Search results

This paper aims to present a novel lightweight distribution grid operating robot system with focus on lightweight and multi-functionality, aiming for autonomous and live-line maintenance operations.

A ground-up redesign of the dual-arm robotic system with 12-DoF is applied for substantial weight reduction; a dual-mode operating control framework is proposed, with vision-guided autonomous operation embedded with real-time manual teleoperation controlling both manipulators simultaneously; a quick-swap tooling system is developed to conduct multi-functional operation tasks. A prototype robotic system is constructed and validated in a series of operational experiments in an emulated environment both indoors and outdoors.

The overall weight of the system is successfully brought down to under 150 kg, making it suitable for the majority of vehicle-mounted aerial work platforms, and it can be flexibly and quickly deployed in population dense areas with narrow streets. The system equips with two dexterous robotic manipulators and up to six interchangeable tools, and a vision system for AI-based autonomous operations. A quick-change tooling system ensures the robot to change tools on-the-go without human intervention.

The resulting dual-arm robotic live-line operation system robotic system could be compact and lightweight enough to be deployed on a wide range of available aerial working platforms with high mobility and efficiency. The robot could both conduct routine operation tasks fully autonomously without human direct operation and be manually operated when required. The quick-swap tooling system enables lightweight and durable interchangeability of multiple end-effector tools, enabling future expansion of operating capabilities across different tasks and operating scenarios.

The logistics industry has undergone a tremendous transformation. This transformation is necessary to cope with the fundamental changes in customer expectations and the need for digitalization imposed by the pandemic, changes in the socioeconomic world, and innovative technology solutions. This paper aims to present digital transformation as an integrated framework for transforming the operating model and applying advanced solutions to the ecosystem of a quintile logistics (5PL) company. 5PL operators are typically an ecosystem. Loosely coupled or self-organized entities that collaborate in a symbiotic relationship represent this ecosystem. They aim to jointly develop capabilities, create innovative services or solutions, share knowledge, facilitate transactions, and leverage network synergies in a logistics environment to provide optimized or novel customer- or partner-centric solutions (Lamberjohann and Otto, 2020).

Currently, there is no single definition of an integrated logistics operations model in 5PL practice, so the qualitative method used in this paper allows for investigation from an exploratory perspective. The paper follows a qualitative research methodology, collecting and analyzing data/facts through interviews and visits to subject matter experts, industry practitioners, and academic researchers, combined with an extensive review of academic publications, industry reports, and written and media content from established organizations in the marketplace. This paper follows a qualitative research methodology, as it is an inquiry rather than a statistical study. The qualitative method allows the study of the concepts of phenomena and definitions, their characteristics, and the defining features that serve as the basis (Berg, 2007). It emphasizes generalized interpretation and deeper understanding of concepts, which would be more difficult in quantitative, statistically based research. Fact-finding was conducted in two ways: in-depth interviews with experts from academia, information and communication technology organizations, and key players in the logistics industry; and academic publications, industry reports, and written and media content from established national and international organizations in the market.

The operations model introduced considers six aspects: persons, processes, platforms, partners, protection and preservation. A virtual team approach can support the personal side of the 5PL ecosystem’s digital transformation. Managing a 5PL ecosystem should be based on collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment methods (Parsa et al., 2020). A digital platform can support trust among the stakeholders in the ecosystem. A blockchain solution can powerfully support the 5PL ecosystem from partner relationships’ points of view. The implementation of a cybersecurity reference model is important for protection (Bandari, 2023). Reverse logistics and an integrated approach support the preservation of the ecosystem.

While the author has experience applying the different components of the operations model presented, it would be interesting to find a 5PL that would use all the components presented in an integrated way. The operations model presented applies to any similar ecosystem with minor adaptations.

This paper addresses operations models and digital transformation challenges for optimizing 5PL operators. It provides several opportunities and considerations for 5PL operators interested in improving their management and operations to cope with the growing challenges of today’s world.

The competitiveness and long-term performance of 5PL operators depend on selecting and carefully implementing their operations models. This paper emphasizes the importance of using advanced operations models.

The operations model derives from the author’s personal experiences in research and the innovative application of these models to logistics operators (DHL, UPS, Poste Italiane and others). This paper brings together academic and industry perspectives and operations models in an integrated business digital transformation. This paper defines an original optimal operations model for a 5PL operator and can add sustainable value to organizations and society. In doing so, it outlines different solution requirements, the critical success factors and the challenges for solutions and brings logistical performance objectives when implementing a digital business transformation.

