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1 – 10 of 10Md. Tareq Hossain Khondoker, Md. Mehrab Hossain and Ayan Saha
Due to its longer length compared to other construction materials and distinctive stacking patterns, obtaining construction steel bars in congested construction sites with limited…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to its longer length compared to other construction materials and distinctive stacking patterns, obtaining construction steel bars in congested construction sites with limited storage capacity becomes challenging. Lack of storage space in crowded places prompts the need for building steel bar storage choice optimization. Therefore, this study aims to optimize the construction steel bar procurement plan by providing when and how much rebar to order and how to stack different sizes of rebar considering limited storage capacity.
Design/methodology/approach
A novel approach has been presented in this paper by integrating 4D building information modelling (BIM) and mixed-integer linear programming (MILP). This technique uses BIM to retrieve material quantities, including rebar, during the design phase. Following that, activities are scheduled depending on the duration determined by crew productivity data and material quantity. Then, based on the prior price, the price of each unit of rebar is projected for the duration of construction using the exponential smoothing method. After that, the MILP approach is used to generate an optimal steel bar procurement plan for limited storage space following the scheduled rebar-related operations.
Findings
The developed strategy minimizes overall procurement costs and ensures the storage of rebar as per standard guidelines. An optimal rebar procurement and storage plan to construct a six-storied RC frame has been presented in this paper as a demonstrative example to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Originality/value
This work partially satisfies a long-sought research need for establishing a comprehensive construction steel bar procurement system, making it a very useful source of information for practitioners and researchers. The proposed method can be used to minimize a key performance limitation that the conventional rebar procurement practice for crowded building sites may experience.
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Masoud Parsi, Vahid Baradaran and Amir Hossein Hosseinian
The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated model for the stochastic multiproject scheduling and material ordering problems, where some of the prominent features of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated model for the stochastic multiproject scheduling and material ordering problems, where some of the prominent features of offshore projects and their environmental-degrading effects have been embraced as well. The durations of activities are uncertain in this model. The developed formulation is tri-objective that seeks to minimize the expected time, total cost and CO2 emission of all projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A new version of the multiobjective multiagent optimization (MOMAO) algorithm has been proposed to solve the amalgamated model. To empower the MOMAO, various procedures of this algorithm have been modified based on the multiattribute utility theory (MAUT) technique. Along with the MOMAO, this study has employed four other meta-heuristic methodologies to solve the model as well.
Findings
The outputs of the MOMAO have been put to test against four other optimizers in terms of convergence, diversity, uniformity and computation times. The results of the Mean Ideal Distance (MID) metric have revealed that the MOMAO has strongly prevailed its rival optimizers. In terms of diversity of the acquired solutions, the MOMAO has ranked the first among all employed optimizers since this algorithm has offered the best solutions in 56.66 and 63.33% of the test problems regarding the diversification metric and hyper-volume metrics. Regarding the uniformity of results, which is measured through the spacing metric (SP), the MOMAO has presented the best SP values in more than 96% of the test problems. The MOMAO has needed more computation times in comparison to its rivals.
Practical implications
A real case study comprising two concurrent offshore projects has been offered. The proposed formulation and the MOMAO have been implemented for this case study, and their effectiveness has been appraised.
Originality/value
Very few studies have focused on presenting an integrated formulation for the stochastic multiproject scheduling and material ordering problems. The model embraces some of the characteristics of the offshore projects which have not been adequately studied in the literature. Limited capacities of the offshore platforms and cargo vessels have been embedded in the proposed model. The offshore platforms have spatial limitations in storing the required materials. The vessels are also capacitated and they also have limited shipment capacities. Some of the required materials need to be transported from the base to the offshore platform via a fleet of cargo vessels. The workforces and equipment can become idle on the offshore platform due to material shortage. Various offshore-related costs have been integrated as a minimization objective function in the model. The cargo vessels release CO2 detrimental emissions to the environment which are sought to be minimized in the developed formulation. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the MOMAO has not been sufficiently employed as a solution methodology for the stochastic multiproject scheduling and material ordering problems.
