Logistics, Volume 7, Issue 2 (June 2023) – 15 articles

Background: Nowadays, as a result of globalization, markets are more competitive, and customers are more demanding. To respond to these challenges, organizations must develop mechanisms for continuous improvement in order to eliminate waste and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Thus, the present study carried out at an industrial unit responsible for the customization of cork stoppers for wines had as its main objectives to identify and eliminate or at least reduce waste; improve production and internal logistics flows; balance workloads; improve productivity; reduce lead time; motivate employees and promote the spirit of continuous improvement. Methods: The action-research methodology was used, whereby several cycles of data recovery and analysis, identification and implementation of opportunities for improvement, assessment and standardization were carried out. Therefore, the Total Flow Management (TFM) model was implemented, and several methods and tools were used, such as Value Stream Mapping (VSM), work measurement and 5S’s. Results: Several wastes and overloads were identified, and some actions were implemented, such as workload balancing, layout changes, implementation of visual management and supermarkets. That said, it was possible to reduce lead time by 4 days, improve productivity from 26.63 ML (a thousand cork stoppers)/h to 35.75 ML/h, and promote flexibility. In addition, employees were motivated, and a culture of continuous improvement was fostered. Conclusions: This project demonstrated that it is possible to implement improvement actions, with good results, without high investments, as well as motivating employees and taking advantage of their best capabilities. Additionally, it was demonstrated that the use of TFM can be very useful in continuous improvement, with evident improvements in production and internal logistics flows. So, this project demonstrated the practical implementation of TFM regarding basic reliability, production and internal logistics flow, and the simultaneous use of several methods and tools to implement continuous improvement. Thus, significant improvements were possible on the factory floor, as well as improving employee motivation their personal development and encouraging the focus on continuous improvement. Therefore, it responds to the gap identified in the literature. Full article

Background: Digital twins have the potential to significantly improve the efficiency and sustainability of the agri-food supply chain by providing visibility, reducing bottlenecks, planning for contingencies, and improving existing processes and resources. Additionally, they can add value to businesses by lowering costs and boosting customer satisfaction. This study is aimed at responding to common scientific questions on the application of digital twins in the agri-food supply chain, focusing on the benefits, types, integration levels, key elements, implementation steps, and challenges. Methods: This article conducts a systematic literature review of recent works on agri-food supply chain digital twins, using a list of peer-reviewed studies to analyze concepts using precise and well-defined criteria. Thus, 50 papers were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and descriptive and content-wise analysis was conducted to answer the research questions. Conclusions: The implementation of digital twins has shown promising advancements in addressing global challenges in the agri-food supply chain. Despite encouraging signs of progress in the sector, the real-world application of this solution is still in its early stages. This article intends to provide firms, experts, and researchers with insights into future research directions, implications, and challenges on the topic. Full article

Background: Since global warming is a crucial worldwide issue, carbon tax has been introduced in the global supply chain as an environmental regulation for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Costs, GHG emissions, and carbon tax prices differ in each country due to economic conditions, energy mixes, and government policies. Additionally, multiple countries have signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). While FTAs result in their economic benefit, they also increase the risk of carbon leakage, which increases GHG emissions in the global supply chain due to relocation production sites from a country with stricter emission constraints to others with laxer ones. Method: This study proposes a mathematical model for decision support to minimize total costs involving carbon taxes with FTAs. Results: Our model determines suppliers, factory locations, and the number of transported parts and products with costs, FTAs, carbon taxes, and material-based GHG emissions estimated using the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database. The FTA utilization on the global low-carbon supply chain is examined by comparing the constructed supply chains with and without FTAs, and by conducting sensitivity analysis of carbon tax prices. Conclusions: We found that FTAs would not cause carbon leakage directly and would be effective for reducing GHG emissions economically. Full article

