sustainability-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

(Re)Designing Processes for Improving Supply Chain Sustainability

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 August 2021) | Viewed by 19934

Special Issue Editors

Industrial Engineering School, University of Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain
Interests: supply chain design; logistics; lean manufacturing; employee participation systems
Industrial Engineering School, University of Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Spain
Interests: supply chain design; logistics; lean manufacturing; sustainable packaging logistics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of globalized markets, not only do companies face constant innovation of new products, decreasing life cycles, and product proliferation, they also face the demand for even lower prices and even higher quality and service standards. This is occurring in increasingly turbulent and volatile markets, which has forced many organizations to improve processes along the supply chain as a means to gain competitive advantages. Thus, today’s competition model no longer follows the traditional fight between companies but rather involves a fight between supply chains. This competition occurs in a context of increasing demand for sustainable policies, which may condition the search for alternative improvements in supply chain management.

Thus, redesigning the processes throughout the supply chain contributes to the search for efficiency and sustainability. This search for efficient and sustainable processes (mainly productive and logistic processes) may be based on investment in technology, equipment, and facilities, as well as small improvements, such as the lean manufacturing approach. The main objective of this Special Issue, “(Re)Designing Processes for Improving Supply Chain Sustainability”, is to investigate the development of sustainable supply chains through processes redesign. Papers selected for this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments and applications.

We will accept a variety of methodologies, such as qualitative and quantitative analyses, case studies, action research, and mathematical modelling and simulation with potential for application in a business context. We welcome papers that address, but are not limited to, the following research topics:

  • Supply chain redesign for sustainability
  • Lean manufacturing and sustainability
  • Sustainable supply chains in the e-commerce era
  • Sustainable logistics
  • Emmployee participation for developing sustainable processes
  • Sustainable packaging logistics

Prof. Dr. J. Carlos Prado-Prado
Prof. Dr. Jesús García Arca
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

  • Supply chain redesign for sustainability
  • Lean manufacturing and sustainability
  • Sustainable supply chains in the e-commerce era
  • Sustainable logistics
  • Employee participation for developing sustainable processes
  • Sustainable packaging logistics

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 768 KiB  
Article
Lean Manufacturing Tools Applied to Material Flow and Their Impact on Economic Sustainability
by Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz, José Roberto Díaz Reza, Cuauhtémoc Sánchez Ramírez, Jorge Limón Romero, Emilio Jiménez Macías, Carlos Javierre Lardies and Manuel Arnoldo Rodríguez Medina
Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10599; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131910599 - 24 Sep 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3488
Abstract
This paper presents a second-order structural equation model that analyzes three lean manufacturing tools associated with material flow, such as 5S, SMED, and continuous flow related to economic sustainability. The variables relate to each other through six hypotheses, tested with 169 responses to [...] Read more.
This paper presents a second-order structural equation model that analyzes three lean manufacturing tools associated with material flow, such as 5S, SMED, and continuous flow related to economic sustainability. The variables relate to each other through six hypotheses, tested with 169 responses to a questionnaire applied to the Mexican maquiladora industry, using the partial least squares technique and 95% confidence to estimate direct, the sum of indirect, and total effects. In addition, an analysis with conditional probabilities appears to determine how low and high implementation levels in independent variables affect the dependent variables’ occurrence. Findings indicate that 5S is a lean manufacturing tool with the most increased direct effects on SMED and continuous flow. Additionally, values indicate that SMED is essential to maintain continuous flow in production lines and is vital for economic sustainability due to the time reduction in setup. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Re)Designing Processes for Improving Supply Chain Sustainability)
Show Figures

