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Output from the Irish Dairy Industry has grown rapidly since the abolition of quotas in 2015, with processors investing heavily in capacity expansion to deal with the extra milk volumes. Further capacity gains may be achieved by extending the processing season into the winter, a key enabler for which being the reduction of duration of the winter maintenance overhaul period. This paper aims to investigate if Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques can be used to enhance operational maintenance performance, thereby releasing additional processing capacity.

Combining the Six-Sigma Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control (DMAIC) methodology and the structured approach of Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) widely used in process industries creates a novel hybrid model that promises substantial improvement in maintenance overhaul execution. This paper presents a case study applying the DMAIC/TAM model to Ireland’s largest dairy processing site to optimise the annual maintenance shutdown. The objective was to deliver a 30% reduction in the duration of the overhaul, enabling an extension of the processing season.

Application of the DMAIC/TAM hybrid resulted in process enhancements, employee engagement and a clear roadmap for the operations team. Project goals were delivered, and original objectives exceeded, resulting in €8.9m additional value to the business and a reduction of 36% in the duration of the overhaul.

The results demonstrate that the model provides a structure that promotes systematic working and a continuous improvement focus that can have substantial benefits for wider industry. Opportunities for further model refinement were identified and will enhance performance in subsequent overhauls.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that the structure and tools of DMAIC and TAM have been combined into a hybrid methodology and applied in an Irish industrial setting.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing (3DP) offers a promising value proposition across multiple manufacturing industries. Despite the variety of production benefits the technology entails, its rate of adoption is still low compared to industry forecasts. In face of this challenge, industry as well as academia requires more information and guidance. This review aims to examine the characteristics of the existing body of research on the organizational adoption of 3DP as well as its underlying theoretical concepts. The most common criteria driving adoption will be derived, such as to facilitate the managerial decision-making process. Pathways for future research will be presented.

This study underlies a bibliometric literature review and additionally applies content analysis to systematically investigate the existing body of research and group decision criteria along the four major pillars of strategic decision-making.

The contributions of this paper are threefold. First, the bibliometric analysis reveals interesting aspects of the existing body of research. The most prominent characteristics of the contemporary literature are reflected along descriptive indicators, such as industry, method, model, origin, research outlet or adoption drivers, thus granting relevant insights into academia and practice. Second, the most notable adoption models are carefully analyzed on their inherent attributes and their application fit for the context of organizational 3DP adoption. Findings, for instance, revealed the dominance of diffusion of innovation (DOI) across the existing body of research and divulge that this construct is generally applied in combination with user-centered decision frameworks to yield more precise results. Third, an ample range of opportunities for future research are detected and thoroughly explained. Among others, the authors identified a clear lack of information on the impact environmental variables and contingency factors exerted on the organizational adoption of 3DP. Guidance in relation to the sourcing of industry data, usage of adoption frameworks and avenues for future scientific projects is supplied.

This study represents the first semi-systematic literature review on the organizational adoption of 3DP. Thus, it not only offers a valuable evaluation guide for potential adopters but also determines a future research agenda.

This study examines the effect of contextual perceived value activated by contextual marketing offers and information privacy concerns on consumer loyalty in mobile commerce.

The survey was conducted through 340 mobile users in Morocco and the collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

This study's results show that contextual marketing and information privacy concerns are key determinants in improving customer loyalty in the m-commerce context. Perceived ubiquity has a positive impact on perceived trust, which also impacts consumer loyalty. Information privacy concerns also have a positive impact on customer satisfaction, yet it does not impact perceived trust, which is contrary to the results of other researchers. It can also be concluded that customer satisfaction and trust are important antecedents of consumer loyalty.

This research gives rise to some important managerial and strategic implications in order to integrate contextual marketing strategies, as well as theoretical implications that concern this field of study.

This research makes a significant contribution to knowledge by examining the role of contextual marketing and information privacy concerns in the m-commerce context. These results will be considered useful for marketers and for businesses in general who wish to integrate a marketing strategy that is based on a customer-centric approach. It also contributes to the related literature, as there are few studies focused on m-commerce and contextual marketing within the context of Morocco.

The transition to omnichannel retail is the recognized future of retail, which uses digital technologies (e.g. augmented reality shopping assistants) to enhance the customer shopping experience. However, retailers struggle with the implementation of such technologies in brick-and-mortar stores. Against this background, the present study investigates the impact of a smartphone-based augmented reality shopping assistant application, which uses personalized recommendations and explainable artificial intelligence features on customer shopping experiences.

