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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 39014

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Felix T. S. Chan

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Guest Editor

Department of Decision Sciences, School of Business, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macao
Interests: engineering management; logistics; supply chain management; production management systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Yichen Qin

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Guest Editor

Department of Management Science, School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Maritime University, China
Interests: Optimisation, Logistics and Transportation, Modelling

Dr. Hoi Lam Ma

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Guest Editor

Department of Supply Chain and Information Management, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Interests: Logistics Information Management, Database Design, Simulations, Operation Management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With growing concern about the impact of greenhouse gases (GHG) emission and land pollution in energy consumption from manufacturing industries, urban and rural transportations as well as agriculture productions, improving and implementing environmental-friendly logistics arrangement and sustainable supply chain management emerge as significant agendas among international-, state-, and enterprise-level’s strategy planning. With increasing number of nations imposing GHG regulatory policies, manufacturing industries and logistics enterprises with high energy consumption are required to provide proper measures in order to observe the respective requirements before implementing or resuming their commercial activities.

Recent rapid development of Data Science, including Industry 4.0, Internet of Things, Data Mining and Machine Learning enables a visualization of logistics and supply chain management. In addition to the evolutions of Artificial Intelligence and optimization methodology, academic community and industrial sector are pursuing a robust and applicable decision-making to simulate real-life applications. In the state-of-the-art data analytics and modelling method, researchers and practitioners can better manage the future supply chain management decision with sustainable and potential related risk considerations.

The emerging research methods provide decision-making support, data-driven supply chain management and data analytics with regard to the decisions of options. The respective benefits can be brought to various industry applications, including urban and rural intelligent transport systems, maritime logistics, air traffic planning and control, sustainable supply chain design, manufacturing, agriculture production as well as among multi-industry.

The aim of the special issue is to provide original and latest contributions, and to review and survey research and development on logistics and sustainable supply chain management, which focuses on the state-of-the-art and potential technologies and providing initiatives for the solutions from academic to enter corresponding practical scenarios. This special issue aims to stimulate and promote the development of novel approaches in enabling a sustainable logistics and supply chain management solution. It intends to invite a series of leading and high-quality papers on ideas, methods, and technologies applied for logistics and sustainable supply chain management. Topics will include, but not limited to, the follows:

(1) Efficiency and flexibility modelling in logistics planning

(2) Energy consumption control in logistics

(3) Supply chain design, optimization and data-driven modelling with consideration of sustainability

(4) Data and the applications on technology improvement and optimization in logistics solution

(5) Machine learning in GHG emission predictions

(6) Data mining for energy performance improvement in manufacturing

(7) Big data analytics for environment pollution analysis in energy consumption

(8) Mathematical programming for combinatory optimization problem in logistics and supply chain

(9) Collaborative modelling for multi-objective optimization for sustainable logistics

(10) Other relating research topics

Prof. Felix T. S. Chan
Dr. Yichen Qin
Dr. Hoi Lam Ma
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Logistics planning
Supply chain management
Energy consumption
Data mining and analytics
Multi-objective optimization
Modelling

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 1799 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Optimization of the Dual-Channel Closed Loop Supply Chain with E-Commerce

by Essam Kaoud, Mohammad A. M. Abdel-Aal, Tatsuhiko Sakaguchi and Naoki Uchiyama

Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 10117; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122310117 - 3 Dec 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5572

Abstract

The depletion of natural resources and the degradation of the ecosystem have led many countries to adopt closed-loop supply activities in both their industrial and service sectors. With the widespread use of Internet technology, these aspects motivate the incorporation of e-commerce with the classical closed-loop supply chain. This study suggests a novel mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model that addresses the integration of e-commerce with a multi-echelon closed-loop supply chain with a multi-period planning time horizon by considering dual channels in manufacturing, and recovery facilities. To validate the model, we obtain optimal decision variables and examine the robustness and applicability of the model, and comprehensive computational experiments are performed. Moreover, sensitivity analysis is carried out to illustrate the efficacy of e-commerce integration by considering the two channels in the closed-loop supply chain. Accordingly, the total cost of the dual-channel CLSC decreases with an increase in customer demand via online retailers, the returned end of life (EOL) products, recycling ratio, and recovery ratio. Some useful managerial implications are provided based on the conducted analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management)

