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Article
Publication date: 23 July 2021

Li Ma, Yidi Wang and Yun Teng

China's agricultural production trusteeship is characterized by the organic link between household operation of small-scale peasant economy and agricultural socialized services…

Abstract

Purpose

China's agricultural production trusteeship is characterized by the organic link between household operation of small-scale peasant economy and agricultural socialized services, which releases agricultural development vitality and promotes agricultural modernization. As one of the agricultural production trusteeship modes, the whole process trusteeship is suitable for the actual situation of China's aging population and labor force transfer. This paper aims to construct an evolutionary game model containing multistakeholder to explore the behavior decisions through numerical simulation and to provide useful suggestions for the formation of a positive and stable trusteeship relationship and the sound development of the whole process trusteeship of agricultural production.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper incorporates village committees, service organizations and farmers into the same research framework, selects “guarantee + dividends” as the income distribution method and applies the evolutionary game method to analyze behavioral choices and evolutionary paths of stakeholders. By constructing the expectation function, establishing the replicator dynamic equations and analyzing the tripartite evolutionary stability strategy, the authors explore the factors that affect the stakeholders’ strategy choice and determine asymptotically stable points and stability conditions.

Findings

(1) There is a game relationship among village committees, farmers and service organizations in the whole process trusteeship of agricultural production, asymptotically stable points (0,0,1) and (1,1,1) are obtained through calculation. (2) The proportion of stakeholders' strategy choice, the weight of the whole process trusteeship of agricultural production in the performance appraisal of the village committee, the village committee's supervision cost, the village committee's reputation effect and the penalty for false dividends of the service organization will affect the speed at which the curve representing the tripartite relationship approaches two asymptotically stable points.

Research limitations/implications

The countermeasures proposed in the paper have excellent reference value. (1) For areas that have realized the project: Village committees can solve the trusteeship problems exposed in the initial areas and improve farmers' satisfaction with the project. (2) For areas that have not realized the project: Those regions will receive more experience references and enhance their confidence in this project. The limitation of the paper is that it takes the main grain-producing areas in only the three northeastern provinces of China as the research object. The next research object will be extended to the whole country.

Practical implications

This paper propose strategies for realizing the orderly operation of the whole process trusteeship of agricultural production: first, increase the proportion of stakeholders' strategy choices; second, reduce the village committee's supervision cost; third, increase the weight of the whole process trusteeship of agricultural production in the performance appraisal of the village committee; fourth, improve the village committee's reputation effect; fifth, increase the penalty for false dividends of the service organization.

Originality/value

Agricultural production trusteeship is in its initial stage in China. The interest relationships between stakeholders are not yet clear. The paper innovatively applies the evolutionary game method to the research field of the whole process trusteeship of agricultural production. According to conditions in China, based on ensuring the guaranteed income, the paper introduces the dividend income variable and establishes a tripartite game model of village committees, service organization and farmers. The paper provides suggestions for the orderly and healthy development of China's agricultural production trusteeship and provides experience for the operation of other modes of agricultural production trusteeship.

Article
Publication date: 28 January 2022

Yan Yang, Jun Shi, Zhijie Liu and Shuangyin Liu

This paper aims to study the boundary disturbance rejection control design for a flexible Timoshenko robot arm to diminish external disturbances and achieve desired angle…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the boundary disturbance rejection control design for a flexible Timoshenko robot arm to diminish external disturbances and achieve desired angle tracking, with system vibration and elastic deformation considered.

Design/methodology/approach

This study introduces disturbance observer and disturbance rejection mechanism into the boundary control design for flexible Timoshenko robot arm systems. The uniform bounded stability of controlled systems is proved via Lyapunov analysis without any simplification of the infinite-dimensional system dynamics.

Findings

The proposed boundary disturbance rejection control scheme can effectively suppress vibrations and shear deformations, achieve the required angular positioning and reject external disturbances. Numerical simulations developed by the finite difference method are adapted to demonstrate the validity of the designed controller.