Background: This paper proposes a framework to cope with the lack of data at the time of a disaster by employing predictive models. The framework can be used for disaster human impact assessment based on the socio-economic characteristics of the affected countries. Methods: A panel data of 4252 natural onset disasters between 1980 to 2020 is processed through concept drift phenomenon and rule-based classifiers, namely the Moving Average (MA). Results: Predictive model for Estimating Data (PRED) is developed as a decision-making platform based on the Disaster Severity Analysis (DSA) Technique. Conclusions: comparison with the real data shows that the platform can predict the human impact of a disaster (fatality, injured, homeless) with up to 3% error; thus, it is able to inform the selection of disaster relief partners for various disaster scenarios. Full article

Background: The unprecedented supply chain disruptions caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic forced many firms to change their way of doing business dramatically. These changes include quickly responding to the growing demand for online orders and the corresponding direct shipments to customer locations. These changes have been further accelerated by rapid technological innovations resulting from the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). One of the most notable technological transformations that we have witnessed is the growing popularity of smart warehousing concepts. Although smart warehousing may represent a wave of the warehousing future, the published literature rarely documents its underlying principles, specific application targets, and potential impacts on supply chain performance. This research aims to identify key drivers of the digital warehousing revolution and describe important value propositions for warehousing automation. Methods: To help companies develop smart warehouses successfully as an integral part of a supply chain link, I conceptualize an ideal smart warehousing system, design its basic architecture, propose specific milestones for monitoring the progress of smart warehouse development, and then, identify critical success factors for its full utilization in today’s volatile warehousing environment. This paper employed qualitative content analysis to conceptualize smart warehousing development and establish a smart warehousing framework. Results: A smart warehouse will bring many managerial benefits, including warehousing cost efficiency, labor productivity, and agility in the era of the knowledge economy. Conclusions: This paper will enable companies to accelerate digital transformation and improve their competitiveness amid the post-pandemic industrial revolution. Full article

Background: Finding trends in freight transportation activities enables businesses and policy makers to build an understanding of freight transportation patterns and their impact on logistics planning when making investments in a region’s transportation infrastructure and intermodal freight transport system. To the best of our knowledge, there is limited literature and data-driven analysis about trends in transportation mode choices and the influencing factors in Atlantic Canada. Methods: In this study, a data-driven method has been used to analyze the Canadian Freight dataset to identify trends in transportation activities within Maritime, Canada. Freight transportation mode, product categories, distance, number/weight of shipments, and revenue were examined. Results: The results revealed that the top five product categories exported from Atlantic provinces to the rest of Canada, the US, and Mexico are miscellaneous items, food products, forest products, minerals, and other manufactured goods, where Truck for Hire is the most deployed mode of transportation. A multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the weight, distance, and number of shipments are positively and rather strongly correlated with revenue generation. Conclusions: This study provides a unique overview of Canadian Freight Analysis Framework (CFAF) data with a focus on maritime activities. Full article

Background: The emissions of ships in ports are increasingly becoming an issue, and particularly those of NO_x, SO_x, and PM, rather than CO₂. One realistic solution for reducing GHG emissions is cold ironing technology. This paper highlights the socio-economic impact of increasing utilization of cold ironing in the port of Genoa, quantifying the achievable emissions reductions and estimating the effects over a defined time horizon. Methods: This research employs an interdisciplinary approach and uses quantitative data with a bottom-up approach for data collection. For the quantification of health costs, reference was made to the CAFE program, which defines a calculation method to estimate the external costs generated by polluting agents such as NH₃, NOx, SO₂, VOCs, and PM2.5. Results: Analysis of results shows the significant importance of relying on cold ironing and the importance of renewable port generation. Health cost savings using cold ironing and a different mix of generations are calculated, and these results strongly signal the importance of cold ironing. Conclusions: Cold ironing is indeed an effective anti-pollution measure. Its use to reduce polluting emissions is to be strongly recommended. Investments are cost-effective versus health costs and are sustainable by all parties. Full article