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S.M. Taghavi, V. Ghezavati, H. Mohammadi Bidhandi and S.M.J. Mirzapour Al-e-Hashem
This paper proposes a two-level supply chain including suppliers and manufacturers. The purpose of this paper is to design a resilient fuzzy risk-averse supply portfolio selection…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper proposes a two-level supply chain including suppliers and manufacturers. The purpose of this paper is to design a resilient fuzzy risk-averse supply portfolio selection approach with lead-time sensitive manufacturers under partial and complete supply facility disruption in addition to the operational risk of imprecise demand to minimize the mean-risk costs. This problem is analyzed for a risk-averse decision maker, and the authors use the conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) as a risk measure, which has particular applications in financial engineering.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology of the current research includes two phases of conceptual model and mathematical model. In the conceptual model phase, a new supply portfolio selection problem is presented under disruption and operational risks for lead-time sensitive manufacturers and considers resilience strategies for risk-averse decision makers. In the mathematical model phase, the stages of risk-averse two-stage fuzzy-stochastic programming model are formulated according to the above conceptual model, which minimizes the mean-CVaR costs.
Findings
In this paper, several computational experiments were conducted with sensitivity analysis by GAMS (General algebraic modeling system) software to determine the efficiency and significance of the developed model. Results show that the sensitivity of manufacturers to the lead time as well as the occurrence of disruption and operational risks, significantly affect the structure of the supply portfolio selection; hence, manufacturers should be taken into account in the design of this problem.
Originality/value
The study proposes a new two-stage fuzzy-stochastic scenario-based mathematical programming model for the resilient supply portfolio selection for risk-averse decision-makers under disruption and operational risks. This model assumes that the manufacturers are sensitive to lead time, so the demand of manufacturers depends on the suppliers who provide them with services. To manage risks, this model also considers proactive (supplier fortification, pre-positioned emergency inventory) and reactive (revision of allocation decisions) resilience strategies.
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Xiaoli Su, Lijun Zeng, Bo Shao and Binlong Lin
The production planning problem with fine-grained information has hardly been considered in practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate the data-driven production…
Abstract
Purpose
The production planning problem with fine-grained information has hardly been considered in practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate the data-driven production planning problem when a manufacturer can observe historical demand data with high-dimensional mixed-frequency features, which provides fine-grained information.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, a two-step data-driven optimization model is proposed to examine production planning with the exploitation of mixed-frequency demand data is proposed. First, an Unrestricted MIxed DAta Sampling approach is proposed, which imposes Group LASSO Penalty (GP-U-MIDAS). The use of high frequency of massive demand information is analytically justified to significantly improve the predictive ability without sacrificing goodness-of-fit. Then, integrated with the GP-U-MIDAS approach, the authors develop a multiperiod production planning model with a rolling cycle. The performance is evaluated by forecasting outcomes, production planning decisions, service levels and total cost.
Findings
Numerical results show that the key variables influencing market demand can be completely recognized through the GP-U-MIDAS approach; in particular, the selected accuracy of crucial features exceeds 92%. Furthermore, the proposed approach performs well regarding both in-sample fitting and out-of-sample forecasting throughout most of the horizons. Taking the total cost and service level obtained under the actual demand as the benchmark, the mean values of both the service level and total cost differences are reduced. The mean deviations of the service level and total cost are reduced to less than 2.4%. This indicates that when faced with fluctuating demand, the manufacturer can adopt the proposed model to effectively manage total costs and experience an enhanced service level.
Originality/value
Compared with previous studies, the authors develop a two-step data-driven optimization model by directly incorporating a potentially large number of features; the model can help manufacturers effectively identify the key features of market demand, improve the accuracy of demand estimations and make informed production decisions. Moreover, demand forecasting and optimal production decisions behave robustly with shifting demand and different cost structures, which can provide manufacturers an excellent method for solving production planning problems under demand uncertainty.
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Ali Nikseresht, Davood Golmohammadi and Mostafa Zandieh
This study reviews scholarly work in sustainable green logistics and remanufacturing (SGLR) and their subdisciplines, in combination with bibliometric, thematic and content…
Abstract
Purpose
This study reviews scholarly work in sustainable green logistics and remanufacturing (SGLR) and their subdisciplines, in combination with bibliometric, thematic and content analyses that provide a viewpoint on categorization and a future research agenda. This paper provides insight into current research trends in the subjects of interest by examining the most essential and most referenced articles promoting sustainability and climate-neutral logistics.
Design/methodology/approach
For the literature review, the authors extracted and sifted 2180 research and review papers for the period 2008–2023 from the Scopus database. The authors performed bibliometric and content analyses using multiple software programs such as Gephi, VOSviewer and R programming.
Findings
The SGLR papers can be grouped into seven clusters: (1) The circular economy facets; (2) Decarbonization of operations to nurture a climate-neutral business; (3) Green sustainable supply chain management; (4) Drivers and barriers of reverse logistics and the circular economy; (5) Business models for sustainable logistics and the circular economy; (6) Transportation problems in sustainable green logistics and (7) Digitalization of logistics and supply chain management.
