Logistics Point Of View Research Articles

Logistics-based design of collection system for asbeston-containing roof structures

Asbestos-containing roofing materials are an increasing hazard, which justifies their replacement by environmentally friendly roofing materials. Replacements can be carried out on an individual initiative basis, but a coordinated, systemic replacement will have a more significant impact. In order for such systemic asbestos removal to be successful from economics and logistics point of view, it is necessary to plan the associated logistics processes, as asbestos removal generates a significant transportation demand due to the large amount of waste generated. In the framework of this paper, the author presents an algorithm to plan the logistic process of centralized asbestos removal. A simple calculation method is presented to determine the cost of collection.

Optimisation of flow shop scheduling problem: simulation system vs. evolutive solver

In the Industry 4.0 era the optimisation of production processes become more and more important. A wide range of tools are used to improve the performance of production processes and related operations of the supply chain including purchasing, distribution and inverse processes. These tools have a great impact on the results of design and operation of production processes both technology and logistics point of view. Within the frame of this article, the authors are demonstrating the optimisation potentials of simulation tools and heuristic solvers (optimisers) through the problem of the well-knows permutation flow shop scheduling. They are describing the models and methods used in the case of FlexSim simulation systems and the heuristic solver option of Excel Solver. As the numerical results show, both the simulation model and the heuristic optimisation approach lead to a quasi-optimal solution.

Adapting our sea ports to the challenges of climate change: Development and validation of a Port Resilience Index

Climate change, which is largely caused by anthropogenic emissions of CO2, is one of the main challenges facing humankind today. In this context, and from the logistics point of view, ports are critical infrastructures not only because of their great vulnerability to such device phenomena, but also because of their key importance in global supply chains. We therefore need indications that will allow us to both determine a port’s resilience to the various challenges posed by climate change and take preventive actions to ensure the port can function correctly over time. This study presents a port resilience index (PRI), which, unlike existing indices, considers all stakeholders to determine the level of operational resilience of port processes. The index was validated in the external port of A Coruña (Galicia), chosen because of its especially adverse conditions and because in Spain, the effects of climate change are likely to be especially damaging. The results show that this port has an overall PRI of 52% and that its infrastructure and facilities and operational environment against the climate change challenge are especially sensitive. Analysis of the different factors of resilience allows port managers and policy makers to focus their actions on the factors that have the greatest impact of resilience. This should lead to better use of resources and more efficient contingency plans.

Improvement of the Last Mile-Specific Issues in Railway Freight Transport

The last mile is characterized as the last step of delivery to the customer from the logistics point of view. It is necessary to aim and fulfill all customers’ needs mainly during the process of the last mile, because it is directly connected to them. Customer orientation can cause many complications that must be solved according to their will. This part of the supply chain is currently under pressure. Nowadays, trends have changed the last mile into a more ecological process mostly in the transport field. Railway transport is considered as an ecological transport mode therefore the last mile should be done by the railway transport. Preconditions for doing the last mile by the railway transport is the existence of siding (special purpose tracks) at the place of delivery. Our research focuses on minimizing the negative impacts of the last mile to customers in the context of using sidings. This research is based on the real conditions of the Slovak rail network, and on consultation with some experts from freight transport companies.

Management of Buffer Systems in Automotive Stabilized Production Networks – A Qualitative Analysis

Automotive manufacturers are operating in global and cross-linked production networks. From a productions and logistics point of view they act as consignors and consignees of material, components and car bodies within these networks. The demand for customized cars, rapidly changing market environments, local market regulations and technology leaps force companies to orient their operational activities towards more flexible and resilient production strategies. One promising method to deal with the evolving complexity, uncertainty and volatility is to establish a stabilized production system. This concept requires several prerequisites, above all a high degree of stability in the production process. Buffers are allocated to perform multiple functions in order to provide stability. Opposing objectives of stakeholders, unfavorable infrastructural settings and the lack of an integral planning process can be an obstruction towards effective buffer allocation in production networks. If not applied in an integrated approach considering all functions buffer capacity can lead to an adverse effect on the overall performance. Misaligned buffers lower the efficiency, reduce the flexibility and increase the complexity of production systems. This article presents trade-off observations and challenges system designers are confronted with during the allocation of buffers in stabilized production networks. The most significant trade-off is between the two competing objectives of stability and throughput. Best practice on how to implement buffers and manage the arising trade-off are presented.

