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Digitalization is constantly altering company paradigms and expanding cross-border supply chain prospects. Maritime transportation plays an increasingly essential part in the global supply network. Since maritime shipping services need to exchange a huge number of papers and paperwork across numerous companies, the usage of a unified platform for inter-organisational communication and information sharing is required. To develop an integrative, adaptive, and intelligent container booking system, a multi-agent architecture is designed in this article. The proposed architecture will aid the maritime industry in establishing real-time information interchange between autonomous agents, shippers, freight forwarders, and shipping lines. The process outlined in this paper reveals how the agents communicate with one another to resolve underlying inconsistencies. With the multi-agent framework, the article also presents a container slot optimisation problem considering market segmentation, different booking periods, heterogeneous containers and port congestion scenarios. Using this model the managers can find the booking limit for each type of containers and accordingly they can accept or reject the incoming booking requests. Furthermore, a simulated case study is also provided to validate the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the problem of optimising the network of a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) company, placing emphasis on the distinct characteristics of the 3PL environment. The goal is to minimise the warehousing and distribution costs for both forward and reverse product flows. A new Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) model is proposed to address this interesting problem. The related decisions include: selection of (a) warehouse(s) and the related product inventory quantities, (b) product unit loads transported, (c) truck combinations employed to perform the corresponding forward and reverse trips. The model was applied in a case study of a 3PL company to optimise part of its forward supply chain that comprises three warehouses, 23 suppliers and 53 customers. The results obtained were very encouraging, since overall warehousing and distribution costs were lowered by 10.8%. Sensitivity analysis indicated that additional savings may result from optimising warehousing capacities. The main contributions of this work are the inclusiveness of key aspects of the 3PL environment in the proposed model, as well as placing emphasis on warehousing costs and on management of truck capacities. A secondary contribution is the validation of the model's value through a comprehensive case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the Cyclic Production Routing Problem (CPRP). The CPRP is an extension of the well-known NP-hard Production Routing Problem (PRP), which is a hard-to-solve combinatorial optimisation problem with numerous practical applications in the field of freight transportation, logistics and supply chain management. Under the PRP setting, a manufacturer is responsible for determining production decisions, as well as the timing and quantity of replenishment services offered to a set of geographically dispersed customers over a multi-period time horizon. The problem calls for jointly optimising the production, inventory, distribution and routing decisions. In this paper, the basic PRP model is modified to generate repeatable cyclic production and delivery schedules. A two-commodity flow formulation is proposed along with valid inequalities. Extensive comparisons between the basic PRP and the proposed cyclic variant on well-known benchmark instances are provided. The new variant is significantly harder to solve, especially when the vehicle fleet is limited. From a managerial perspective, the generation of cyclic production-routing schedules significantly increases all costs, whereas the number of vehicle routes required to implement a cyclic schedule is higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typically, hydrogels are described as three-dimensional networks of hydrophilic polymers that are able to capture a certain mass of water within their structure. Recently, hydrogels have been widely used as drawing agents in forward osmosis (FO) desalination processes. The major aim of this study is to prepare a novel semi-interpenetrating hydrogel by crosslinking sodium alginate (SA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by using the epichlorohydrin (ECH) crosslinker and polyethylene glycol (PEG) interpenetrated within the hydrogel's network as a linear polymer. Based on the optimum composition of SA/PVA composite hydrogel obtained from our earlier research, the effect of various percentages of PEG on the response of the hydrogel was investigated. The optimal composition of SA/PVA/PEG hydrogel was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), compression strength testing, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphological and mechanical properties of the SA/PVA/PEG semi-interpenetrating hydrogel were also compared to those of the SA/PVA composite hydrogel. Moreover, the performance of the optimal SA/PVA/PEG hydrogel in a FO batch unit as a drawing agent was investigated based on the optimal operation conditions from our previous experiments. The results showed that the optimal PEG/polymer blend mass ratio was 0.25, which increased the swelling ratio (SR) (%) of the hydrogel from 645.42 (of the neat SA/PVA hydrogel) to 2683. The SA/PVA/PEG semi-interpenetrating hydrogel was superior to the SA/PVA