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19 pages, 1049 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Partnership Quality and Information Sharing on Express Delivery Service Performance in the E-commerce Industry

by Yaoguang Zhong, Ivan Ka Wai Lai, Fangfang Guo and Huajun Tang

Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8293; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208293 - 9 Oct 2020

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4496

Abstract

This study applies the partnership quality theory to investigate how the perceived information sharing quality from express delivery service providers can affect logistics service performance for online shoppers in terms of partnership quality (including trust and commitment) and willingness to share information from E-commerce enterprises. Based on 421 samples of E-commerce enterprises in China, the results of structural equation modelling revealed that perceived information sharing quality affects partnership trust, which in turn affects the partnership commitment and willingness to share information. Partnership quality and willingness to share information affect the perceived performance of the express delivery services. Surprisingly, information sharing quality does not play a role in commitment. This study provides a theoretical contribution to E-commerce supply chain research in constructing a cognition, affective, behavior, and conative performance model for further research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management)

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20 pages, 2129 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Significance of IoT Technology in Improving Logistical Processes and Enhancing Competitiveness: A Case Study on the World’s and Slovakia’s Wood-Processing Enterprises

by Dominika Šulyová and Gabriel Koman

Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7804; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187804 - 21 Sep 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5931

Abstract

The wood-processing industry currently does not sufficiently use modern technologies, unlike the automotive sector. The primary motive for writing this article was in cooperation with a Slovak wood processing company, which wanted to improve its logistics processes and increase competitiveness in the wood processing sector through the implementation of new technologies. The aim of this article was to identify the positives and limitations of the implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) technology into the wood processing industry, based on a secondary analysis of case studies and the best practice of American wood processing companies such as West Fraser Timber in Canada, and Weyerhaeuser in the USA. The selection of case studies was conditional on criteria of time relevance, size of the sawmills, and production volume in m³. These conditional criteria reflected the conditions for the introduction of similar concepts for wood-processing enterprises in Slovakia. The implementation of the IoT can reduce operating costs by up to 20%, increase added value for customers, and collect real-time data that can serve as the basis for support of management and decision-making at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels. In addition to the secondary analysis, methods of comparison of global wood processing companies, synthesis of knowledge, and summarization of positives and limitations of IoT implementation or deduction were used to reach our conclusions. The results were used as the basis for the design of a general model for the implementation of IoT technology for Slovak wood processing enterprises. This model may represent best practice for the selected locality and industry. The implications and verification of the designed model in practice will form part of other research activities, already underway in the form of a primary survey. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management)

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25 pages, 890 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analyzing Barriers for Developing a Sustainable Circular Economy in Agriculture in China Using Grey-DEMATEL Approach

by Xiqiang Xia and Junhu Ruan

Sustainability 2020, 12(16), 6358; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166358 - 7 Aug 2020

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 5692

Abstract

The agricultural economy, as an integral branch of the global economy, covering the whole supply chain of agricultural production including cultivation, processing, distribution and consumption, is of great importance to realizing a sustainable circular economy and ecological development. As a traditional agricultural country, China has experienced a series of problems such as a serious waste of resources and a fragile ecological environment during its agricultural economic development. With the background of “the Belt and Road Initiative”, major progress has been witnessed in both ecological development and agricultural circular economy in China. However, the development of circular agriculture in China has to deal with barriers from different stakeholders. This research identifies critical barriers for the government, farmers, and the enterprises to develop circular agriculture. The causal factors, effect factors, and the center of factors are identified and the correlation between the barriers is described using the Gray-DEMATEL method. Based on the analysis results, several policy suggestions are proposed for the government. This paper provides a feasible framework for decision-making to support the development of a sustainable circular economy in agriculture in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management)

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20 pages, 5241 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Objective Flight Altitude Decision Considering Contrails, Fuel Consumption and Flight Time

by Dabin Xue, Kam K. H. Ng and Li-Ta Hsu

Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 6253; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156253 - 3 Aug 2020

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 4489

Abstract

The rapid growth of air travel and aviation emissions in recent years has contributed to an increase in climate impact. Contrails have been considered one of the main factors of the aviation-induced climate impact. This paper deals with the formation of persistent contrails and its relationship with fuel consumption and flight time when flight altitude and true airspeed vary. Detailed contrail formation conditions pertaining to altitude, relative humidity and temperature are formulated according to the Schmidt–Appleman criterion. Building on the contrail formation model, the proposed model would minimise total travel time, fuel consumption and contrail length associated with a given flight. Empirical data (including pressure, temperature, relative humidity, etc.) collected from seven flight information regions in Chinese observation stations were used to analyse the spatial and temporal distributions of the persistent contrail formation area. The trade-off between flight time, fuel consumption and contrail length are illustrated with a real-world case. The results provided a valuable benchmark for flight route planning with environmental, flight time, sustainable flight trajectory planning and fuel consumption considerations, and showed significant contrail length reduction through an optimal selection of altitude and true airspeed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management)