The authors follow a design science research approach to develop a shopping assistant application artifact, evaluated by means of an online experiment (n = 252), providing both qualitative and quantitative data.

Results indicate a positive impact of the augmented reality shopping assistant application on customers' perception of brick-and-mortar shopping experiences. Based on the empirical insights this study also identifies possible improvements of the artifact.

This study's assessment is limited to an online evaluation approach. Therefore, future studies should test actual usage of the technology in brick-and-mortar stores. Contrary to the suggestions of established theories (i.e. technology acceptance model, uses and gratification theory), this study shows that an increase of shopping experience does not always convert into an increase in the intention to purchase or to visit a brick-and-mortar store. Additionally, this study provides novel design principles and ideas for crafting augmented reality shopping assistant applications that can be used by future researchers to create advanced versions of such applications.

This paper demonstrates that a shopping assistant artifact provides a good opportunity to enhance users' shopping experience on their path-to-purchase, as it can support customers by providing rich information (e.g. explainable recommendations) for decision-making along the customer shopping journey.

This paper shows that smartphone-based augmented reality shopping assistant applications have the potential to increase the competitive power of brick-and-mortar retailers.

The future construction site will be pervasive, context aware and embedded with intelligence. The purpose of this paper is to explore and define the concept of the digital skin of the future smart construction site.

The paper provides a systematic and hierarchical classification of 114 articles from both industry and academia on the digital skin concept and evaluates them. The hierarchical classification is based on application areas relevant to construction, such as augmented reality, building information model-based visualisation, labour tracking, supply chain tracking, safety management, mobile equipment tracking and schedule and progress monitoring. Evaluations of the research papers were conducted based on three pillars: validation of technological feasibility, onsite application and user acceptance testing.

Technologies learned about in the literature review enabled the envisaging of the pervasive construction site of the future. The paper presents scenarios for the future context-aware construction site, including the construction worker, construction procurement management and future real-time safety management systems.

Based on the gaps identified by the review in the body of knowledge and on a broader analysis of technology diffusion, the paper highlights the research challenges to be overcome in the advent of digital skin. The paper recommends that researchers follow a coherent process for smart technology design, development and implementation in order to achieve this vision for the construction industry.

The purpose of the research is to analyze the factors that determine the intention of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt the Metaverse. For this purpose, the analysis of the effort expectancy and performance expectancy of the constructs in relation to business satisfaction is proposed.

The analysis was performed on a sample of 182 Spanish SMEs in the technology sector, using a PLS-SEM approach for development. For the confirmation of the model and its results, an analysis with PLSpredict was performed, obtaining a high predictive capacity of the model.

After the analysis of the model proposed in this research, it is recorded that the valuation of the effort to be made and the possible performance expected by the companies does not directly determine the intention to use immersive technology in their strategic behavior. Instead, the results obtained indicate that business satisfaction will involve obtaining information, reducing uncertainty and analyzing the competition necessary for approaching this new virtual environment.

The study represents one of the first approaches to the intention of business behavior in the development of performance strategies within Metaverse systems. So far, the literature has approached immersive systems from perspectives close to consumer behavior, but the study of strategic business behavior has been left aside due to the high degree of experimentalism of this field of study and its scientific approach. The present study aims to contribute to the knowledge of the factors involved in the intention to use the Metaverse by SMEs interested in this field.

A variety of alternate technology-enhanced teaching approaches are now available to university students to broaden their learning experiences and complement conventional face-to-face teaching. This paper aims to outline a study conducted at an English Medium Instruction (EMI) University in the Arabian Gulf where students were studying media. The study explored an innovative teaching approach that sought to enhance the students’ interaction with mobile phone applications as part of their learning experiences during the course.

The focus of the study was on enhancing the students’ English writing skills such as vocabulary, spelling and grammar and on improving their technical skills such as in video production. The study collected both quantitative and qualitative data.

The results indicated that mobile phone applications were helpful in improving students’ journalistic writing skills where they had a good level of proficiency in English, more so than students with poor English who are more dependent on traditional learning methods. Students also benefitted from mobile phone video production workshops that were intensive and creative. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that courses and labs in media courses have skilled technicians that can train students in creative mobile phone video production while faculty members need to be trained and proactively encouraged to use mobile phones for teaching and learning purposes.

wBased on the results of this study, it is recommended that courses and labs in media courses have skilled technicians that can train students in creative mobile phone video production while faculty members need to be trained and proactively encouraged to use mobile phones for teaching and learning purposes.