The ability of a business to outperform its rivals is known as its competitive edge, and it presents special difficulties in the context of the “digital revolution,” or the fourth industrial revolution. To obtain a competitive edge in the startup operations 4.0 era, this study aims to examine the organizational, technological and competence-related challenges presented by Industry 4.0. It does this by concentrating on the tools, competencies, methods, approaches, tools and strategies that are crucial. Using the Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) technique, the goal is to find, analyze and classify enablers for startup operations 4.0.

A closed-ended questionnaire and planned interviews were used in the data collection process. In startup operations 4.0, the cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification method is used to rank and categorize competitive advantage factors, whereas the TISM technique is used to analyze how components interact.

The study highlights the critical significance of the “Internet of Things (IoT),” “information technologies,” “technological platforms,” “employee empowerment,” “augmented reality (AR)” and “operational technologies” in its identification of 12 enablers for startup operations 4.0.

The main focus of the study is on the variables that affect startup operations 4.0’s competitive advantage.

Academics and important stakeholders can better understand the factors influencing competitive advantage in startup operations 4.0 with the help of this research.

Large businesses have been profoundly impacted by Industry 4.0 principles; however, startup operations 4.0’s competitive advantage has not received as much attention. This paper offers a fresh take on the concept of competitive advantage in startup operations 4.0 research.

This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative information technology open architecture design and integrating Radio Frequency Identification Device data technologies and real-time optimization and control mechanisms as the critical technology components of the solution. The innovative information technology, which pursues the focused logistics, will be deployed in 36 months at the estimated cost of $568 million in constant dollars. We estimate that the Systems, Applications, Products (SAP)-based enterprise integration solution that the Army currently pursues will cost another $1.5 billion through the year 2014; however, it is unlikely to deliver the intended technical capabilities.

In the aftermath of disasters, humanitarian actors need to coordinate their activities based on accurate information about the disaster site, its surrounding environment, the victims and survivors and the supply of and demand for relief supplies. In this study, the authors examine the characteristics of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and those of disaster relief operations to achieve information visibility and actor coordination for effective and efficient humanitarian relief operations.

Building on the contingent resource-based view (CRBV), the authors present a model of task-technology fit (TTF) that explains how the use of RFID can improve visibility and coordination. Survey data were collected from humanitarian practitioners in India, and partial least squares (PLS) analysis was used to analyze the model.

The characteristics of both RFID technology and disaster relief operations significantly influence TTF, and TTF predicts RFID usage in disaster relief operations, providing visibility and coordination. TTF is also a mediator between the characteristics of RFID technology and disaster relief operations and between visibility and coordination.

The many recent humanitarian disasters have demonstrated the critical importance of effective and efficient humanitarian supply chain and logistics strategies and operations in assisting disaster-affected populations. The active and appropriate use of technology, including RFID, can help make disaster response more effective and efficient.

Humanitarian actors value RFID technology because of its ability to improve the visibility and coordination of relief operations. This study brings a new perspective to the benefits of RFID technology and sheds light on its antecedents. The study thus expands the understanding of technology in humanitarian operations.

Vehicle allocation problems (VAPs), which are frequently confronted in many transportation activities, primarily including but not limited to full truckload freight transportation operations, induce a significant economic impact. Despite the increasing academic attention to the field, literature still fails to match the needs of and opportunities in the growing industrial practices. In particular, the literature can grow upon the ideas on sustainability, Industry 4.0 and collaboration, which shape future practices not only in logistics but also in many other industries. This review has the potential to enhance and accelerate the development of relevant literature that matches the challenges confronted in industrial problems. Furthermore, this review can help to explore the existing methods, algorithms and techniques employed to address this problem, reveal directions and generate inspiration for potential improvements.

This study provides a literature review on VAPs, focusing on quantitative models that incorporate any of the following emerging logistics trends: sustainability, Industry 4.0 and logistics collaboration.

In the literature, sustainability interactions have been limited to environmental externalities (mostly reducing operational-level emissions) and economic considerations; however, emissions generated throughout the supply chain, other environmental externalities such as waste and product deterioration, or the level of stakeholder engagement, etc., are to be monitored in order to achieve overall climate-neutral services to the society. Moreover, even though there are many types of collaboration (such as co-opetition and vertical collaboration) and Industry 4.0 opportunities (such as sharing information and comanaging distribution operations) that could improve vehicle allocation operations, these topics have not yet received sufficient attention from researchers.