copolymer hydrogel in pore structure and mechanical properties. Additionally, in terms of FO desalination, the achieved water flux by SA/PVA/PEG hydrogel is higher than that accomplished by SA/PVA hydrogel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UAVs in most real-world deployments communicate with a ground control station either in a one-hop manner, which has a limited working range, or relies on infrastructure support such as satellite communication, which is expensive. Although multi-hop transmission is more economic, it is lossy and generally incurs large delays. In this paper, we consider a mixed method, where a few UAVs are equipped with satellite modules, and aggregate and forward traffic of nearby UAVs. The surrounding UAVs and the forwarding UAV form a star topology. Based on this model, we design an UAV formation strategy to cover a given region to minimize both the total number of UAVs and the number of UAVs with satellite modules. Since these two goals may be competing, we propose seven strategies and analyze them theoretically. Simulations show that a good tradeoff between the two goals can be obtained when each star network consists of four UAVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates dynamic interactive patterns of the dry bulk shipping markets through the lens of structural vector autoregression (VAR) models. There are two distinct hypotheses in the extant literature. One is that asymmetry between spot and forward freight agreement (FFA) markets causes FFA prices to respond more rapidly to new information than spot prices, termed the Physical-Paper Hypothesis in this paper. The other hypothesis is that there are some diverse shocks with different propagation mechanisms, termed the Shock-Diversity Hypothesis. This paper combines these two seemingly separate hypotheses at one time in two illustrative structural VAR models, based on a dataset of weekly spot, FFA, and time charter (TC) rates in the dry bulk shipping markets. The two structural VAR models show that spot, FFA, and TC rates have different, particularly dynamic responses to identified permanent shocks. Furthermore, they show that the reduced-form tri-variate FFA-Spot-TC VAR model produces more accurate forecasts of future spot rates than the bi-variate FFA-Spot and TC-Spot VAR models. Therefore, market participants can use VAR models as an information-processing tool for understanding of (e.g. data descriptions and structural inferences), and forecasting in, dry bulk shipping markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs) are exchange-traded futures and the main means of risk management for shipping spot freight. The relationship between the FFA market and the shipping spot market has attracted much attention, but few studies focus on the dynamic FFA term structure and its correlation with the spot price. In this study, we establish the dynamic term structure of the FFA market by quantifying the level factor, the slope factor and the curvature factor of the FFA term structure to reveal the underlying information in the shipping derivatives market, and further scrutinize the impact of the FFA term-structure factors on the shipping spot market. The empirical results indicate that the term-structure factors have significant time-varying effects on the BDI and BPI: The effect of the term-structure factors on BDI and BPI changes with shipping market conditions and economic environment. The level factor has a positive effect, while the slope factor and the curvature factor both have negative effects, with the impacts on the BPI being about twice as large as the impacts on the BDI. The three factors all have their strongest effect in the short term and the weakest effect in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research emphasises the transformative power of digital solutions in Lithuanian forwarding companies, addressing the necessity for a systematic risk assessment to optimise processes and mitigate associated risks. The survey indicates an increasing adoption of digital solutions, with around two-thirds of companies already utilising them. A case study employing the AHP method identifies three key digital solutions: invoice automation, waybill digitisation and blockchain. A combined solution called a “document flow and management system”, showed significant potential for time and cost savings. Three risks – synchronising participants, employee resistance, and a lack of specialists – are identified as having the highest overall assessment and were selected for further analysis while implementing the prioritised digital solution. The expert evaluation identifies employee resistance as the most probable risk, posing potential significant losses in the initial post-implementation phase. Although issues with synchronising participants could yield similar losses, experts view this risk as less probable than employee resistance. After the AHP analysis, it was decided to evaluate the current information and document flow process, in other words, to optimise the process. The optimisation results show that freight forwarding companies could reduce document management time by up to 59%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The newly opened Trans-Asian Railway offers opportunities for trade logistics between China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). This study selected six factors including cost, time, transport volume, reliability, safety, and environmental friendliness to investigate the impact on logistics for trade between China and ASEAN. It explores the most ideal solution for the Sino-Thai logistics