development of the PSO algorithm with local procedures search. Several experiments were carried out to determine the HPSO parameter's effect on minimizing fuel consumption in the FCVRP. The experiment results show that increasing the population and iteration parameters can produce minimum fuel consumption. Furthermore, the smaller the total fuel consumption produced when the kilometers per liter (KPL) high.

Priority-based stakeholders analysis in the view of sustainable city logistics: Evidence for Tricity, Poland

Tricity is a specific area in Poland because of the geographical location, landscape, access to the sea, access to a few container terminals and being an agglomeration. That is why both for inhabitants and local businesses city logistics issues are particularly important. The need for more sustainable transportation and integrative planning processes in cities, has been widely developed since 2013 when Urban Mobility Package set up a concept for SUMP (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans) Within this idea, EU provides financial support for urban mobility projects. So various city logistics’ solutions are implemented but with a different level of success. City logistics measures have in fact their weaknesses and strengths. It is rather challenging to find an optimal solution because it is difficult to take into account the complexity and diversity of urban logistics while keeping all sides engaged. City logistics seems to be a quite difficult issue, mostly because it contains several levels of complexity. Not only it refers to the diversity of the goods transported and heterogeneity of the transportation means, but also involves multiple stakeholders. The most important are authorities, transportation operator, retailers and residents. These stakeholders most often represent different aims and priorities. While local authorities are interested in reducing pollution, congestion or noise, transportation operators and retailers are mainly focused on keeping costs under control while maintaining service levels. In the study, in-depth interviews technique with various stakeholders of city logistics was used. The interview was based on a questionnaire consisting of open and closed questions. One scale question assessed the importance of a given dimension of sustainable urban logistics for the particular stakeholder. This approach made it possible to identify the priorities of individual stakeholder groups. The respondents were a few individual stakeholders for each group identified within the literature review. To address the aim of the study, to analyse gathered data, both qualitative and quantitative methods were implemented. Among the qualitative methods, the Delphi method, text analysis and text mining techniques were used to identify the main characteristics of stakeholders opinions. Then, to draw the detailed results for each group, the Kruskal-Wallis test was held, equivalent to ANOVA, but not requiring normal distribution of variables, impossible to achieve at small sizes of stakeholder groups samples. The Kruskal-Wallis test allowed identifying similarities and differences between the priorities of the studied groups in light of the research problem being examined.

ЩОДО ОСОБЛИВОСТЕЙ ЛОГІСТИЧНОГО ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ЗБРОЙНИХ СИЛ УКРАЇНИ В СУЧАСНИХ УМОВАХ

The article summarizes the review and analytical work regarding the features of the formation and development of logistics support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Logistics is considered as a fundamental aspect of the fulfillment of the mission of the armed forces of our state in a crisis situation and peacetime. The development of Russian aggression in the east of Ukraine objectively led to an understanding of the immediate transition from the use of the crisis logistics model to the involvement of elements of the military logistics model, which is capable of functioning both in peacetime and during military operations. With the outbreak of war in the East, all-round supply was provided from the center to military units that were in positions and performed combat operations. In fact, in the first months of the announcement of the anti-terroristical operation in Ukraine and before the entry of Russian troops into the territory of our country, the leading structures only superficially (unsystematically) tried to restructure the logistics of crisis situations into a nationwide one. Ukraine seeks to maintain friendly relations with all countries of the world on the basis of international treaties concluded on the principles of equality, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. But for now, the armed conflict continues in Ukraine, which became the most European conflict after the end of World War II, in which Ukraine follows the defensive strategy. And this should become the basis for the formation of the logistic concept of the state armed forces. A conceptual analysis of the evolutionary development of military logistics showed that in the process of historical development of scientific approaches to waging war, intensive scientific and technological progress, military logistics changed and reformed, new logistics systems, innovative methods, models and tools for managing logistic support for troops. This process should continue on a scientific basis, taking into account the best world and own experience. In crisis situations, the population is primarily affected. Therefore, the wide-profile tasks of rescuing and assisting the civilian population (the victim, who is evacuated and remains in the territory with the affected infrastructure) in the crisis zone laid on military logistics. The formation and development of the logistic system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be carried out taking into account the peaceful, partnership policy of our state and NATO countries. As for the evolutionary development of the logistics support for the Ukrainian AF, military logistics should be developed on a scientific basis, taking into account the international experience of NATO countries and our own experience, and in crisis situations, military logistics should be entrusted with broad-profile tasks of helping civilians in the crisis zone, and its further development should be conducted in a comprehensively. Today, our country is creating a single effective logistics system for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, other military units and law enforcement agencies, both in peacetime and in wartime, which should operate in accordance with NATO standards and be able to cooperate with the armed forces of other states - members of NATO and the European Union. Therefore, the issue of military logistics, as one of the most important and basic components of military operations, is relevant and requires careful study. Keywords: logistics, features, military logistics, crisis situations logistics, the country's defense and security system, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, materials, material supply, material resources, international relations, reserves, supply.

Teaching Tip: Planning for Remote or Socially-distanced Labs

This Teaching Tips article suggests considerations for running labs either remotely or socially-distanced. Consider your real learning objectives, the pros and cons of potential experiments, and operations and logistics issues.