Originality/value

The originality of this study is to design boundary disturbance rejection control to suppress vibrations and shear deformations for the flexible Timoshenko robot arm, thereby improving the performance and control accuracy of the system.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 42 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 October 2023

Mengdi Zhang, Aoxiang Chen, Zhiheng Zhao and George Q. Huang

This research explores mitigating carbon emissions and integrating sustainability in e-commerce logistics by optimizing the multi-depot pollution routing problem with time windows…

Abstract

Purpose

This research explores mitigating carbon emissions and integrating sustainability in e-commerce logistics by optimizing the multi-depot pollution routing problem with time windows (MDPRPTW). A proposed model contrasts non-collaborative and collaborative decision-making for order assignment among logistics service providers (LSPs), incorporating low-carbon considerations.

Design/methodology/approach

The model is substantiated using improved adaptive large neighborhood search (IALNS), tabu search (TS) and oriented ant colony algorithm (OACA) within the context of e-commerce logistics. For model validation, a normal distribution is employed to generate random demand and inputs, derived from the location and requirements files of LSPs.

Findings

This research validates the efficacy of e-commerce logistics optimization and IALNS, TS and OACA algorithms, especially when demand follows a normal distribution. It establishes that cooperation among LSPs can substantially reduce carbon emissions and costs, emphasizing the importance of integrating sustainability in e-commerce logistics optimization.

Research limitations/implications

This paper proposes a meta-heuristic algorithm to solve the NP-hard problem. Methodologies such as reinforcement learning can be investigated in future work.

Practical implications

This research can help logistics managers understand the status of sustainable and cost-effective logistics operations and provide a basis for optimal decision-making.

Originality/value

This paper describes the complexity of the MDPRPTW model, which addresses both carbon emissions and cost reduction. Detailed information about the algorithm, methodology and computational studies is investigated. The research problem encompasses various practical aspects related to routing optimization in e-commerce logistics, aiming for sustainable development.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 124 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 December 2022

Yibo Hu, Jinbo Song and Tingting Zhao

The development of China's solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is in a transition period from pursuing scale and speed to focusing on efficiency and quality. “Smart PV projects”…

Abstract

Purpose

The development of China's solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is in a transition period from pursuing scale and speed to focusing on efficiency and quality. “Smart PV projects” (SPVPs) were proposed by the ministries of the Chinese government in 2018 to encourage intelligent upgrading and to fill the gaps in traditional PV projects. However, only a small number of PV enterprises are in progress, and only a few SPVPs have been built. The intelligence level of China's PV projects needs to be improved. The purpose of this study is to analyze the willingness of the main participants to be involved in the intelligent upgrading of PV projects by establishing an evolutionary game model that includes three parties.

Design/methodology/approach

A tripartite evolutionary game model is constructed that considers PV enterprises, project owners and the government. The evolutionary stability strategies of each party and the corresponding stable conditions are obtained. The parameters that affect the decision behaviors are also analyzed.

Findings

The four stages of the intelligent upgrade of PV projects and the effects of the government subsidy strategies are examined. At different stages, adopting different measures to promote cooperation among the three parties involved is necessary. Government subsidies should be provided to PV enterprises during the initial stage and should be biased toward project owners during the intermediate stage. During the peak stage, PV enterprises constantly need to decrease project costs and improve quality and service, thus helping project owners reduce their initial investments and obtain additional gains. The government's reputation drives it to continually adopt incentive strategies.

Originality/value

This research focuses on the interactions among the three parties. Based on evolutionary game analysis, several conditions that facilitate the intelligent upgrading of PV projects are illustrated. Implications for different developing stages are proposed from the perspectives of each party for the decision-makers of SPVPs.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 December 2017

Haidong Yu, Chunzhang Zhao, Bin Zheng and Hao Wang

Thin-walled structures inevitably always have manufacturing deviations, which affects the assembly quality of mechanical products. The assembly quality directly determines the…

Abstract

Purpose

Thin-walled structures inevitably always have manufacturing deviations, which affects the assembly quality of mechanical products. The assembly quality directly determines the performances, reliability and service life of the products. To achieve the automatic assembly of large-scale thin-walled structures, the sizing force of the structures with deviations should be calculated, and its assembling ability should be studied before assembly process. The purpose of this study is to establish a precise model to describe the deviations of structures and to study the variation propagation during assembly process.

Design/methodology/approach

Curved thin-walled structures are modeled by using the shell element via the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. Two typical deviation modes of the structure are defined. The generalized elastic force of shell elements with anisotropic materials is deduced based on a continuum mechanics approach to account for the geometric non-linearity. The quasi-static method is introduced to describe the assembly process. The effects of the deviation forms, geometrical parameters of the thin-walled structures and material properties on assembly quality are investigated numerically.