Figure 1

29 pages, 3687 KiB  
Article
A Reference Model of Reverse Logistics Process for Improving Sustainability in the Supply Chain
by Faustino Alarcón, Pascual Cortés-Pellicer, David Pérez-Perales and Ana Mengual-Recuerda
Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10383; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131810383 - 17 Sep 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4145
Abstract
The reverse logistics process (RLP) has become a key process for the supply chain (SC) given its importance for treating the increasing quantity of returned or recovered products and its impact on sustainability. However, the RLP is complex and involves a high degree [...] Read more.
The reverse logistics process (RLP) has become a key process for the supply chain (SC) given its importance for treating the increasing quantity of returned or recovered products and its impact on sustainability. However, the RLP is complex and involves a high degree of uncertainty and difficult decisions that affect SC efficiency. One of the aspects that can help the most to reduce this complexity and to improve SC efficiency is to formalize this process. The consulted studies agree on the numerous benefits of RLP formalization, but no tools, methodologies or specific solutions were found that help companies to advance in this matter. This work aims to develop a specific tool for RLP formalization so that its efficiency can be increased, leading to an improvement of SC sustainability. The main results comprise a reference model for RLP (RM-RLP) and an associated methodology so that any company can formalize its RLP by modeling its activities. The proposed tool (RM-RLP and methodology) is applied to a closed loop SC of relaxing chairs as an example of RLP formalization, proving its usefulness and, additionally, the improvements that can be reached in three RLP key indicators: total process duration, customer response time and the perceived autonomy and trust of the workers participating in the process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Re)Designing Processes for Improving Supply Chain Sustainability)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 1050 KiB  
Article
Addressing Sustainable Rural Development with Shared Value: A Peruvian Model from the Cacao Industry
by Armando Borda, Oswaldo Morales, Hildy Teegen, Gareth H. Rees and Maria Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez
Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 8028; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13148028 - 19 Jul 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3580
Abstract
Here we present a model aimed at contributing to the literature around sustainable supply chains by examining a novel redesign initiative of the chocolate supply chain within the Peruvian cacao (cocoa) industry. Using the Creating Shared Value (CSV) framework, we apply the case [...] Read more.
Here we present a model aimed at contributing to the literature around sustainable supply chains by examining a novel redesign initiative of the chocolate supply chain within the Peruvian cacao (cocoa) industry. Using the Creating Shared Value (CSV) framework, we apply the case study method in examining the Peruvian Cacao Alliance’s experience in redesigning both the stages and relationships within its supply of cacao to the world. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources and analyzed after coding from categories defined in the literature on CSV. The case demonstrates the opportunity to successfully participate in the supply chains of globally recognized, consumer-facing chocolate brands while simultaneously obtaining social, economic and environmental benefits for the rural communities that supply cacao. While addressing both social and business gains remains fairly important for supply chain members, there are several implementation challenges that need to be considered to achieve the goals of CSV strategies in a sustained way. By analyzing the experience of this particular cacao value chain, we are able to offer practical insight on how to more effectively implement the creating shared value approach, thereby illuminating that it is possible for value generated through such supply chains to be more equitably shared. As such, we provide a valuable initial step in better understanding how the CSV concept applies in practice by identifying its boundary conditions for achieving improved cacao supply chain practices and relationships. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Re)Designing Processes for Improving Supply Chain Sustainability)
Show Figures

Figure 1

27 pages, 2864 KiB  
Article
Reusing Newspaper Kiosks for Last-Mile Delivery in Urban Areas
by José M. González-Varona, Félix Villafáñez, Fernando Acebes, Alfonso Redondo and David Poza
Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9770; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12229770 - 23 Nov 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4322
Abstract
The current increase in e-commerce is generating growing problems in urban areas in terms of both traffic flow (increasing traffic, no parking spaces) and environmental issues (noise, atmospheric pollution, etc.). In parallel, an iconic element of historic districts is disappearing: more and more [...] Read more.
The current increase in e-commerce is generating growing problems in urban areas in terms of both traffic flow (increasing traffic, no parking spaces) and environmental issues (noise, atmospheric pollution, etc.). In parallel, an iconic element of historic districts is disappearing: more and more newspaper kiosks are closing their business as their work dwindles. In this scenario, the objective of this paper is to propose a model for last-mile parcel delivery that exploits the current available newspaper kiosk network by using them as parcel lockers. To demonstrate the benefits of this proposal, we map the kiosk network of the city of Valladolid (Spain), and compare the environmental impact of a traditional (door-to-door) delivery and the proposed model which reuses old kiosks as parcel lockers. The necessary steps to carry out simulations are described in detail so that experiments can be replicated in other cities that face the same issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Re)Designing Processes for Improving Supply Chain Sustainability)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 309 KiB  
Article
Perceptions of Customers as Sustained Competitive Advantages of Global Marketing Airline Alliances: A Hybrid Text Mining Approach
by Gang-Hoon Seo and Munehiko Itoh
Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 6258; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12156258 - 03 Aug 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3440
Abstract
Over the past several decades, the aviation industry has been reshaped, centering on global alliances, and these have grown exponentially. However, it is still not clear whether they are achieving sustained competitive advantages, and what are the specific competitive advantages of the three [...] Read more.
Over the past several decades, the aviation industry has been reshaped, centering on global alliances, and these have grown exponentially. However, it is still not clear whether they are achieving sustained competitive advantages, and what are the specific competitive advantages of the three alliances (oneworld, SkyTeam, Star Alliance) arising on the customer side. This study aims to examine whether global alliance groups outperform the non-alliance group, how the three alliances differ regarding passengers’ perceptions, and what their competitive advantages are. A hybrid text mining analysis was adopted as this study’s method. Frequency tests, t-tests, one-way analysis of variance tests, and three-step mediated regression analyses were performed using 6393 ordinal and word-of-mouth (WOM) data. We found that the degree of passengers’ perceptions of alliances was low, the non-alliance group outperformed the alliance groups, and there were no significant differences between alliances on service rating and sentiment score. Only oneworld has competitive advantages that link to passengers’ service rating and sentiment score. These findings imply that alliances could not ensure competitive advantages that derive from customers’ perceptions, and although passengers partly perceived several selling points, their differentiation strategies are not successful. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue (Re)Designing Processes for Improving Supply Chain Sustainability)
Back to TopTop