route by using the AHP-TOPSIS approach and ranks the current five Sino-Thai logistics routes. The results indicate that the Sea-land transport (0.787) is still the best option, the Kunming-Bangkok Roadway (0.452) came in second, followed by the newly opened Trans-Asian Railway (0.431); The Nanning-Bangkok Roadway (0.373) ranks second to last, and the river-land transport service (0.249) is the last resort. In this sense, the newly opened Trans-Asian Railway would influence the current pattern of Sino-Thai logistics to some extent. The results will offer insight into the managerial decisions for the Sino-Thai trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development of a decision support tool for a Rich Vehicle Routing Problem (R-VRP) of a major European do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer. The tool enables more comprehensive and structured planning at the retailer and an average of 8% transportation cost savings, translating to total savings of more than € 1 million per year for this specific retailer compared with the status quo. This article describes the development of a decision support tool for a Rich Vehicle Routing Problem (R-VRP) of a major do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer supplying its stores across Europe from multiple depots. The retailer uses external logistic service providers (LSPs) for the delivery to its stores and has two modes to choose from. In the first mode, the retailer proposes delivery tours to LSPs for execution. These tours are billed according to a nonlinear tariff with volume discounts depending on the delivery zones visited and the load carried. The LSPs accept the retailer's tour proposal only if tour duration and distance restrictions are kept. The latter is ensured by a relative detour limit. In the second mode, the retailer assigns single shipments to common carriers that consolidate them with shipments from other customers and bill this based on load and destination. The resulting problem represents an open VRP with two delivery modes, carrier selection and a heterogeneous fleet. Multiple delivery modes are standard in DIY retailing and constitute a general industry problem. The literature on VRPs and current software applications in the industry predominantly considers modeling and solution approaches that rely on linear distance costs, neglecting that nonlinear zone-based tariffs with volume discounts are standard in the freight forwarding business. Our work addresses this issue by developing a decision support tool for the retailer based on an exact algorithm for solving R-VRPs with a nonlinear zone-based tariff scheme and a relative detour limit. The tool is based on an innovative three-component set partitioning algorithm working on a complete set of feasible tours to solve the problem. We show that our approach optimally solves the daily distribution problem of the industry partner with up to 150 stores. Furthermore, implementing the tool enables more comprehensive and structured planning for the retailer and an average of 8% transportation cost savings, translating to total savings of more than €1 million per year for this specific retailer compared with the status quo. History: This paper was refereed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of omnichannel logistics has led to fundamental changes in traditional e-commerce, retail, and consumer decision-making processes. Due to its crucial effects, the subject of omnichannel logistics has been frequently discussed in the literature in recent years. However, there is a need to clearly define at what level in the field of omnichannel logistics have been conducted and the themes on which they have been based. The aim of this study is to present an extensive and concise literature review on omnichannel logistics and to analyse the thematic evolution of the omnichannel logistics field. The study used bibliometric techniques to explore research trends in the field of omnichannel logistics. Employing SciMAT and VOSviewer software, the study analysed 156 articles from Web of Science journals. These research articles cover the 2016–2022 period. The analysis allowed exploring the dynamics in different years and identifying main/sub-themes. The findings highlighted the themes that are still in the maturation process. These themes are retail, service quality, omnichannel management, city logistics, warehousing, e-commerce and supply chain. This study presents a holistic picture of omnichannel logistics and introduces the themes related to retailer behavior and logistics process to the literature. Researchers can further their studies by considering prominent keywords in omnichannel logistics management. In this sense, the study offers beneficial implications for academics.In addition, the results of the study reveal the direction of the sectoral trends and the trend in the field of omnichannel logistics. In this sense, it offers a roadmap to businesses and sector employees in determining their strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software defined networking (SDN) is a novel networking paradigm that aims to achieve global management for the underlying forwarding plane based on its centralization concept. Unfortunately, the newly designed paradigm does not consider security issues related to unauthenticated and unauthorized activities across various SDN layers. Recently, blockchain (BC) technology has proven successful in providing a decentralized, immutable, and fault tolerant ledger. In this study, we take advantage of blockchain characteristics to provide mutual