When business practices shift from a traditional open supply chain to a closed loop instead, the environmental and societal issues are efficiently integrated in business development. However, even an ...efficiently integrated shift introduces a number of trade-offs due to the contradictory goals that emerge from that business's economical, environmental and social dimensions. In this paper, we propose a multi-objective mixed integer mathematical problem for a generic closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) network to rationalise how a system's product recovery helps to improve manufacturing sustainability. The CLSC network proposed in this study consists of a hybrid manufacturing facility, warehouse, distribution centres, collection centres and a hybrid recovery facility (HRF). The proposed model determines the best location for the HRF and optimal flow of products, recovered parts and material in the network while it simultaneously maximises profit, saves activity costs, helps to decrease the harmful effects of the manufacturing process and makes a positive impact on societal development. To validate the model, a numerical illustration with the help of a case study from an electrical manufacturing industry is offered. The results authenticate the approach of the model towards the fulfilment of various environmental regulations. A sensitivity analysis, completed on demand, and the return rate also assists decision-makers to manage their decisions with a broader insight towards manufacturing sustainability.
With growing competition in the market and dire need for sustainability, it has become imperative for companies to build long‐term relationship with their supply chain partners through sustainable ...collaboration. Among these, the supplier–manufacturer relationship is crucial for improved organizational, business and sustainable performance. Sustainable collaboration with suppliers involves crucial decision‐making processes such as continuous supplier monitoring and supplier development. Hence, a critical challenge that a company faces is to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) for assessing the performance of a supplier for sustainable collaboration. In this regard, this study focuses on identification of KPIs for an Indian home appliance company through exhaustive discussions involving multiple decision‐makers. Further, a grey‐based decision‐making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) model is proposed in the study for analysing the importance levels among the fifteen KPIs based on multiple stakeholder perspectives. The results of the grey structural model indicate seven KPIs as influencing KPIs and eight KPIs as influenced KPIs. The KPI ‘Information disclosure’ has been identified as the most influential KPI for the evaluation of suppliers for sustainable collaboration. The implications drawn from the result analysis model can provide meaningful insights to managers for identifying strategies towards strengthening the supplier–manufacturer relationship and achieving organizational and market competence.
Immense concern for sustainability and increasing stakeholders’ involvement has sparked tremendous interest towards designing optimal supply chain networks with significant economic, environmental, ...and social influence. Central to the idea, this study aims to design a closed loop supply chain (CLSC) network for an Indian laptop manufacturer. The network configuration, which involves a manufacturer, suppliers, third party logistics providers (forward and reverse), retailers, customers and a non-government organisation (NGO), is modelled as a mixed integer linear programming problem with fuzzy goals of minimising environmental impact and maximising net profit and social impact, subject to fuzzy demand and capacity constraints. Profit is generated from the sale of primary and secondary laptops, earned tax credits, and revenue sharing with reverse logistics providers. The environmental implications are investigated by measuring the carbon emitted due to activities of manufacturing, assembling, dismantling, fabrication, and transportation. The social dimension is quantified in terms of the number of jobs created, training hours, community service hours, and donations to NGO. The novelty of the model rests on its quantification of the three triple bottom line (TBL) indicators and on its use of AHP–TOPSIS for modelling the multi-criteria perspectives of the stakeholders. Numerical weights for the triple lines of sustainability are utilized. Further, a fuzzy multi-objective programming approach that integrates fuzzy set theory with goal programming techniques is utilised to yield properly efficient solutions to the multi-objective problem and to provide a trade-off set for conflicting objectives. The significance of the CLSC model is empirically established as a decision support tool for improving the TBL performance of a particular Indian laptop manufacturer. Practical and theoretical implications are derived from the result analysis, and a generalised quantitative closed-loop model can be effectively adapted by other electronic manufacturers to increase their competitiveness, profitability, and to improve their TBL.
