741 publications from this institution
Both Industry 4.0 and sustainability have gained momentum in the academic, managerial and policy debate. Despite the relevance of the topics, the relation between Industry 4.0 and sustainability – revealed by many authors – is still unclear; literature is fragmented. This paper seeks to overcome this limit by developing a systematic literature review of 117 peer-reviewed journal articles. After descriptive and content analyses, the work presents a conceptualization and theoretical framework. The paper contributes to both theory and practice by advancing current understanding of Industry 4.0 and sustainability, especially the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on sustainability practices and performance.
The evolution from a focus on product design to one on process and product design in improving organizational competitiveness has included the development of a field of study called business process reengineering (BPR). BPR is an organizational development tool that requires a number of stages of analysis, design and implementation. The literature in the past few years has provided a number of tools and techniques to aid in BPR efforts. One area in this relatively new organizational change philosophy that has not received much attention is the selection or prioritization of a set of candidate business processes or projects that should undergo reengineering. Since business processes by definition are elements of a broader strategic system, the candidate evaluation and selection process must be strategically oriented. To aid in this evaluation process a strategic multiattribute evaluation and justification framework and methodology is presented. The methodology includes an activity based analysis and linkage of traditional (financial) and strategic considerations. The evaluation methodology may also have implications for post-implementation evaluation of BPR projects and other phases of BPR.
No abstract is provided for this article.
Relief supply chain (SC) management is a relatively unexplored field. In this field, practitioners have shown some interest in greening practices, but little practical or academic literature exists to help provide insights into combining the two fields. Adoption of green SC principles in the relief SC requires a systematic study of existing barriers in order to remove these barriers and allow introduction of green practices. The aim of this chapter is to explore barriers to implementation of green practices in the relief SC. Expert opinions and literature from humanitarian logistics and green supply chain management are used to establish a list of barriers and to propose a categorization of barriers. Further research to evaluate the relationships and importance of these barrier factors is identified.
This chapter discusses the purchasing relationships between a demanufacturing operation, its customers, and suppliers. It describes the digital equipment corporation America's Material Recovery Organisation (AMRO) that will be the specific demanufacturing operation where various green purchasing and logistics practices. The chapter identifies a number of characteristics of a disassembly and demanufacturing organisation. These corporate environmental and operational characteristics have implications for both the purchasing and logistics functions. The chapter focuses not only on material purchasing operations, but also how customers' purchasing practices may be influenced by AMRO. Evidence will show that multifunctional input is critical to the green purchasing and logistics dimensions of the organisation. Purchasing and logistics functions are the engines that allow materials to flow through an organisation. The AMRO facility serves two major functions: as a warehouse for returned and excess equipment, and also as a materials recovery facility. Purchasing and the remaining functions within AMRO are primarily focused on managing a reverse logistics function.
Purpose– This paper aims to provide a framework which can assist focal companies in the development of sustainable supply chains. Sustainable development from an industrial perspective has extended beyond organisational boundaries to incorporate a supply chain approach.Design/methodology/approach– The literature related to sustainable supply chain management is reviewed by incorporating concepts from four organisational theories, including the resource-based, institutional, stakeholder and social network perspectives, to illustrate key drivers and enablers of sustainability initiatives in the supply chain. A conceptual multidimensional framework is then developed that can be used for the initial assessment of supply chain sustainability.Findings– Development and assessment of sustainability in supply chains are being increasingly incorporated as part of supply chain management today. This paper presents a multidimensional framework which can serve as a tool for research scholars and supply chain practitioners in identifying and assessing various economic, environmental and social performance indicators.Research limitations/implications– The framework and approach presented are conceptual, and require additional and broader validation. Additional theories, at differing levels, such as individual behaviour theory, should be utilised to further enhance and evaluate the framework. Developing and integrating analytical models for prescriptive and practical supply chain solutions can enhance the applicability of the framework.Practical implications– The framework adopts a multidimensional approach to assessing and designing sustainable supply chains, as it not only incorporates economic and environmental dimensions but also provides a practical approach to quantifying and embedding the social dimension into decision-making. The framework helps industry practitioners in initial exploration of trade-offs among economic, environmental and social performance of supply chains, which, in turn, could assist them in creating a business case for sustainability.Originality/value– The paper is one of few studies that incorporates some of the key aspects of all three dimensions of sustainability in a single overarching framework for supply chains and offers significant theoretical contribution and implications for sustainable supply chain management.