Evaluation of Saline as Potential Alternative to Viral Transport Media for COVID-19 Samples Stored at Different Temperatures

Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS CoV 2) virus, a causative agent of COVID-19 has led to universal pandemic. During this pandemic there has been an acute shortage of good quality Viral Transport Medium (VTM) because of increase in number of infected people worldwide. It is also difficult to maintain the transport and storing conditions in line with the guidelines in pandemics. Aim: To assess the feasibility of Oropharyngeal Swab (OP)/Nasal swabs in 0.9% normal saline in place of VTM and to analyse the effect of temperature on nucleic acid detection by rRT PCR on saline samples stored at 4ºC, ambient and at higher temperature (37ºC). Materials and Methods: The present study was an observational analytical study which included 94 positive and 5 negative samples. Patients' nasal or OP samples were collected as dry swabs and in VTM. Normal saline was added once the samples were received in the laboratory. PCR was done with saline and VTM samples both on day 1. Samples were aliquotted in 3 sets and one set was kept at 4º-8º C and other two at 25ºC and 37ºC, respectively. All positive samples were further tested on day 3, day 4 and day 6. Results were analysed and compared. Results: Samples in normal saline showed very good sensitivity at all temperatures (4º-8ºC, 25ºC and 37ºC) till day 6. Both the swab samples (in saline and in VTM) showed nearly 100% agreement in rRT-PCR results. Ct value variation was also ≤±2. Conclusion: Looking into the cost and logistics issues especially during pandemics, saline is a good and cheaper alternative to VTM and with its use, testing capacity can be expanded.

SFlex-WMS: a novel multi-expert system for flexible logistics and warehouse operation in the context of Industry 4.0

Production lines form the backbone of a manufacturing plant while the warehouse is the heart that pumps the supplies through logistics veins. However, logistics issues among manufacturing industries are well known for causing downstream production problems. Non-transparent warehouse operation and inevitable human error in logistics activities seriously jeopardise the entire downstream manufacturing processes. Existing warehouse management solutions require many sensors spanning the warehouse for tracking logistics activities which are cost-ineffective and inflexible. One aspect of intelligent WMS that has not been explored is the integration of computer vision modeling with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create a more flexible, transparent, and autonomous warehouse management system (WMS). This study aims to devise a Smart and Flexible WMS (SFlex-WMS) to improve logistics operations in terms of operation costs, process time, and space utilisation. The highlight of the proposed framework is the two major work packages (WP) which focus on flexible, autonomous sensing mechanisms for inventory, logistics tracking, and space mapping, as well as reconstructing the warehouse environment model that reflects all physical changes in the warehouse. SFlex-WMS intends to realize real-time transparent monitoring of warehouse operations. By exploiting the outputs from both WPs, SFlex-WMS is expected to achieve more effective and flexible warehouse operations.

Green logistics tools applied in selected companies in the Czech Republic: a survey

Research background:The issue of green logistics is a very current topic not only from a scientific point of view but also from the point of view of business practice. The pressure to reduce negative environmental, social and economic impacts presents new challenges and pressures for companies, which will become more important in the coming years. This manuscript deals with green logistics tools applied in selected companies in the Czech Republic. The manuscript strictly focuses on the view of companies on green logistics and its tools, as well as on barriers and drivers for the implementation of green logistics. The aim of the article is to identify the attitude of selected companies in the Czech Republic to green logistics, to analyse barriers and drivers in the implementation of green logistics and to analyse the applied activities of green logistics and the reasons for their application.Purpose of the article:The main aim of the article is to identify the attitude of selected companies in the Czech Republic to green logistics and green logistics tools, to analyse barriers and drivers in the implementation of green logistics and to analyse the applied activities of green logistics and the reasons for their application. Finally, the results of this research are compared and discussed with the results of a study conducted in the Slovak Republic.Methods:To conduct the research, we have used computer-assisted web interviewing with selected Czech companies’ representatives.Findings & Value added:The results show that green logistics is very popular for companies. At the same time, barriers (most often financial) were identified, but also drivers and reasons for the implementation of green logistics tools. Comparing the results with the research conducted in the Slovak Republic, it can be stated that the results of both surveys were very similar, i.e. the location of the company in the Czech Republic or Slovakia does not affect the view of green logistics and its tools.

Development of the logistics and transport system of organic products as a perspective direction of Ukraine's environmental strategy

The state of development of the organic market in Ukraine is analyzed. Shown that organic agriculture is currently positioned in the country as one of the key direction to increase the level of environmental friendliness, economic feasibility in agriculture and is a progressive way to improve the balance between environmental and economic factors of society. The dynamics of changes in the number of organic farms and the area of their agricultural lands is considered. The analysis of the development of the Ukrainian domestic market of consumption of organic products is carried out, and also the dynamics of import of certified organic products from Ukraine to the EU is investigated. Relevance of the issue of logistics by road and rail is proved. The state and main problems of the transport infrastructure of Ukraine are considered. Emphasized that to improve the logistics needs strong institutions, effective coordination of state and government support at the highest level. The development of strategic directions for the improvement of the logistics and transport system is proposed in order to strengthen the competitive position of Ukrainian agricultural producers in the world market of organic products and intensify the integration of the state into the international economic space.

Fintech developmental trends: the role and influence of sustainable digital logistics

The paper analyzes the current trends of fintech companies’ development in relation to the quality of digital logistics. By using the data from fintech companies’ CEO interviews, we assess the key trends in fintech companies’ development over the past 3 years, reveal key technologies used by these companies and their evolution, and state the importance and relevance of digital logistics issues for fintech companies clients’ satisfaction. The research indicates that for fintech company client the ease of getting through the service (optimization of information flows) appears to be more important than other characteristics of the offered product. From the theoretical point of view, our research indicates, that besides key growth driving factors, outlined in existing literature, such as strategy, prerequisites for rapid growth, business model choice, international business networks, entrepreneur’s characteristics, product development or theoretical frameworks for development, especially within the international market, the quality of digital logistics performance of fintech companies seem to matter.