host-controller, PacketIn/PacketOut and host-host authentication methods. We also provide secure Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) and Identity Resolution Protocol (IRP) to protect layer 3 and layer 2 of the SDN network. In addition, both SDN hosts and controllers utilize lattice-based signatures based on Dilithium scheme and Key Encapsulation Methods (KEMs) based on Kyber scheme to provide protection against quantum adversaries. We also compare our work with AuthFlow (Mattos and Duarte in Ann Telecommun 71:607–615, 2016). The results show that HostSec is more secure than AuthFlow due to its ability to detect both host-based and switch-based PacketIn attacks and also reduces the load on the SDN controller. Overall, the experimental results suggest a trade-off between improved security and lower latency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime transport forms the backbone of international logistics, as it allows for the transfer of bulk and long-haul products. The sophisticated planning required for this form of transportation frequently involves challenges such as unpredictable weather, diverse types of cargo kinds, and changes in port conditions, all of which can raise operational expenses. As a result, the accurate projection of a ship's total time spent in port, and the anticipation of potential delays, have become critical for effective port activity planning and management. In this work, we aim to develop a port management system based on enhanced prediction and classification algorithms that are capable of precisely forecasting the lengths of ship stays and delays. On both the training and testing datasets, the XGBoost model was found to consistently outperform the alternative approaches in terms of RMSE, MAE, and R2 values for both the turnaround time and waiting period models. When used in the turnaround time model, the XGBoost model had the lowest RMSE of 1.29 during training and 0.5019 during testing, and also achieved the lowest MAE of 0.802 for training and 0.391 for testing. It also had the highest R2 values of 0.9788 during training and 0.9933 during testing. Similarly, in the waiting period model, the XGBoost model outperformed the random forest and decision tree models, with the lowest RMSE, MAE, and greatest R2 values in both the training and testing phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terminal operators, haulers, shipping agents, port authorities, the marine department, and the customs department all use real-time systems and the internet to run their businesses. But after a few years of using this technology, there are some problems, like managers who do not do their jobs well, which hurts the image of organisations that use this technology. Moreover, sales and returns on investment in technology are not worth it. Hence, the article examines potential factors that contribute to the success of using technology. For instance, the current study will examine the direct and indirect effects of perceived usefulness and perceived resistance on managerial productivity in the Malaysian ship and maritime industry. Based on 357 responses, the current study indicates that task technology fit affects perceived usefulness. Following that, as managers recognise the utility of technology, they will employ it to enhance their managerial productivity. In comparison, when a technology task is not fit for purpose, it affects perceived resistance, technology resistance, and finally, manager productivity. This is likely the first study to examine technology's beneficial and detrimental effects on managerial productivity. The findings shed light on how Malaysian ship and maritime players operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the frequent occurrence of drone black flying in large stadiums and airports, the requirement of precise electromagnetic interference to achieve unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) displacement and forced landing in these protected area became urgent. Since traditional suppression jamming will affect normal communication, and forwarding deceptive jamming has coverage hole, a smart forwarding deceptive jamming distribution optimal algorithm (SFDJDO) is proposed. It gives a mapping error scale factor and the optimal distribution of multistation forwarding equivalent mapping to solve the problem of distortion on the mapping scale caused by different distribution methods and reduces the influence of the mapping errors and the differences between the virtual and real point neighborhoods of the jamming source. A comparison of the proposed SFDJDO method to the existing jamming source distribution optimisation method is conducted in the aspect of area mapping and trajectory mapping. The findings reveal that when the GNSS receiver clock bias is within the capture range, SFDJDO demonstrates significant enhancements in mapping precision and jamming success rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warehouses recently face increasing stress imposed by a volatile customer demand and increasing customer expectations in terms of ever shorter order response times. In that respect, warehouses more and more offer same-day and next-day shipment conditions. However, same-day shipment promises are challenging to fulfil, especially as the order fulfilment process operates against fixed deadlines imposed by the predefined truck departure times. As a natural mitigation strategy, warehouses set a cutoff point and offer same-day shipment only to customers that order until the cutoff point, but next-day shipment to all customers ordering thereafter. Setting an appropriate