Organisations are having difficulty in determining and integrating Industry 4.0 technologies (I4.0T) to improve social dimensions of sustainable performance. We address this issue by showing how to identify the impact degree and path of I4.0T using the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs). First, we identify the SDGs associated with I4.0 and establish an evaluation framework. Second, we introduce an evaluation method that integrates hesitant fuzzy sets, rough sets, decision-making, trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and interpretative structural modelling methods to identify the impact degree and path of I4.0T on SDGs. Third, we confirm the effectiveness of our framework and method using secondary case data from World Economic Forum reports. The case results show that I4.0T have varying direct and indirect influences on SDGs. Policy makers should consider that 'Big Data and Analytics' and 'Cloud Computing' are central I4.0T that link other technologies and SDGs. The prioritisation of I4.0T can lead to contributions to addressing 'Responsible consumption and production' and indirectly improve SDGs. The findings set an initial stage to help sequence investment in various technologies depending on SDGs. We identify sequential paths that can aid in planning for and investing in adopting I4.0T to better achieve SDGs.
Green supplier development has become necessary as organizations increasingly compete on environmental supply chain capabilities. However, formal modeling tools to aid managers in evaluating green supplier development programs (GSDPs) are virtually non-existent. This paper introduces a formal structured managerial approach for organizations to help evaluate the influence relationships amongst GSDPs. Utilizing GSDP categorizations we acquire multi-functional managerial inputs within a telecommunication systems provider to evaluate the GSDPs. The managerial inputs are evaluated using a formalized grey-based DEMATEL methodology. Managerial and research implications of the proposed study and application, limitations and future research directions are also detailed.
Keywords: Automated quality controlComputer-integrated manufacturingInspection process planningQuality information systemsSystems architecture
This paper presents a decision support system for efficient service location design for an agency in the State of Michigan. We consider a total of 169 branch offices of the agency located in 79 counties that process a variety of transactions and provide services including automobile registrations, issuance of driver licenses, recreational vehicle registration, and personal identification registry. The proposed methodology and decision support system incorporate a number of factors such as branch office efficiencies based on multiple measures, budget restrictions, capacity limitations for processing transactions, and demand requirements in designing an efficient service system. Our approach employs data envelopment analysis (DEA) and mixed‐integer programming (MIP) models. A series of experiments are conducted with the proposed model by varying the levels of system‐wide efficiency, resource reallocation, and budget in generating a set of decisions that executive management of the agency can implement. In addition, we investigate service channel management issues that the agency is currently facing in providing the services by web, phone, facsimile, and mail in addition to branch offices. We discuss how the branch closures influence channel management decisions.
A time-based competitive strategy is a driving force for enterprises that are striving to be competitive on a global basis. One of the methods to help in the time compression of the product development life cycle is concurrent engineering. Concurrent engineering is not only an approach that is used by the engineering function of the organization, but it is also one that crosses organizational boundaries. In this article an integrated functional model of the concurrent engineering process and its relationship with the product development life cycle is presented. A functional comparison to the traditional engineering approach for product development is also provided.
Investment in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) and other advanced manufacturing technology is meant to achieve benefits including higher quality products, lead time reductions, less work in process, and a number of other performance outcomes. This paper studies the relationship of productivity performance of FMS as they become more complex. Complexity, within this paper, is measured by the number of numerically controlled machine tools and industrial robots within a system. Productivity analysis is completed using data envelopment analysis with the inputs consisting of complexity measures and the outputs consisting of process/inventory reduction, lead time reduction, unit cost reduction and personnel reduction measures.
No abstract is provided for this article.
Green house gas (GHG) emissions have been tied to global climate change. Governments are seeking ways to help improve performance of their countries on this environmental issue through introduction of various policy instruments. One popular policy instrument that...