Practical implications
In this review, fundamental ideas are established, research gaps are identified and multiple future research subjects are proposed. These propositions are categorized into three main research streams, i.e. (1) Digitalization of SGLR, (2) Enhancing scopes, sectors and industries in the context of SGLR and (3) Developing more efficient and effective climate-neutral and climate change-related solutions and promoting more environmental-related and sustainability research concerning SGLR. In addition, two conceptual models concerning SGLR and climate-neutral strategies are developed and presented for managers and practitioners to consider when adopting green and sustainability principles in supply chains. This review also highlights the need for academics to go beyond frameworks and build new techniques and instruments for monitoring SGLR performance in the real world.
Originality/value
This study provides an overview of the evolution of SGLR; it also clarifies concepts, environmental concerns and climate change practices, particularly those directed to supply chain management.
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Mohidul Alam Mallick and Susmita Mukhopadhyay
Staffing is one of the most influential human resource (HR) activities and is the primary method of hiring and retaining human resources. Among staffing’s several activities…
Abstract
Purpose
Staffing is one of the most influential human resource (HR) activities and is the primary method of hiring and retaining human resources. Among staffing’s several activities, recruitment and selection are one of the most crucial activities. It is possible to rehire former firm employees using the talent management strategy known as “boomerang recruitment”. The boomerang recruitment trend has tremendously grown because many employees who believe they are qualified for the position now wish to return to their old employers. According to data, boomerang employees can be 50% less expensive than conventional ways of hiring. The purpose of this study is to identify the generic critical factors that play a role in the boomerang hiring process based on the literature review. Next, the objective is to determine the relative weight of each of these factors, rank the candidates, and develop a decision-making model for boomerang recruitment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper focuses on the grey-based multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methodology for recruiting some of the best candidates out of a few who worked for the organization earlier. The grey theory yields adequate findings despite sparse data or significant factor variability. Like MCDM, the grey methods also incorporate experts' opinions for evaluation. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis is also done to show the robustness of the suggested methodology.
Findings
Seven (7) recruitment criteria for boomerang employees were identified and validated based on the opinions of industry experts. Using these recruitment criteria, three candidates emerged as the top three and created a pool out of six. In addition, this study finds that Criteria 1 (C1), the employee's past performance, is the most significant predictor among all other criteria in boomerang hiring.
Research limitations/implications
Since the weights and ratings of attributes and alternatives in MCDM methods are primarily based on expert opinion, a significant difference in expert opinions (caused by differences in their knowledge and qualifications) may impact the values of the grey possibility degree. However, enough attention was taken while selecting the experts for this study regarding their expertise and subject experience.
Practical implications
The proposed method provides the groundwork for HR management. Managers confronted with recruiting employees who want to rejoin may use this model. According to experts, each attribute is not only generic but also crucial. In addition, because these factors apply to all sectors, they are industry-neutral.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to apply a grey-based MCDM methodology to the boomerang recruitment model. This study also uses an example to explain the computational intricacies associated with such methods. The proposed system may be reproduced for boomerang recruiting in any sector because the framework is universal and replicable. Furthermore, the framework is expandable to include new criteria for different work.
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Nivin Vincent and Franklin Robert John
This study aims to understand the current production scenario emphasizing the significance of green manufacturing in achieving economic and environmental sustainability goals to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the current production scenario emphasizing the significance of green manufacturing in achieving economic and environmental sustainability goals to fulfil future needs; to determine the viability of particular strategies and actions performed to increase the process efficiency of electrical discharge machining; and to uphold the values of sustainability in the nonconventional manufacturing sector and to identify future works in this regard.
Design/methodology/approach
A thorough analysis of numerous experimental studies and findings is conducted. This prominent nontraditional machining process’s potential machinability and sustainability challenges are discussed, along with the current research to alleviate them. The focus is placed on modifications to the dielectric fluid, choosing affordable substitutes and treating consumable tool electrodes.
Findings
Trans-esterified vegetable oils, which are biodegradable and can be used as a substitute for conventional dielectric fluids, provide pollution-free machining with enhanced surface finish and material removal rates. Modifying the dielectric fluid with specific nanomaterials could increase the machining rate and demonstrate a decrease in machining flaws such as micropores, globules and microcracks. Tool electrodes subjected to cryogenic treatment have shown reduced tool metal consumption and downtime for the setup.