cutoff point is challenging as it affects multiple facets of the service quality, such as the order response time and the service level. In this paper, we study the design of cutoff-based shipment promises for stochastic deadline-oriented order fulfilment processes in warehouses. We present a discrete-time Markov chain model for exact steady-state performance analysis and propose two novel performance measures – α - and β - cutoff service level – for service level measurement in these systems. We numerically show the benefit of cutoff-based shipment promises. Even with a late cutoff point, there is a significant gain in the system performance. Furthermore, we find that warehouses should set the cutoff point such that it balances customer expectations in terms of service level and order response time. Finally, warehouses can improve their shipment promises when referring to β - instead of α - cutoff service level and by implementing measures reducing the utilisation and the variabilities of the order fulfilment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to the absence of unified global regulations, defining the service and legal role of freight forwarders is challenging. This, as well as the lack of a standardized limit to the freight forwarder's liability for loss or damage to the cargo, introduces misunderstandings into his relationship with the client. The purpose of this study is to analyze the most widely used limit for freight forwarder's liability, set in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) units, and to adjust it, which will allow for maintaining the purchasing power of the compensation amount over different periods of time. Methods: In this study, two methods of adjusting the liability limit were proposed. In accordance with the first one, the limit was adjusted considering the impact of dollar inflation on the SDR unit. The second method involves changes in the limit of liability, taking into account changes in world prices for goods. Results: The result of this study showed that the second method is more functional, helping to preserve the purchasing power of the liability limit most effectively over time. Conclusions: This study revealed the fluctuating purchasing power of the forwarder's liability limit over time and suggests utilizing a methodology tied to changes in global goods' prices for adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The logistics industry plays a crucial role in facilitating regional economic development. Serving as a vital link connecting producers, consumers, and various components of the supply chain, it has a direct and profound impact on the prosperity and advancement of regional economies. Based on the panel data of 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2016 to 2020, this paper constructs the logistics capability evaluation index system from four aspects: regional economic base, logistics infrastructure, logistics development scale, information technology and talent support, and uses the entropy weight TOPSIS method to measure the logistics capability of each province. The adjacency space weight matrix, geographical distance weight matrix and economic distance weight matrix are selected to build a spatial econometric model to analyze the influencing factors and spatial spillover effects of regional logistics capability. The following conclusions can be drawn from the analysis. From 2016 to 2020, the regional logistics capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt shows a trend of increasing year by year, but the logistics capacity of different provinces within the region has a large room for improvement. From the perspective of spatial dimension, the logistics capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is "high in the east and low in the west". The results of spatial econometric analysis based on the spatial Durbin model show that there are significant spatial spillover effects on the logistics capacity of provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Factors such as road network density, port throughput, water freight turnover, transportation, warehousing and postal employment will not only affect the logistics capacity of the region, but also have a spillover effect on the material capacity of neighboring provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. This study improves the level of regional logistics capacity and promotes the regional economic development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. It can be used as a reference for other regions or countries in terms of enhancing regional logistics capacity and promoting regional economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of the study is the logistics of goods delivery by ports. This study presents a methodology designed to improve the efficiency of goods delivery logistics at the Bejaia port (Algeria). It prioritizes the optimization of empty container allocation to the ZEP zone, taking into account the geographical accessibility of the Tixter area, aiming to reduce the high costs linked with goods transportation. At the core of this strategy lies the use of simulation techniques to optimize truck fleets, ensuring maximum utilization rates and effective management of delivery operations by the Bejaia Mediterranean Terminal (BMT) for its clients. Addressing this challenge, the study offers an exhaustive analysis, integrating truck assignment models and accessibility assessments of logistic zones. The results highlight the paramount significance of optimal resource allocation and synchronized client coordination for achieving