Smart Cyber-Physical Manufacturing: Extended and Real-Time Optimization of Logistics Resources in Matrix Production

In the context of Industry 4.0, the matrix production concept represents revolutionary solutions from a technological and logistics point of view. In a matrix production system, flexible, configurable production and assembly cells are arranged in a grid layout, and the in-plant supply is based on autonomous vehicles. Adaptable and flexible material handling solutions are required to perform the dynamically changing supply-demands of standardized and categorized manufacturing and assembly cells. Within the frame of this paper, the authors describe the in-plant supply process of matrix production and the optimization potential in these processes. After a systematic literature review, this paper introduces the structure of matrix production as a cyber-physical system focusing on logistics aspects. A mathematical model of this in-plant supply process is described including extended and real-time optimization from routing, assignment, and scheduling points of view. The optimization problem described in the model is an NP-hard problem. There are no known efficient analytical methods to find the best solution for this kind of problem; therefore, we use heuristics to find a suitable solution for the above-described problem. Next, a sequential black hole–floral pollination heuristic algorithm is described. The scenario analysis, which focuses on the clustering and routing aspects of supply demands in a matrix production system, validates the model and evaluates its performance to increase cost-efficiency and warrants environmental awareness of the in-plant supply in matrix production.

ТРАНСПОРТНО-ГЕОГРАФІЧНЕ ПОЛОЖЕННЯ ЯК ЧИННИК ФОРМУВАННЯ СХІДНОЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОГО ГАЗОВОГО ХАБУ

The Eastern European gas hub is one of the largest energy projects that can liberalize the natural gas market, integrate the Ukrainian gas transportation system into a European gas pipeline system and ensure the profitability of the country’s underground gas storage facilities. The article considers the geographical position as an important factor in the formation of the East European gas hub. There are analysed the basic parameters of functioning of gas storages in the article. There is also considered the European experience of functioning of gas hubs in the paper. The analysis of functioning of gas hubs of Germany and their connection with gas storage of the country is discovered. In the case of Ukraine, the gas storages of the Western region provides extraordinary manoeuvrability of gas flows, optimization of the operating modes of the energy sector, as well as the creation of necessary operational and strategic gas reserves, which is important in the context of market relations. All these preconditions can serve as a powerful base for the creation of a European-style gas hub in Ukraine. The development of the gas sector in Ukraine has a priority in the context of the implementation of Ukraine’s European integration plans in the economic sphere and is determined not only by the geographical location but also by the technological integration of the gas transportation infrastructure in the Middle East European economic area over the past decades. The entry of the Ukrainian natural gas market into the European gas market system will contribute to: enhancement of Ukraine’s energy security; improving the quality and level of relations between Ukraine and the EU countries in cooperation on the gas markets of Central and Eastern Europe; creating a favourable investment climate for the further development of the gas transmission system. Taking into account the European experience, it can be argued that gas storages of Western part of Ukraine, from the transport and logistics point of view, create a powerful base for the formation and further operation of the East European gas hub.

Capabilities of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Logistic Support

The main focus of this paper is the capabilities of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as a military logistic support in conflicts areas. The conducted research addresses the problems of traditional military delivery methods. Next, the problem of using UAVs only for civilian purposes is considered. The paper begins with short elucidation of logistic support and further provides the classification of logistic materials and discusses five categories of military equipment from the logistics point of view. Next, the paper discusses the characteristics of the parameters and properties of the chosen existing UAVs that are used for the delivery of materials. Consequently, a comparison of the UAVs is carried out, and new technologies for logistic transport are presented. This paper is concluded with the claim that it is necessary to modernize the process of logistic support in the military.

Eastern European gas hub in European gas hubs system

There are the questions considered in the article which have prospect of creation on the basis of the Ukrainian underground gas storages of the powerful East European gas regulator (hub) that will be capable to increase the level of energy security of Ukraine, liberalize domestic market of natural gas and to integrate into the European system of gas pipelines and to provide profitability of underground gas storages of the country. The development of the gas sector of Ukraine is a priority in the context of the implementation of Ukraine's European integration plans in the economic sphere and is determined not only by the geographical location but also by the technological integration of the gas transportation infrastructure in the European economic space over the past decades. The entry of the Ukrainian natural gas market into the European gas market system will contribute to: enhancement of Ukraine's energy security; improving the quality and level of relations between Ukraine and the EU countries in cooperation on the gas markets of Central and Eastern Europe; creating a favorable investment climate for the further development of the gas transmission system. Whereas the European experience, it can be argued that underground storages create a powerful base for the formation and further operation of the East European gas hub from a transport and logistics point of view.