Findings

The geometric non-linearity of structure and anisotropy of materials strongly affect the variation propagation and the assembly quality. The transformation and accumulation effects of the deviations are apparent in the multiple assembly process. The constraints on the structures during assembly can reduce assembly deviation.

Originality/value

The plate element via the absolute nodal coordinate formulation is first introduced to the variation propagation analysis. Two typical shape deviation modes are defined. The elastic force of structures with anisotropic materials is deduced. The variation propagation during the assembly of structures with various geometrical and material parameters is investigated.

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2013

W.X. Yan, Z. Fu and Y.Z. Zhao

The purpose of this paper is to study the realization of turn‐over‐wok movement for a cooking robot.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the realization of turn‐over‐wok movement for a cooking robot.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the authors introduce the cooking robot's movement mechanism and its realization methods and then analyze the movement geometric of the movement mechanism. The authors conduct the force analysis of the material in the wok motion and suppose the moving situation of mass point m when turning over the wok and shaking the wok.

Findings

The problem of the cooking robot simulating the special cooking motion made by a chef is solved.

Practical implications

The robot is applicable to being a cooking robot for Chinese dishes.

Originality/value

The paper shows how to optimize the effect of material moving track and satisfies the requirements of wok motion of cooking robot.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 40 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2024

Khushboo Garg and Pramod Kumar Vaishnav

This study aims to explore the characteristics of the Love wave propagation through a heterogeneous hydrogel layer bounded to a functionally graded PFRC substrate while…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the characteristics of the Love wave propagation through a heterogeneous hydrogel layer bounded to a functionally graded PFRC substrate while determining the displacement and electric potential in a di-electrically faintly conducting, mechanically compliant interface.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to calculate the value of response variables, the Wave mode method has been used. The governing modeled equations are non-homogeneous. The analytical solution has been obtained by deploying the boundary conditions.

Findings

The effect of thickness on the field variables for different values of variation parameter, mechanical constant of proportionality, electrical constant of proportionality and volume fraction of the PFRC substrate is examined for both, electrically open and short cases.

Originality/value

To the best of authors' knowledge, no attempt has been made to analyze the propagation characteristics of Love wave through the heterogeneous hydrogel Layer bedded over the functionally graded piezoelectric fiber-reinforced composites substrate.

Details

Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1573-6105

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2019

Uttam Kumar Khedlekar and Priyanka Singh

For smooth running of business affairs, there needs to be a coordination among manufacturer, collector and retailer in forward and reverse supply chain. This paper handles the…

Abstract

Purpose

For smooth running of business affairs, there needs to be a coordination among manufacturer, collector and retailer in forward and reverse supply chain. This paper handles the problem of making pricing, collecting and percentage sharing decisions in a closed-loop supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of responsibility sharing percentage on the profits of a manufacturer, a retailer and a collector. The paper further aims to understand the mutual interactions among decision variables and profit functions. It also determines the optimal selling price, optimal time, wholesale price, sharing percentage and optimal return rate in such a manner that the profit function is maximized.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors presented a three-echelon model consisting of a manufacturer, a retailer and a collector in the closed-loop supply chain and optimized the profits of each supply chain member. The authors introduced SRR models for the remanufacturing by providing some percentage of physical and financial support to the collector. Optimization techniques have been applied to obtain optimal solutions. Numerical examples and graphical representations of the optimal solutions are provided to illustrate the model.

Findings

This study stresses on profitable value retrieval from returned products, and it discusses how responsibility sharing can improve profitability and reduce the workload of an individual. In total, three main results are found. First, sharing and coordination among chain members can improve collector’s profit. Second, supply chain performance may also improve over time. Third, the profit of each member of the supply chain increases with an increase in sharing percentage up to a certain limit. So, the manufacturer can share the responsibility of the collector under a fixed limit.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this model is that there is no difference between manufactured and remanufactured products. There are many correlated issues that need to be further investigated. The future study in this direction may include multi-retailer, stochastic demand patterns.

Practical implications

It is directly utilized by supply chain industries in which coordination among chain members is still needed to maximize profits. This information enables the manufacturer to assist the collector financially or physically for the proper management of the three-layer supply chain. The present work will form a guideline to choose the appropriate parameter(s) and mathematical technique(s) in different situations for remanufacturable products.