streamlined goods delivery. It becomes apparent that employing these methodologies can yield substantial productivity improvements, emphasizing their pivotal role in strengthening the port’s logistical infrastructure. Via rigorous analysis and insights derived from data, this study elucidates avenues towards achieving operational excellence within the logistical infrastructure of the port. By harnessing innovative strategies to confront persistent challenges, such as optimizing truck fleets and strategically allocating resources, the research anticipates a profound transformation in the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of goods delivery operations. Ultimately, the integration of these methodologies holds the potential to propel the port of Bejaia towards enduring success and a competitive edge in the ever-evolving landscape of global trade. Through extensive efforts, this strategy can be extended to other national and international ports operating under similar conditions, as it provides valuable information and methodologies to optimize logistics and transportation operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study expects to explore the sustainable logistics management of foreign trade enterprises, help to further adapt to the development mode of economic globalization at this stage, reduce the international trade cost of enterprises and promote the overall trade development of enterprises. Logistics service providers of foreign trade enterprises are set as the research object to analyzes the problems existing in internal logistics management from the perspective of enterprise logistics. According to the relevant principles of analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the corresponding solutions are proposed. Through the actual investigation and analysis, first, the main problems of modern logistics enterprises are underdeveloped logistics management technology, low degree of information, low work efficiency and high logistics risk. Second, the enterprise logistics management index is divided into five indicators, namely, enterprise service level, enterprise operation qualification, logistics management ability, risk control ability and transportation location advantage. Among the five indicators, service level accounts for the largest proportion, for 30.23%. Four different service providers are scored, and the highest score is 7.5717, which proves the practicability of AHP. Finally, the optimization management strategy is proposed for similar logistics enterprises. The accomplishment of the study can help enterprises reduce costs, continuously improve the level of logistics management, and provide a theoretical basis for the sustainable development of enterprises, which has certain practical significance and can provide scientific and effective reference for subsequent research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: 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. Design/methodology/approach: 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. Findings: 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. Originality/value: 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this study is the process of planning the work of a manufacturing enterprise that needs transport and forwarding services when exporting goods to counterparties in different countries of the world. The problem being solved is predetermined by the need to devise recommendations for choosing a transport and forwarding company when serving an individual customer, based on its individual needs and conditions of cooperation. A simulation model for the selection of a transport and forwarding company was constructed and implemented to meet the customer’s needs when exporting goods, applying the GPSS World simulation automation package. The model provides for the optimization of the choice of a transport and forwarding company for servicing counterparties based on the assessment of their activity indicators over previous periods of cooperation. When building the model, the types of commercial conditions of the exporter’s cooperation with the transport and forwarding company, indicators of the quality assessment of the basic level of service and the duration of service at all stages of the foreign trade operation were taken into account. The application of the constructed model in practice will enable exporters and importers to choose a transport and forwarding company depending on the individual needs of customers in the delivery of goods. The simulation results reflect the performance indicators of the provision of transport and forwarding services by various specialized enterprises. This will make it possible to involve in the transport and forwarding service of a separate counterparty an organization that will meet all the requirements of goods buyer in accordance with the terms of the international economic contract. At the same time, the duration of choosing and agreeing the terms of cooperation could be reduced by 12–15 % while the efficiency of transport and forwarding services would increase by 13–16 % [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Durability is a desired characteristic for all battery packs in Electric Vehicles. In this study, the service life of the EV battery pack under real-world operating conditions is projected using an Arrhenius mathematical simulation model. The model comprises a 39.2 kWh EV Lithium-Ion battery pack integrated with a three-phase inverter to convert the battery pack's Direct Current output to Alternating Current. In addition, the Alternating Current output