Background: Enhancing the resilience of global supply chains has become of increasing priority in response to recent natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This paper presents findings from semi-structured interviews with five Japanese companies conducted between November 2020 and February 2021 to examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on different aspects of logistics and supply chain activities and resilience strategies implemented. The interviews focused on firms’ financial performance and the status of preparedness, response, and future plans from the perspective of logistics and supply chain resilience. Through interviews, we also investigated whether existing logistics and supply chain resilience strategies helped the companies avoid, withstand, respond to, or recover from the pandemic’s impacts. Results: The results indicated that the interviewed companies experienced both positive and negative impacts from the pandemic on their logistics and supply chain activities and experienced negative impacts mainly on their financial performance. Conclusions: A certain level of preparedness was observed; however, the levels of resilience preparedness, response, and future plans varied among companies with different attributes, such as industry type and organisation size. Full article

Background: ChatGPT has been largely discussed since it was launched in November 2022. Problem statement: the main approaches of ChatGPT in the recent and scarce literature are more focused on the impacts for general use, applied sciences and educational systems, which evidences a relevant gap for the management field, especially related to the supply chain area. Objectives: as a novel and initial contribution, this article aims to provide a viewpoint with the main applications and other issues regarding ChatGPT in supply chains, based on the initial discovered evidence. Methods: This viewpoint article is grounded on the few articles available in specialized magazines, blogs and company websites that approach potential applications and other issues of ChatGPT in supply chains, as a systematic literature review was not possible due to the absence of papers approaching the subject in the research databases. Contributions: this article contributes to the practitioners involved in supply chain activities who desire to have an initial and structured content related to the impacts and applications of ChatGPT on supply chains. It also seeks to encourage researchers on further research deployments in this field by presenting potential research agenda topics. Results: first evidence based on quality results from the analyzed content showed that, although it may take time until this technology evolves to a desirable level of maturity, it may be applied in different areas of supply chain management (e.g., route optimization, predictive maintenance, order shipment, customer and supplier relationships, data analysis, ordering process, automating invoices, reducing waste, workforce training and guidance, amongst others), with a potential generation of significant benefits such as cost reductions and the improvement of supply chain performance. Full article

Background: This article’s main goal is to examine how digital platforms and supply chain traceability (SCT) might contribute to robust information and efficient inventory management (EIM); Methods: SmartPLS3 software was used in conjunction with the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PSL-SEM) technique. Using the snowball sampling method, the software was used to collect data from Pakistani supply chain (SC) specialists; Results: According to this study’s conclusions, robust information and inventory management using digital platforms and SC traceability depend greatly on transparency; Conclusions: Even though investing in digital platforms is a complex process including multiple internal and external parties, this study will be helpful for the decision-makers who make such decisions. The paper identifies research gaps and presents the potential for more research while also increasing awareness of digital platforms, traceability, and transparency in the SC system. There is a shortage of empirical evidence on how digital platforms and SCT lead to robust information and EIM through the mediation association of transparency, notwithstanding the abundance of research conducted on SCT and transparency. Full article

Background: Recent literature indicates that warehouse management costs account for a significant portion of overall logistics costs in companies. Warehousing requires the classification, controlling and management of inventory as well as processing of related information. Therefore, adopting efficient and reasonable warehouse management measures to achieve effective management and control of materials is a key means to flexibly adjusting the supply and demand of storage materials and reduce operating costs. There remains a gap in the understanding of benefits and barriers to the full adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and decision support systems (DSSs) in warehouse management. Methods: This work applies a systematic literature review methodology of recent implementation case studies to analyze documented barriers and benefits of Industry 4.0 technology adoption in warehouse management. For analysis, benefits and barriers are ranked in order of importance using Pareto analysis based on their frequency of occurrence. Results: Improved process efficiency, the availability of real-time data, added competitive advantage and the ability to integrate business activities digitally are the top four most important benefits of implementing Industry 4.0 technologies and decision support systems in warehouse management. The prominent barriers to implementation are high life cycle cost, challenging physical environment/layout, inadequate supporting resource constraints, increased security risk and high energy consumption. Conclusions: Barriers to implementing Industry 4.0 technologies are interrelated in nature and prevent businesses from realizing the full benefit of implemented Industry 4.0 technologies. Adequate financial support, new knowledge and skills are required to be able to ensure the successful implementation of Industry 4.0 in warehousing management. Full article