Supply chain flexibility is an important operations strategy dimension for organizations to achieve and maintain competitive advantage. With rising greener customer expectations and increasingly stringent environmental regulations, green supply chains are now viewed as another competitive weapon. Green supply chains are characterized by higher complexity and turbulence. Green supply chain flexibility can aid organizations function in this complex and uncertain environment, yet investigation into this area is very limited. This paper aims contribute to this field by investigating green supply chain flexibility achievement through information systems. This paper introduces a green supply chain flexibility matrix framework. Given the large data needs, as described in the matrix, a novel probability evaluation methodology that can help predict rankings of projects and programs is introduced. The methodology extends a TOPSIS based three-parameter interval grey number (TpGN) approach by incorporating neighborhood rough set theory (RST) to evaluate IS programs’ green flexibility support capability. The results of this methodology are more objective and effective for two reasons. (1) The results are predictive rankings based on probability degree instead of the fixed deterministic ranks. (2) Neighborhood rough set theory used in this study can limit loss of information when compared to rough set theory, yet still simplify extensive data sets. This paper also identifies study limitations and future research directions for green supply chain flexibility.
Globalization results in both pressure and drivers for Chinese enterprise to improve their environmental performance. As a developing country, China has to balance economic and environmental performance. Green supply chain management (GSCM) is emerging to be an important approach for Chinese enterprises to improve performance, possibly on both these dimensions. Using empirical results from 89 respondents on GSCM practice in Chinese manufacturing enterprises, we examine the relationships between pressures, practice and performance. The results will look at multiple dimensions of GSCM practice and performance, as well as various pressures they face. Discussion of the results will include practical implications for organizations, not only in China, but internationally who face similar pressures and seek to implement similar programs.
While building their reputation as a major manufacturing prowess, Chinese industry has experienced increasing ecological pressures from a variety of institutional players including market, governmental, and competitive sources. In response to these pressures some organizations initiate emergent green supply chain management (GSCM) practices. A moderated hierarchical regression analysis of data provided by 341 Chinese manufacturer respondents was completed to examine the relationships between GSCM practice, environmental and economic performance, incorporating three moderating factors market, regulatory, and competitive institutional pressures. The results reveal that: (1) Chinese manufacturers have experienced increasing environmental pressure to implement GSCM practices; (2) the existence of market (normative) and regulatory (coercive) pressures influences organizations to have improved environmental performance, especially when these pressures cause adoption of eco-design and green purchasing practices; (3) manufacturers facing higher regulatory pressures tend to implement green purchasing and investment recovery; (4) competitive (mimetic) pressure existence significantly improves the economic benefits from adoption of a number of GSCM practices with no deleterious influences on environmental performance; (5) none of the institutional pressures contribute to or lessen possible "win-win" situations for organizations. Implications for operations strategists and organizational sustainability planners from these relationships are also discussed.
The mining industry is very important to the economy of many developing countries, and offers an important source of revenue. Yet, in order to yield benefits on a long term, sustainable management practices are needed. This paper outlines and introduces a comprehensive framework for sustainable supply chain management implementation in the mining industry in Ghana. It evaluates, through a comparative analysis involving a sample of companies, environmentally sustainable supply chain management practices. The theoretical framework focuses on six major constructs. These constructs include Green Information Technology and Systems, Strategic Supplier Partnership, Operations and Logistics Integration, Internal Environmental Management, Eco-innovative Practices and End-oflife Practices. Using a field study approach the identified factors are subjected to an initial review by experts in Ghana to arrive at a preliminary framework. The framework is evaluated using gold mining industry managers in Ghana. Two multi-attribute evaluation approaches DEMATEL and AHP models help to identify and contrast the importance of the factors and attributes to the overall goal. One of the findings is that the framework for sustainable supply chain management practices in the mining industry is acceptable and comprehensive according to industry experts. The multiattribute evaluation tools used in this paper found that Strategic Supplier Partnership (SSP) and End-of-life (EOL) Practices are the two most prominent and influential major/strategic factors whereas Lean and Green Operations (OLI1), Substituting toxic inputs with environmentally friendly ones (ECO1) and Resale of used parts or components (EOL1) are the three most critical and prominent operational/sub-factors among the topmost ranked operational/sub-factors. This study and resulting framework allows practicing managers in the mining industry in Ghana and elsewhere in the developing world to make thoughtful decisions for making their supply chains more environmentally sustainable.