is coupled to a 100 kW permanent magnet synchronous motor, which is regarded as the load. A field-oriented controller provides pulse width-modulated output signals that are supplied back to the inverter to generate the correct driving current. Variable conditions of charge rate (C-rate: 1.25C -- 4C), discharge rate (C-rate: 0.5C -- 4C), temperature (25°C-60°C), and depth of discharge (30%-90%) are evaluated to determine the battery pack's service life. Under a 4C charge rate/0.5C discharge rate and 50% depth of discharge, the modeling results indicate the battery pack has a service life of approximately 6,000 h at low temperatures (25°C) and roughly 3,000 h at high temperatures (60°C). The model has been validated by comparing the results with experimental data from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Content interest forwarding is a prominent research area in Information Centric Network (ICN). An efficient forwarding strategy can significantly improve data retrieval latency, origin server load, network congestion, and overhead. The state‐of‐the‐art work is either driven by flooding approach trying to minimize the adverse effect of Interest flooding or path‐driven approach trying to minimize the additional cost of maintaining routing information. These approaches are less efficient due to storm issues and excessive overhead. Proposed protocol aims to forward interest to the nearest cache without worrying about FIB construction and with significant improvement in latency and overhead. This paper presents the feasibility of integrating reinforcement learning based Q‐learning strategy for forwarding in ICN. By revising Q‐learning to address the inherent challenges, we introduce Q‐learning based interest packets and data packets forwarding mechanisms, namely, IPQ‐learning and DPQ‐learning. It aims to gain self‐learning through historical events and selects best next node to forward interest. Each node in the network acts as an agent with aim of forwarding packet to best next hop according to the Q value such that content can be fetched within fastest possible route and every action returns to be a learning process, which improves the accuracy of the Q value. The performance investigation of protocol in ndnSIM‐2.0 shows the improvement in a range of 10%–35% for metrics such as data retrieval delay, server hit rate, network overhead, network throughput, and network load. Outcomes are compared by integrating proposed protocol with state‐of‐the‐art caching protocols and also against recent forwarding mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relentless expansion of urban populations and the surge in e-commerce have increased the demand for rapid delivery services, leading to an increase in truck traffic that contributes to urban congestion, environmental pollution, and economic inefficiencies. The critical challenge this poses is not only in managing urban spaces efficiently but also in aligning with global sustainability goals. This study addresses the pressing need for innovative solutions to reduce reliance on truck transportation in congested urban areas without compromising the efficiency of freight delivery systems. This study contributes a novel approach that leverages electrified and autonomous aircraft (EAA) cargo shuttles to shift the bulk of air transportable freight from road to air, specifically targeting underutilized airports and establishing vertiports in remote locations. By applying data mining techniques to analyze freight flow data, this research identifies key commodity categories and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) where the implementation of EAA services could significantly mitigate truck-induced congestion. The findings reveal that targeting a select few commodities and MSAs can potentially decrease truck traffic, with electronics emerging as the dominant commodity category, and cities like Los Angeles and Chicago as prime candidates for initial EAA service deployment. Stakeholders in urban planning, transportation logistics, and environmental policy will find this study's insights beneficial. This work lays a foundation for future innovations in sustainable urban mobility and logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold chain logistics are crucial for reducing agricultural product loss, yet the environmental impact of energy and packaging consumption, among others, demands attention, making the search for eco-friendly development modes essential. Based on data from 30 provinces in China from 2015 to 2021, this study analyzes the basic correlation between the development of cold chain logistics of fresh agricultural products (CCLFAP) and the ecological environment (EE) by using a random forest regression model in comparison with the XGBoost model. Correlation heatmaps were used to analyze the relationships between the cold chain logistics of fresh agricultural products and various factors of the ecological environment. The generalized additive model was then used to establish the connection between cold chain logistics and the ecological environment, identifying significant factors impacting EE. The results demonstrate that a higher development level of cold chain logistics corresponds to a better development trend of EE. The economic efficiency and technical aspects of cold chain logistics for fresh agricultural products are closely related to ecological pressures and responses. The number of employees in the logistics industry, the trading volume of fresh agricultural products, the number of refrigerated vehicles, and the capacity of the cold room have significant