A methodology for integrated critical spare parts and insurance management

Critical spare‐parts stock optimization has become a relevant topic for academy and industry. In most articles, the problem has been stated as a trade‐off between economic risks of shortages and financial costs. Risk optimization in this context has been mainly studied from a logistics point of view. The most common decision variables have been stock levels, stock location, and reorder points. In this context, buying insurance to cover shortage cost can be a complementary (or exclusive) measure for risk mitigation. Insurance optimization traditionally has been studied from a microeconomic and financial perspective. The main decision variable has been the indemnity function, and occasionally, the insurance premium. Its use in the context of physical asset management has not been observed to the best of our knowledge. This creates an opportunity to link inventory optimization techniques with insurance optimization for shortage losses. In this work, we present a novel approach to jointly manage the shortage risk of a critical non‐repairable component in a unique critical system. We develop an original model to integrate critical spare‐parts stock optimization with insurance optimization techniques. The result is a decision model to select the optimal stock and insurance policy that maximizes the decision maker's expected utility. This allows for a business‐centered integrated perspective in critical parts decisions. We present a case study representative of the mining industry, illustrating the complementary nature of selecting optimal stock levels and contracting an optimal insurance. Our results show that contracting an insurance can lead to policies preferred by a risk‐averse decision maker. The case study shows that this may even occur lowering stock levels and increasing profits. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Inter-organizational proximity in the context of logistics - research challenges

Background: One of major areas of modern research econnected with management issues covers interorganizational networks (including supply chains) and cooperation processes aimed at improvement of the effectiveness of their performance to be found in such networks. The logistics is the main factor responsible for effectiveness of the supply chain. A possible and a quite new direction of research in the area of the performance of processes of the interorganizational cooperation is the proximity hypothesis that is considered in five dimensions (geographical, organizational, social, cognitive, and institutional). However, according to many authors, there is a lack of research on supply chains conducted from the logistics point of view. The proximity hypothesis in this area of research can be seen as a kind of novum. Therefore, this paper presents the proximity concept from the perspective of the management science, the overview of prior research covering the inter-organizational proximity with supply chain from the logistics point of view as well as the possible future directions of the empirical efforts. Methods: The aim of this paper is to present previous theoretical and empirical results of research covering interorganizational proximity in logistics and to show current and up-to-date research challenges in this area. The method of the critical analysis of literature is used to realize the goal constructed this way. Results: Knowledge about the influence of the inter-organizational proximity on the performance of supply chains is rather limited, and the research conducted so far, is rather fragmentary and not free of limitations of the conceptual and methodological nature. Additional rationales for further research in this area include knowledge and cognitive gaps indentified in this paper. According to authors the aim of future empirical research should be as follows: (1) unification and update of used conceptual and methodological approaches in research on the proximity in supply chains, (2) testing of theoretical hypotheses with attention paid to importance of the proximity for supply chains taking into account the significant heterogeneity of this form of inter-organizational cooperation, and (3) recognizing the role of the interorganizational proximity for the practice of supply chain management and for the realization of the integration function of the logistics. Conclusions: There is a shortage of scientific research (both in the theoretical and empirical dimension) explaining the importance of the proximity hypothesis for the performance of supply chains. Additionally, there are interesting gaps in existing scientific output, connecting the logistics output (effectiveness and performance of supply chains) and economic geography (the proximity hypothesis). Closing these gaps should increase our understanding of the supply chains performance and, therefore, this will be the area of further research of authors.

Low-Carbon Logistics and Sustained Economic Cycle for Manufacturing Engineering

As a pillar industry of the national economy, the logistics industry is a heavy responsibility in the low-carbon economy. Essentially from a logistics point of view, this paper proposed the concept of low-carbon logistics. A departure from the status quo of China's logistics industry energy consumption, and further pointed out that the cause of the problem facing China's logistics industry to achieve a low-carbon, and further propose a way to achieve low-carbon logistics. A new perspective for the study of low-carbon economy, and it proposed countermeasures effective way to promote the healthy growth of the logistics industry.

Interfunkční koordinace z pohledu podnikových funkcí

The primary aim of this paper is to investigate the evolution of interfunctional coordination theory from the marketing and logistics point of view. The paper also discusses the key attributes of interfunctional coordination from the above mentioned perspectives in present network business environment. Special added value of the paper is in examining the interfunctional coordination via exploratory research from quantitative and qualitative points of view. The principles of external business environment complexity and internal collaboration built up new barriers of interfunctional coordination implementation. The paper identified source and parts of internal and external barriers of interfunctional coordination implementation. Finally is formulated recommendation how to understand external surroundings in relation to internal requirements of interfunctional coordination. At the end of the article is presented solution how to eliminate barriers of interfunctional coordination via application one of the methodologies of enterprise engineering and integration.

Hybrid stage I palliation for hypo-plastic left heart condition without a hybrid suite: Suggestions for developing nations

Cardiac hybrid procedures are performed in modern, spacious, and highly equipped hybrid suites in developed countries. Organizing such expensive suites in countries with an emerging economy is difficult from both a financial and logistics point of view. We share our experience of safely performing a Hybrid stage I palliation procedure for Aortic atresia with ventricular septal defect on a 2-month-old infant weighing 3.35 kg using minimal resources in a conventional catheterization laboratory.