Social implications

From the management point of view, this study delivers the strongest result to remanufacturing companies and for whom effective and efficient coordination among chain members is vital to the overall performance of the supply chain.

Originality/value

There are very few studies that consider the remanufacturing of used products under a fixed time period. The authors considered selling price-sensitive and time-dependent exponentially declining demand. This model is developed by considering all possible help to a collector from manufacturer to collect used products from consumers. This research complements past research by showing coordination among supply chain members within a fixed time horizon.

Details

Journal of Advances in Management Research, vol. 16 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0972-7981

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2020

Danrong Song, Jinbo Song, Hehui Yuan and Yu Fan

With the growing demand for infrastructure and public services in recent years, PPP-UP have attracted a great deal of attention. However, while the user focuses on the payment for…

Abstract

Purpose

With the growing demand for infrastructure and public services in recent years, PPP-UP have attracted a great deal of attention. However, while the user focuses on the payment for use and the private sector is concerned with its return on investment, the public sector pays more attention to the efficient utilization of public funds. In order to analyze the willingness of each stakeholder to join PPP-UP, an evolutionary game model involving the three parties is constructed.

Design/methodology/approach

An evolutionary game model is established that considers the users and the public and private sectors in user-pay public-private-partnership projects (PPP-UP). Eight scenarios of equilibriums and the game's evolutionary stable strategies are analyzed, and the corresponding stability conditions are then obtained. A situation where all three players are willing to cooperate in theory is also examined. The key influencing parameters that affect cooperation behaviors are further discussed.

Findings

First, the results illustrate that by properly adjusting the influencing factors, the cooperation status among the three parties can be changed along with certain evolutionary trends. Second, it is hard to modify unsatisfactory evolutionary stability by small changes in both the price compensation of and the construction and operation compensation. Third, it is necessary to involve the users in the decision-making process in PPP-UP and take their demands regarding benefits and payments into account.

Originality/value

In this paper, we focus on PPP-UP to research interactions among the public and private sectors and the users. Based on the analysis of the evolutionary game, to facilitate the successful implementation and development of a project, several conditions are needed to ensure tripartite cooperation. Several recommendations are then proposed for decision-makers in PPP-UP.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 28 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2018

Muhannad Aldosary, Jinsheng Wang and Chenfeng Li

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of uncertainty quantification methods supported by evidence-based comparison studies. Uncertainties are widely encountered in…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of uncertainty quantification methods supported by evidence-based comparison studies. Uncertainties are widely encountered in engineering practice, arising from such diverse sources as heterogeneity of materials, variability in measurement, lack of data and ambiguity in knowledge. Academia and industries have long been researching for uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods to quantitatively account for the effects of various input uncertainties on the system response. Despite the rich literature of relevant research, UQ is not an easy subject for novice researchers/practitioners, where many different methods and techniques coexist with inconsistent input/output requirements and analysis schemes.

Design/methodology/approach

This confusing status significantly hampers the research progress and practical application of UQ methods in engineering. In the context of engineering analysis, the research efforts of UQ are most focused in two largely separate research fields: structural reliability analysis (SRA) and stochastic finite element method (SFEM). This paper provides a state-of-the-art review of SRA and SFEM, covering both technology and application aspects. Moreover, unlike standard survey papers that focus primarily on description and explanation, a thorough and rigorous comparative study is performed to test all UQ methods reviewed in the paper on a common set of reprehensive examples.

Findings

Over 20 uncertainty quantification methods in the fields of structural reliability analysis and stochastic finite element methods are reviewed and rigorously tested on carefully designed numerical examples. They include FORM/SORM, importance sampling, subset simulation, response surface method, surrogate methods, polynomial chaos expansion, perturbation method, stochastic collocation method, etc. The review and comparison tests comment and conclude not only on accuracy and efficiency of each method but also their applicability in different types of uncertainty propagation problems.

Originality/value

The research fields of structural reliability analysis and stochastic finite element methods have largely been developed separately, although both tackle uncertainty quantification in engineering problems. For the first time, all major uncertainty quantification methods in both fields are reviewed and rigorously tested on a common set of examples. Critical opinions and concluding remarks are drawn from the rigorous comparative study, providing objective evidence-based information for further research and practical applications.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

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