positive correlations with the ecological environment, while the per capita consumption of fresh agricultural products, the number of cold chain logistics patent applications, and the road density had significant negative correlations with the ecological environment. The effects of the number of cold chain logistics enterprises and the freight turnover of agricultural products transported by the cold chain on the ecological environment fluctuated. These findings contribute to reducing climate and environmental emergencies throughout the life cycle, offering sustainable development solutions for the fresh agricultural product cold chain logistics industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The delivery of goods (freight) accounts for the major cost and emissions in logistics systems worldwide. The effective management of the supply chain requires logistical efficiency and sustainability. Several logistics performance measurements such as distances driven and fuel efficiency are also indicators of sustainability. As an emerging paradigm, the Physical Internet (PI) addresses logistical, societal, and sustainability goals. However, the question remains whether some aspects of logistical efficiency in traditional logistics could be incorporated into the PI paradigm. To this effect, we examine how peddling, a consolidation strategy in traditional logistics, can enhance PI supply chain. Specifically, we formulate optimisation models and study the case of a Mexican automotive supply chain from both the PI and traditional logistics perspectives by comparing three different configurations; namely, Model P built on PI, Model S based on conventional standard peddling, and Model H, a hybrid. The hybrid Model H is optimised in a two-phase solution framework. We show via the case of a Mexican automotive supply chain that Model H outperforms others on average distance travelled and truck utilisation. Thereby, it is concluded that appropriate peddling and shipment consolidation policies may enhance PI supply chain logistics performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the impact of corporate social responsibility on forward default risk (FDR) under the setting of firm and industry heterogeneity. Research Design & Methods: This study evaluated the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on FDR using the data of 497 companies from 2007-2021 in the S&P 500 index, taking into account firm and industry heterogeneity aspects. This study utilized instrumental variable regression using the generalized method of moments (IV-GMM) estimation technique which is robust for controlling the pertinent issue of endogeneity. Findings: This study found a negative relationship between CSR and FDR in the full sample. From the firm size aspect, this study found that CSR is more effective in mitigating FDR in large-cap firms than in mid-cap firms. Firm age heterogeneity exhibited a distinct behaviour, as young and middle-aged firms had a stronger impact on FDR management in comparison to old firms. Industry heterogeneity showed that industries with higher customer interaction have a higher impact on corporate social responsibility to control FDR. Industries with lower customer interaction have a lower impact on corporate social responsibility and FDR. Implications & Recommendations: We proposed some policy recommendations based on the findings in the context of firm and industry heterogeneity. Especially the management of mid-cap and young corporations should improve the CSR policy to enhance CSR performance which would lead to stabilized protection against FDR. Similarly, consumer-intensive industries should also focus on enhancing CSR initiatives to decrease FDR. Non-consumer-intensive industries should focus on enhancing CSR policy and at the same time pay particular attention to communicating CSR results to end consumers to reduce FDR. Contribution & Value Added: This study is the first to explore CSR's impact on financial parameters under heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of major railway projects poses significant risks, which present considerable challenges to construction management. To accurately assess the level of construction management for these projects, this study incorporated resilience theory into the field. The grounded theory method was utilized to establish a resilience evaluation indicator system for managing a major railway project construction. Additionally, a resilience evaluation model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was proposed. This model was applied to evaluate the construction management resilience of a major railway project located in the mountainous region of southwest China. The results indicated that the project exhibits a very high overall level of construction management resilience. Specifically, it demonstrates high levels of ability to monitor and warn, an ability to resist absorption, and an ability to respond to emergencies. Additionally, it showcases high levels of ability to recover and rebuild, and an ability to learn to adapt. The evaluation results were consistent with the actual situation and verified the correctness and reliability of the method. Based on the aforementioned research findings, this paper puts forward recommendations on material redundancy and resource security from a resource perspective, and suggestions on organizational optimization and personnel capacity improvement from a subject perspective, thus indicating directions for enhancing the management level of major engineering railway constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]