The purpose of this paper is to artificially construct a functional surface with self-propulsion flow characteristics for the directional transportation of propellant in surface tension tanks.

In this study, a method to enhance the propulsion efficiency by using functional surfaces of self-propulsion performance was proposed. Superhydrophilic wedged-groove with the superhydrophobic background was fabricated and the self-propulsion capacity was verified.

It is found that the self-propulsion capacity is related to the divergence angle of the wedged-groove in the hydrophilic area, and the velocity of the droplets on the deflector plate is the largest with the divergence angle of 4°; the temperature gradient field formed by the condensing device at the nozzle can accelerate the droplet outflow from the tank.

Realization of this idea provides an accurate control strategy for the complex flow process of propellant in plate surface tension tanks, which could enhance the efficiency of the tension tank significantly.

This paper aims to evaluate Morocco’s Whole-of-Government (WoG) framework during the 2023 Al Haouz earthquake, applying complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory to assess its effectiveness with minimal international aid. Through extensive stakeholder engagement and real-time analysis, it examines interagency coordination among civilian and military actors and their interactions with external nongovernmental responders. This study identifies strengths and weaknesses within the WoG framework and presents a strategic roadmap with practical recommendations to enhance disaster resilience, offering valuable insights for Morocco and other middle-income countries facing similar challenges.

Framed by CAS theory, this research uses a rigorous mixed-methods approach through a collaborative case study methodology. Qualitative insights were derived from on-site observations and interviews with 126 stakeholders, including survivors. At the same time, quantitative data were collected through content analysis from multiple sources and rigorously triangulated to capture the full spectrum of WoG mobilization. The data were processed using TAMS Analyzer, and systemic evaluation was conducted through the M-MACBETH methodology, supported by a 21-member expert group. Informed by the assessment results and international best practices, this paper presents an actionable roadmap aimed at building a stronger and more flexible disaster management (DM) system.

The case study reveals that Morocco’s experience offers both a warning and a blueprint for future disaster response efforts. Although the WoG framework successfully coordinated military, civilian and political leadership, weaknesses in local preparedness, civil society integration and misinformation management reduced the overall effectiveness of the response. Aligned with CAS principles and informed by global best practices, the research advocates creating a National Emergency Management Agency with a comprehensive nationwide organigram to balance community-led initiatives with centralized authority, fostering a more resilient, adaptive and coordinated DM system.

This paper addresses a key research gap by applying CAS theory to a real-world disaster in the underexplored North African context. It offers a detailed, first-hand evaluation of Morocco’s WoG framework, assessing its ability to manage a large-scale disaster with minimal yet selective international aid. This study paves the way for comparative research across regions, disaster types and governance models while providing a practical roadmap for Morocco and similar nations to transition toward a Whole-of-Society strategy for DM, enhancing long-term resilience.

The agricultural sector has experienced a transformative impact through the adoption of digital technologies, particularly mobile applications designed for farmers. This study investigates the factors influencing smallholder farmers' willingness to adopt digital application tools in Ogun State, Nigeria, focusing on the IITA herbicide calculator and Akilimo mobile applications.

Data were gathered from 572 smallholder farmers participating in the Zero Hunger project. This research contributes to the limited empirical evidence in Nigeria concerning farmers' willingness to adopt digital application tools. The study analyzes the effects of education, training, access to internet services, smartphone ownership, willingness to use paid applications, awareness of application tools and the cost of digital tools on farmers' willingness to adopt. Gender differentials in willingness to adopt were also explored.

The results indicate positive and statistically significant effects of education, training, internet access, smartphone ownership, willingness to use paid applications, awareness of application tools and the cost of digital tools on farmers' willingness to adopt. However, female farmers exhibited a lower willingness to adopt digital application tools.

Policymakers are urged to create supportive policies promoting basic formal education and provide effective extension services to enhance farmers' training. Additionally, efforts should be made to reduce the cost of digital applications and improve internet accessibility in rural areas. Encouraging female farmers to adopt advanced agricultural technologies is essential. Stakeholders are advised to raise awareness of digital application tools to expedite the adoption of agricultural technologies in the country.

This study will be helpful for the government to determine the state’s readiness for digital agriculture, it will help technology developers and agricultural technology startups to understand the factors determining farmers willingness to adopt digital application tools.

This study offers insights into the readiness of Ogun State, Nigeria, for digital agriculture. It provides valuable information for technology developers and agricultural startups to understand the determinants of farmers' willingness to adopt digital application tools, contributing to the advancement of the agricultural technology landscape.