Practical implications
The findings suggested eco-friendly machining techniques and optimized control settings that reduce energy consumption, lowering operating expenses and carbon footprints. Using eco-friendly dielectrics, including vegetable oils or biodegradable dielectric fluids, might lessen the adverse effects of the electrical discharge machine operations on the environment. Adopting sustainable practices might enhance a business’s reputation with the public, shareholders and clients because sustainability is becoming increasingly significant across various industries.
Originality/value
A detailed general review of green nontraditional electrical discharge machining process is provided, from high-quality indexed journals. The findings and results contemplated in this review paper can lead the research community to collectively apply it in sustainable techniques to enhance machinability and reduce environmental effects.
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Amer Jazairy, Emil Persson, Mazen Brho, Robin von Haartman and Per Hilletofth
This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of the interdisciplinary literature on drones in last-mile delivery (LMD) to extrapolate pertinent insights from and into…
Abstract
Purpose
This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of the interdisciplinary literature on drones in last-mile delivery (LMD) to extrapolate pertinent insights from and into the logistics management field.
Design/methodology/approach
Rooting their analytical categories in the LMD literature, the authors performed a deductive, theory refinement SLR on 307 interdisciplinary journal articles published during 2015–2022 to integrate this emergent phenomenon into the field.
Findings
The authors derived the potentials, challenges and solutions of drone deliveries in relation to 12 LMD criteria dispersed across four stakeholder groups: senders, receivers, regulators and societies. Relationships between these criteria were also identified.
Research limitations/implications
This review contributes to logistics management by offering a current, nuanced and multifaceted discussion of drones' potential to improve the LMD process together with the challenges and solutions involved.
Practical implications
The authors provide logistics managers with a holistic roadmap to help them make informed decisions about adopting drones in their delivery systems. Regulators and society members also gain insights into the prospects, requirements and repercussions of drone deliveries.
Originality/value
This is one of the first SLRs on drone applications in LMD from a logistics management perspective.
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Syam Kumar and Jogendra Kumar Nayak
This study aims to establish that the relationship between the risky indebtedness behavior (RIB) of consumers and their attitude toward adopting buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is not…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to establish that the relationship between the risky indebtedness behavior (RIB) of consumers and their attitude toward adopting buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is not immediate but is mediated through impulse buying. Moreover, it explores how perceived risk moderates the association between the attitude to adopt BNPL and its adoption intention.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used the existing theoretical and empirical evidence to propose a model and validated it using the data collected from 339 young shoppers in India. Analysis of data is conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The study results show that consumers’ RIB is not directly related to their attitude toward BNPL. However, impulse buying fully mediates this relationship, influencing the attitude toward BNPL. Impulse buying and attitude serially mediate the relationship between RIB and BNPL adoption intention. Further, in the context of BNPL, perceived risk strengthens the attitude-intention gap.
Practical implications
This study advises policymakers and BNPL providers to carefully assess users’ creditworthiness to prevent those already in debt from entering into a detrimental loop.
Originality/value
This study provides novel perspectives on consumer’s RIB and BNPL within the Indian context. The study additionally identifies the mediating influence of impulse buying and the moderating effect of perceived risk on BNPL adoption intention.
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Manuel Brauch, Matin Mohaghegh and Andreas Größler
One pertinent dynamic phenomenon in supply chains is the amplification of order variance, i.e. the bullwhip effect. Its continued significance is underscored in contemporary…
Abstract
Purpose
One pertinent dynamic phenomenon in supply chains is the amplification of order variance, i.e. the bullwhip effect. Its continued significance is underscored in contemporary empirical research. While numerous publications have pinpointed various causes of the bullwhip effect, there remains a gap in their systematic consolidation. The purpose of this paper is to compile a comprehensive list of the causes of the bullwhip effect from existing literature and categorize them appropriately.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducts a systematic literature review to offer a comprehensive overview of bullwhip effect causes addressed in the existing literature. The identified causes are categorized using a qualitative content analysis approach.
Findings
The study shows the diversity of the causes of the bullwhip effect and their interdependencies. In addition, this study demonstrates that, at the highest level of aggregation, causes of the bullwhip effect can be classified into four main categories: causes inherent in the system structure, causes related to uncertainty, causes related to misaligned incentives and causes related to inadequate cognition of the situation.
Originality/value
The work provides an extensive overview and categorization of bullwhip effect causes, offering valuable insights for both researchers and practitioners seeking a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. In addition, it underscores managerial implications and highlights future research opportunities.
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