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18 pages, 2508 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design of Flexible Vehicle Scheduling Systems for Sustainable Paratransit Services

by Daniel Y. Mo, H. Y. Lam, Weikun Xu and G. T. S. Ho

Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5594; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145594 - 11 Jul 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3130

Abstract

The aging population has led to an increase in the variety and volume of transportation demands by people facing travel difficulties. Hence, transportation organisations need to provide flexible and sustainable paratransit services to meet these increasing demands. In this study, we investigate the design of flexible vehicle scheduling systems in order for a community organisation to serve more people and achieve higher operational efficiency. We analyse and propose a system design based on user requirements for different types of paratransit types. Further, we identify an integrated service option and process flow for dial-a-ride passengers to ride on a vehicle with schedule route passengers. Because this option involves a complex decision, we formulate the problem as a two-stage decision model. To verify the effectiveness of our proposed design, we perform numerical simulations and conduct a case study by collaborating with a transportation organisation. We found that the proposed system would enable the organisation to serve more people with fewer vehicles but without an increase in the travelling time. These results demonstrate the importance of a flexible vehicle scheduling system for accessible transportation organisations to sustain their service operations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management)

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22 pages, 609 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Competitive Priorities, Employee Management and Development and Sustainable Manufacturing Performance in Asian Organizations

by Dotun Adebanjo, Pei-Lee Teh, Pervaiz K Ahmed, Erhan Atay and Peter Ractham

Sustainability 2020, 12(13), 5335; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135335 - 1 Jul 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5550

Abstract

This study investigates the relationships between three dimensions of competitive priorities (customer focus, product innovation and delivery) and how Asian manufacturers manage and develop their employees and the consequent effect on sustainable manufacturing performance. Three dimensions of manufacturing performance are considered in this study—quality performance, production flexibility and operations cost. This study uses 259 datasets collected from manufacturers in four Asian countries. Structural equation modeling and mediation analysis are performed to test the relationships. Results show that there is a significant positive and mediating relationship between the competitive priority of product innovation, employee management and development, quality performance, production flexibility and operation cost. However, such significant relationships do not exist with competitive priorities of customer focus and delivery. Organizations are constantly faced with the problem of determining which competitive priorities to focus on. However, different competitive priorities have different effects on how the employees are managed and developed, and ultimately, on organizational performance and competitiveness. There is a need to focus on innovation-led strategies that relate to sustainable outcomes. This is one of the first studies in Asia to understand the multilateral relationships between different competitive priorities and different performance dimensions when employee management and development intermediate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management)

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24 pages, 3827 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Pricing Decisions on Online Channel Entry for Complementary Products in a Dominant Retailer Supply Chain

by Qiongqiong Gu, Xiaodong Yang and Bin Liu

Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 5007; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125007 - 18 Jun 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2656

Abstract

This study considered the supply chain that two manufacturers sell green complementary products to a dominant offline retailer. We investigated whether a manufacturer (the integrated manufacturer) should add an online channel and examined how it affects channel members’ decisions and profits. We formulated the power structure as the retailer-Stackelberg model and analyzed the pricing decisions for the supply chain. The results demonstrate that the integrated manufacturer prefers not to add the online channel when online and offline market bases are comparable and the level of complementarity is moderate. The integrated manufacturer gains more power at the expense of the offline retailer and the other manufacturer (the traditional manufacturer) when the complementarity between the offline and online channel is the same as offline channels with the addition of a new online channel; furthermore, the retailer earns less, while the traditional manufacturer’s profit hinges on the complementarity between the online and offline channels. It is beneficial for the offline retailer to balance the online and offline market bases of product 1 by improving the sales environment of the physical store. The integrated manufacturer can benefit from varying their marketing actions to decrease the degree of complementarity between the retail and online channels for the two products, while the traditional manufacturer can be better off from the online channel introduction by taking steps to increase the complementarity of the two products between the offline channels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Logistics and Sustainable Supply Chain Management)

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