Background: The logistics sector is the backbone of today’s global trade, and is vital for the continuity of goods and services. The sector is gaining increased importance as logistics operate under the extreme conditions the world is passing through (COVID-19, earthquakes, wars). Methods: A comparative study is offered for Turkey and the EU27 and EA19 countries utilizing Eurostat database time series data for logistics turnover, based on regression analysis with and without COVID-19-affected data. General trends are identified regarding the logistics turnover and average turnover by different transportation modes in Turkey. Linear, exponential, logarithmic and polynomial regressions are fitted to the dataset to find the best fit. Afterwards, forecasting is performed based on the polynomial equation, which is identified as the best fit. A similar approach is repeated for the EU27 and EA19 countries to put forward the trends and forecasts as well as a detailed comparative discussion among countries. Results: Our study reveals the dramatic effect of COVID-19 on the turnover of different logistics modes and the radical shift that Turkey experienced from land transportation towards air transportation. Conclusions: Our study provides forecasting and a comparative picture for the logistics sector, shows the growth trends with respect to different transportation modes and reveals the effects of the pandemic on the logistics sector for Turkey and the EU27 and EA19 countries. Full article

Background: Military logistics has been present from the moment a soldier was created, and its evolution has been influenced by the technology used. Indeed, it has been observed over time that every military revolution was intrinsically caused by a military logistics revolution, directly promoted by the technology applied to the manner of making war. Few papers have been written about military logistics in relation to the development of war itself. Its application was conceptualized in two dimensions: as an art and as a science, interdependent on decision-making. With the evolution of human beings, the way of making war also evolved and therefore a transformation was generated. This makes it necessary to deepen the application of mathematical modeling, statistics, and new technologies in military logistics, promoting the application of concepts based on technology to improve the effectiveness of armies. The aim of this paper is to review the evolution of military logistics. Methods: A systematic approach to the literature review is followed. The backgrounds of the military logistics thought, key authors, trends and a new definition of military logistics is presented, among others. Results: The findings allow us to identify a set of 21 definitions of military logistics since 1792. Full article

Background: UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and SUGVs (Sidewalk Unmanned Ground Vehicles) are two prominent options to revolutionize last mile home delivery. However, there is no literature yet addressing a comprehensive assessment of them. To bridge this research gap, this paper aimed to compare UAVs to SUGVs in the context of urban parcel delivery from a practical, conceptual, technological, commercial, and environmental perspective. Methodology: Based on structured literature and web research, this paper provided a comparative status quo review of these two delivery concepts. We introduced a parameter-based cost calculus model to estimate the costs per shipment for each technology. To detect the key cost drivers, we applied a one-way sensitivity analysis, as well as a “full factorial design of experiment” approach. Results: These key cost drivers for both operations are the “number of vehicles per operator” and the “average beeline service radius”. From today’s commercial point of view, our model indicated better profitability of SUGVs. However, technical and regulatory developments may render different results in the future. As SUGVs emit significantly less noise than UAVs, we assume that SUGVs have an additional advantage for usage in autonomous urban last mile delivery from a resident’s perspective. Conclusions: Both key cost drivers will significantly influence the commercial viability of unmanned home delivery services. Safety and security aspects will determine regulatory rules on “number of vehicles per operator”. To increase the “average beeline service radius”, UAVs could profit from mothership delivery concepts while SUGV delivery may co-use existing public transport infrastructure. Full article

Background: Food waste is a situation that triggers certain controversy, considering that there is still a significant number of people who do not have access to healthy and nutritious food every day. The management of food leftovers from school lunches depends on the creation of measurement mechanisms. Thus, current characteristics of schools should be identified in order to mitigate and better manage these leftovers. This study addresses this gap, that is, it seeks to understand how food waste management is carried out in schools from a circular economy perspective. Methods: Focusing on the management of school lunches in municipal schools, this study aims to build an inductive interpretive theory in order to understand how schools promote food waste management. Results: Loss estimates and their monetization were identified and explained, and alternatives for waste recovery using the ReSOLVE framework were proposed. Conclusions: Therefore, it was assumed that the perspective of circularity is a possible and viable way to manage food waste in school lunches. Stakeholder engagement and awareness raising become necessary premises for success in the food circularity journey. Full article