The scientific contribution of this study is twofold: (1) This study analyses decision models of each reviewed article in terms of decision variable, constraint and assumption sets, objectives, modeling and solving approaches, the contribution of the article and the way that any of sustainability, Industry 4.0 and collaboration aspects are incorporated into the model. (2) The authors provide a discussion on the gaps in the related literature, particularly focusing on practical opportunities and serving climate-neutrality targets, carried out under four main streams: logistics collaboration possibilities, supply chain risks, smart solutions and various other potential practices. As a result, the review provides several gaps in the literature and/or potential research ideas that can improve the literature and may provide positive industrial impacts, particularly on how logistics collaboration may be further engaged, which supply chain risks are to be incorporated into decision models, and how smart solutions can be employed to cope with uncertainty and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of operations.

MAPNA Operation and Maintenance Company was established in 2003 to provide long-term services in the energy sector in Iran. This company delivered comprehensive solutions including operation and maintenance, overhaul and repair, commissioning, performance test and training in the fields of power and oil and gas. By 2021, the company had provided long-term operation and maintenance services in more than thirty power plants in Iran and had implemented more than 200 projects worth more than 300 million USD. MAPNA Operation and Maintenance Company believed that a sustainable and responsible management could be achieved through integrated management of the economic, social and environmental impacts of the business. This approach became more apparent when the company provided services countrywide, and they interacted with a wide range of stakeholders. In this context, efforts were made to create common values for both the organization and society. Some of the company’s long-term projects were in less developed areas of the country. One of the social issues in those regions was creating jobs for jobless people and preparing them to work in order to have a better life. The company policy in providing manpower for such projects was to employ indigenous manpower, training them and creating sustainable jobs for them. After hiring local workforce, the company provided professional and general training programs to improve their skills and knowledge. Also, the company was committed to prepare a healthy and safe work environment for employees to learn and comply with ethical and social norms and develop a sustainable environmental attitude by increasing the efficiency of using natural resources and controlling environmental pollution. Work-life balance programs were implemented to ensure a productive presence in the workplace and to maintain a healthy and meaningful family relationship for employees. This case aims to elaborate more on the challenges of the sustainable activities of the long-term projects that MAPNA Operation and Maintenance planned and implemented in terms of its corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship specifically in less developed areas.

This chapter explores socio-political networks and cross-sectoral co-operation in the context of solving environmental problems in an emerging economy: Russia. The aim is to shed light on key success factors of cross-border co-operation involving public, business and third-sector actors. The case study on protecting the Baltic Sea analyses a Western–Russian partnership between a Finnish non-governmental organisation and a Russian water utility and its embeddedness in business and socio-political networks. We conclude that key factors of success in this case were the successful timing of the NGO's initiative, the historic platform of Finnish-Russian co-operation in the area of clean water, and the gradual building of the actors’ social networks and legitimacy. The chapter contributes to the embryonic area of CSR studies in the emerging market context and extends the legitimation, trust-building and commitment model (Hadjikhani, Lee, & Ghauri, 2008) to the context of CSR in contemporary Russia.

The aim of this chapter is to investigate the different business co-operation mechanisms within two different Portuguese industries, with particular regards to the nature of the industry and to the places in which these industries are embedded.

This chapter uses qualitative data to explore the mechanisms associated to forms of business co-operation in enterprising places.

Manufacturing industries require a particular location of activities and, in many cases, these firms cluster in local productive systems. In such cases, co-operation mechanisms assume particular forms. Production is a critical business activity in traditional manufacturing industries, while its relative importance is smaller for other industries.

The findings obtained in this research do not allow generality of the results. However, it provides an in-depth explanation of the mechanisms of business co-operation taking place in enterprising places and elsewhere.

This chapter compares two contrasting Portuguese industries, allowing to suggest that some of the business co-operation mechanisms are particular of certain business contexts. It contrasts a manufacturing, traditional and geographically concentrated industry (furniture) with a service-based, modern and geographically dispersed industry (events organisation). In addition, it allows to gain insights on the evolution of business co-operation as it uses data collected from two different generations of entrepreneurs within the furniture industry.