The Indian electronics industry is facing immense pressure to include sustainability practices in order to meet customer expectations, comply with legislation and create an edge over competitors. ...This growing need for inclusion of sustainability is driving original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to collaborate with third-party reverse logistics providers (3PRLPs) to sustainably manage returns. Collaboration with 3PRLP will put OEMs in a stronger position regarding compliance with government legislation, improving upon their corporate image and customer satisfaction. It is a win-win situation for the OEM. On the other hand, from the 3PRLP's point of view, it is important to know the capabilities of the OEMs before entering into a collaborative endeavour. Hence, it is firstly necessary to identify the most appropriate attributes of the manufacturer which are essential for a sustainable collaboration. In this context, the study proposes a novel framework for investigating the performance attributes of the OEMs from the economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability. Since the evaluation of each attribute for each dimension of sustainability differs in terms of the nature of the information needed and the time and resources required, it is necessary to conduct a pre-evaluation of the attributes using the Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS) method. Furthermore, the shortlisted attributes for each sustainability dimension are evaluated and prioritized using the best worst method (BWM). The novelty of the attribute selection process lies in simultaneously considering the degree of importance of the attribute as well as the degree of difficulty of the collection of data required for the assessment of the OEM. The result of this study helps decision-makers and practitioners to comprehend the most influential attributes of OEMs which are crucial for collaboration, thus enhancing the overall sustainability impact of the supply chain. The managerial implications drawn from the resulting analysis provide the 3PRLP with a sustainable evaluation framework which can be ideally used for the selection of collaborative partners. The above model is validated using the case of an Indian 3PRLP company that handles electronic products.
•Proposed a novel framework for investigating OEM's performance attributes to achieve sustainability.•Evaluation and prioritization of the attributes are performed using the best-worst method.•The model is validated using the case of Indian 3PRLP company.
The increasing pressure due to legislation and various public policies has prompted manufacturers to seriously take into consideration the impact of electronic waste. To overcome this challenge, ...several manufacturers have incorporated reverse logistics into their business lines. Due to a lack of resources and/or managerial expertise, several companies choose to outsource product recovery activities to third parties. The growing demand has given rise to the number of third party logistics providers, who are assigned the task of efficiently and cost effectively achieving product recovery. The work of the 3PRL’s commences with the collection of returned products from various companies to retrieve maximum value harvested in the form of reusable products, components and materials. Thus, a 3PRLP needs to establish a recovery process able to effectively retrieve value from various types of product. To deal with multiple types of products, the recovery network needs to work with a balanced disassembly line. Thus in this paper we proposes a cost effective reverse logistics network from the perspective of the third party, which integrates the disassembly line balancing in the planning recovery network. This study develops a mixed integer non-linear programming problem for the same. The model is validated using various products from the liquid crystal displays industry.
Product recovery, accompanied by cradle to cradle policies from the contemporary supply chain, becomes an essential element in meeting environmental compliance and waste management policies. ...Incorporation of reverse logistics into the traditional supply chains becomes a complementary factor for efficient product recovery. To begin with product recovery, consumers are encouraged to return their end-of-use/end-of-life products, and the steps of collecting and planning the movement of returned products are crucial decisions. The efficient planning of a cost effective recovery process in reverse logistics requires dealing with the uncertainty underlying in the quantity and quality of the returned products. In this paper, we propose establishing an initial collection point within a permissible radius of the customer zones to overcome some of the issues of uncertainty. The uncertainty in the quantity and quality of the returned products are modelled using fuzzy triangular numbers. To capture the real world conditions of the proposed problem, our model aims at maximizing the profit incurred in the recovery process in an uncertain environment. The model was solved with the help of fuzzy mathematical programming. The model is validated by a company case belonging to the manufacturing of electronic products. To increase the applicability of the product recovery process in the industry, we propose a recovery process for the planning horizon consisting of multi periods and multi products. The outcomes of the proposed model indicate that for the successful realisation of such network, customers need to be legally enforced to return their end of used products in the channels established for value recovery.
Due to rising concerns for environmental sustainability, the Indian electronic industry faces immense pressure to incorporate effective sustainable practices into the supply chain (SC) planning. ...Consequently, manufacturing enterprises (ME) are exploring the option of re-examining their SC strategies and taking a formalized approach towards a sustainable partnership with logistics providers. To begin with, it is imperative to associate with sustainable forward and reverse logistics providers to manage effectively the upward and downstream flows simultaneously. In this context, this paper proposes an integrated SC network for the evaluation and selection of forward distribution partners (FDP) and third party reverse logistic providers (3PRLP) from a sustainable perspective of an Indian electronic ME. The sustainable evaluation of the logistic partners is performed using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and the technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution. The integrated logistics network is modeled as a bi-objective mixed-integer programming problem with the objective of maximizing the profit of the manufacturer and maximizing the sustainable score of the selected forward and reverse logistics providers. The novelty of the study is its ranking of the FDPs and 3PRLPs on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability and the simultaneous integration of logistics outsourcing decisions for the forward and reverse flow of products. Goal programming approach is utilized to capture the trade-off between the conflicting objectives and to attain a satisfying solution to the bi-objective problem. The results indicate that integrating the strategic decisions of selection of logistics partners with the operational flow planning decisions can immensely improve the sustainable performance value of the SC network and secure reasonable profits. The managerial implications drawn from the result analysis provide a sustainable framework to the ME for enhancing its corporate image.
Novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has infected 18 million people with 700,000+ mortalities worldwide and this deadly numeric figure is rapidly rising. With very few success stories, the therapeutic ...targeting of this epidemic has been mainly attributed to main protease (Mpro), whilst Papain-like proteases (PLpro) also plays a vital role in the processing of replicase polyprotein. Multifunctional roles of PLpro such as viral polypeptide cleavage, de-ISGlyation and immune suppression have made it a promising drug target for therapeutic interventions. Whilst there have been a number of studies and others are on-going on repurposing and new-small molecule screening, albeit previously FDA approved drugs viz. Chloroquine (CQ) and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have only been found effective against this pandemic. Inspired by this fact, we have carried out molecular docking and dynamics simulation studies of FDA approved CQ and HCQ against SARS-CoV-2 PLpro. The end aim is to characterise the binding mode of CQ and HCQ and identify the key amino acid residues involved in the mechanism of action. Further, molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) were carried out with the docked complex to search for the conformational space and for understanding the integrity of binding mode. We showed that the CQ and HCQ can bind with better binding affinity with PLpro as compared to reference known PLpro inhibitor. Based on the presented findings, it can be anticipated that the SARS-CoV-2 PLpro may act as molecular target of CQ and HCQ, and can be projected for further exploration to design potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro in the near future.
Changes in rainfall affect drinking water, river and surface runoff, soil moisture, groundwater reserve, electricity generation, agriculture production and ultimately the economy of a country. Trends ...in rainfall, therefore, are important for examining the impact of climate change on water resources for its planning and management. Here, as analysed from 119 years of rainfall measurements at 16 different rain gauge stations across northeast India, a significant change in the rainfall pattern is evident after the year 1973, with a decreasing trend in rainfall of about 0.42 ± 0.024 mm dec−1. The wettest place of the world has shifted from Cherrapunji (CHE) to Mawsynram (MAW) (separated by 15 km) in recent decades, consistent with long-term rainfall changes in the region. The annual mean accumulated rainfall was about 12 550 mm at MAW and 11 963 mm at CHE for the period 1989-2010, as deduced from the available measurements at MAW. The changes in the Indian Ocean temperature have a profound effect on the rainfall in the region, and the contribution from the Arabian Sea temperature and moisture is remarkable in this respect, as analysed with a multivariate regression procedure for the period 1973-2019. The changes in land cover are another important aspect of this shift in rainfall pattern, as we find a noticeable reduction in vegetation area in northeast India in the past two decades, implying the human influence on recent climate change.
The inclusion of economical, environmental, and societal issues in all stages of doing business helps to bring about sustainable development. A business begins or expands by establishing new ...facilities, so selecting a facility location is a strategic and crucial decision. In the context of sustainability, the selection of location for different facilities can be a critical problem, especially for manufacturing firms that endorse the wide footprint of Extended Producer Responsibility policies. This study aims at prioritizing alternative potential locations for manufacturing firms with respect to the three dimensions of sustainability identified above. The three dimensions are assessed by factors obtained through a factor analysis and are grouped by corresponding invariable sub criteria. These sub criteria are chosen from the extant literature review. Then, the preferred order of alternative potential location is obtained by Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) based on each location's overall performance. The performance of each alternative potential location is assessed on the basis of overall weights of alternatives, evaluating factors, and triple bottom line attributes, which were obtained by Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). The multi criteria decision making technique, AHP, calculates the weights of the qualitative and quantitative criteria impacting the location selection problem. Then the approach of the study is validated by applying a case from real life; the results are justified by completing a sensitivity analysis on the relative importance weights of the three primary attributes (economical, environmental, and social). The results of the sensitivity analysis demonstrate an effective decision making technique for the optimal selection of sustainable manufacturing locations.
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