Towards a Diagnostic Instrument to Identify Improvement Opportunities for Quality Controlled Logistics in Agrifood Supply Chain Networks

Western-European consumers have become not only more demanding on product availability in retail outlets but also on other food attributes such as quality, integrity, and safety. When (re)designing food supply-chain networks, from a logistics point of view, one has to consider these demands next to traditional efficiency and responsiveness requirements. The concept ‘quality controlled logistics’ (QCL) hypothesizes that if product quality in each step of the supply chain can be predicted in advance, goods flows can be controlled in a pro-active manner and better chain designs can be established resulting in higher product availability, constant quality, and less product losses. The paper discusses opportunities of using real-time product quality information for improvement of the design and management of ‘AgriFood Supply Chain Networks’, and presents a preliminary diagnostic instrument for assessment of ‘critical quality’ and ‘logistics control’ points in the supply chain network. Results of a tomato-chain case illustrate the added value of the QCL concept for identifying improvement opportunities in the supply chain as to increase both product availability and quality. Future research aims for the further development of the diagnostic instrument and the quantification of costs and benefits of QCL scenarios.

Implementing a reverse logistics system: a case study

This paper is based on the results of a research project developed in an important Spanish industrial group to analyse if a reverse logistics system can be implemented in some of its companies. The business activity of this group is focused on the steel industry and the aim of the project was to design and evaluate a recovery system for packaging materials used for galvanised steel coils. Up to now, this type of packaging is disposed of because the current structure of the packaging system is not appropriate from a reverse logistics point of view. For this reason, we propose a new packaging system that can be recovered through a reverse logistics system generating economic and environmental advantages.

IL Quadrants for Information Access Technology

Information Access Technology is used for indexing and classifying information so it canbe stored and retrieved in a supported way. Information Logistics needs this technology in order to support the knowledge worker with the right information without him having to spend a lot of time searching for that information and even handing him the information elements needed. Various software tools provided by vendors supply Information Access Technology. In finding the most applicable and feasible tool we propose two quadrants: one for grading the functionality of the tool with respect to the requirements from an Information Logistics point of view and one for implementing such a tool. These quadrants will help consultants and customers in allocating the most applicable software tool for a specific environment.

Integrated simulation method for investment decisions of micro production systems

From a production logistics point of view, micro production systems need special methods due to their special requirements and characteristics. In this paper a new approach for the assessment of different investment scenarios during the planning period with integrated cost simulation is presented. In particular, the use of single-purpose and multi-purpose machines and the cost effectiveness of function integration are examined. Thereby alternative machine pool configurations and optimal costs can be analysed, determined and taken into consideration for investment decisions.

The Logistics Management and Coordination in Procurement Phase of Organ Transplantation

The number of organ transplantation surgeries has increased particularly in the last decade due to technological and scientific advances in medicine. Despite this increase, many patients, however, remain in waiting lists for transplantation surgery. Main reasons for these waiting lists are that there are limited number of organ donations and specifically problems in the management of organ transplantation activities. An efficient management of the allocation and transportation of organs (in other words, logistics management of organ transplantation) are thus extremely important. The aim of the paper is to review current practices of logistics management in the procurement phase of organ transplantation. It initially reviews the organizational structures of the international and national coordination centres, which are founded to coordinate organ transplantation activities and to enhance collaboration among physicians and medical staff. The paper, then, focuses on the possible managerial problems encountered during the procurement phase of organ transplantation. With this respect, common transportation difficulties from global and local perspective are also analyzed. This paper tries to take attention to a systematic regard of the organ transplantation from logistics point of view, thus providing applicable solutions to managerial problems in terms of allocation and transportation of organs.

Logistics integration processes in the food industry

PurposeThis paper sets out to empirically analyse the integration process that firms follow to implement supply chain management (SCM). This study has been inspired by the integration model proposed by Stevens.Design/methodology/approachUses the survey method.FindingsThe results show that there are companies in three different integration stages. In stage I, companies are not integrated. In stage II, companies have a medium‐high level of internal integration in the logistics‐production interface, a low level of internal integration in the logistics‐marketing interface, and a medium level of external integration. And, in stage III, companies have high levels of integration in both internal interfaces and in some of their supply chain relationships.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, only one side of the manufacturer‐retailer relationship was considered, and, second, there was a reduced number of cases in each cluster.Practical implicationsAs firms' survival lies on integration, a good understanding of the integration process is a key aspect. In this subject, this study has a main implication for managers: in the integration process, firms must achieve a relatively high level of collaboration among internal functions before initiating any external integration.Originality/valueThe contribution of this study is to describe the integration process, comparing two levels of internal integration (logistics‐marketing and logistics‐production) and analysing the relationship between these internal integration levels and the level of external integration. Many studies consider internal or external integration from the logistics point of view, but very few consider both levels of integration simultaneously. This study differs from the existing literature in the fact that it explores the sequence of integration stages in an integration process.