Somesh Agarwal, Mohit Tyagi and R.K. Garg
Adopting the circular economy (CE) notion in the supply chain perspective is necessary for the sustainability viewpoint. However, such practices are deficient, especially in…
Abstract
Purpose
Adopting the circular economy (CE) notion in the supply chain perspective is necessary for the sustainability viewpoint. However, such practices are deficient, especially in developing countries like India, because of several obstacles. The purpose of this study was to create an approach for circular supply chain management (CSCM) adaption in Indian rubber industries by identifying and evaluating its associated obstacles.
Design/methodology/approach
A hybrid approach of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the grey-based ELECTRE method had been employed in this research to obtain the mutual rankings of the identified obstacles based on their impressions on the CSCM prosperity criteria through a case study and involving diverse expert's opinions.
Findings
Presented study's findings illustrate that “Lack of consumer knowledge and consciousness towards environmental sustainability” was found to be the top-ranked obstacle followed by “Unwillingness towards supply chain re-structuring”.
Research limitations/implications
The obstacles' prioritized rankings could help leaders to create sequential strategies for adapting a resilient CSCM structure by systematically eliminating these obstacles. Moreover, the pinpointed critical obstacles could be investigated further in separate studies and generate future studies' scope.
Originality/value
During the extensive literature survey, it had been found that the CSCM practices are in the fledgling stage in the developing country's context. Moreover, studies related to CSCM adaption in rubber-based manufacturing industries were much lacking. Presented work is peculiar, aiming to accelerate the CSCM adaption in the industrial rubber sector in developing countries like India.
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Nand Gopal and Dilbagh Panchal
The proposed hybridized framework provides a new performance optimization-based paradigm for analysing the failure behaviour of paneer unit (PU) in the dairy industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The proposed hybridized framework provides a new performance optimization-based paradigm for analysing the failure behaviour of paneer unit (PU) in the dairy industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A novel fuzzy Jaya-based Lambda–Tau Optimization (JBLTO) approach-based mathematical modelling was developed for calculating various reliability indices of the considered unit. Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) was carried using qualitative information gathered from system's expert opinions. Fuzzy-complex proportional assessment (FCOPRAS) approach was integrated within FMEA to recognize the most critical failure causes associated with various subsystem/components.
Findings
The availability of the unit falls by 0.053% as the uncertainty level increases from ±15 to ±25% and further decreases to 0.323% as the uncertainty level increases from ±25 to ±60%. Failure causes, namely wearing in gears of gearbox (MST4), an impeller's cavitation and/or corrosion (CFP4), winding failure of electric motor (WS9), were recognized as the most critical failure causes with FCOPRAS final performance scores of 100, 100 and 100 and fuzzy combinative distance-based assessment (FCODAS) resultant assessment score of 0.5997, 1.1898 and 1.6135.
Originality/value
JBLTO approach-based reliability results were compared with traditional particle swarm optimization-based Lambda–Tau (PSOBLT) and traditional fuzzy Lambda–Tau (FLT) approaches for confirming the downward trend in the system's availability. The ranking results of qualitative analysis are compared with the implementation of FCODAS technique. Sensitivity analysis was executed to evaluate the robustness of the proposed hybridized framework.
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Dinesh Kumar Kushwaha, Dilbagh Panchal and Anish Sachdeva
To meet energy demand and tackle the challenges posed by global warming, Bagasse-based Cogeneration Power Generation (BCPG) plant in sugar mills have tremendous potential due to…
Abstract
Purpose
To meet energy demand and tackle the challenges posed by global warming, Bagasse-based Cogeneration Power Generation (BCPG) plant in sugar mills have tremendous potential due to large-scale supply of renewable fuel called bagasse. To meet this goal, an integrated framework has been proposed for analyzing performance issues of BCPG.
Design/methodology/approach
Intuitionistic Fuzzy Lambda-Tau (IFLT) approach was implemented to compute various reliability parameters. Intuitionistic Fuzzy Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (IF-FMEA) approach has been implemented for studying risk issues results in decrease in plant's availability. Moreover, IF- Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (IF-TOPSIS) is implemented to verify accuracy of IF-FMEA approach.
Findings
For membership and non-membership functions, availability decreases to 0.0006% and 0.0020% respectively for spread ±15% to ±30%, and further decreases to 0.0127% and 0.0221% for spread ±30% to ±45%. Under risk assessment failure causes namely Storage tank (ST3), Valve (VL6), Transfer pump (TF8), Deaerator tank (DT11), High pressure heater and economiser (HP15), Boiler drum and super heater (BS22), Forced draft and Secondary air fan (FS25), Air preheater (AH29) and Furnace (FR31) with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Hybrid Weighted Euclidean Distance (IFHWED) based output scores – 0.8988, 0.9752, 0.9400, 0.8988, 0.9267, 1.1131, 1.0039, 0.8185, 1.0604 were identified as the most critical failure causes.
Research limitations/implications
Reliability and risk analysis results derived from IFLT and IF-FMEA approaches respectively, to address the performance issues of BCPG is based on the quantitative and qualitative data collected from the industrial experts and maintenance log book. Moreover, to take care of hesitation in expert's knowledge, IF theory-based concept is incorporated so as to achieve more accuracy in analysis results. Reliability and risk analysis results together will be helpful in analyzing the performance characteristics and diagnosis of critical failure causes, which will minimize frequent failure in BCPG.
Practical implications
The framework will help plant managers to frame optimal maintenance policy in order to enhance the operational aspects of the considered unit. Moreover, the accurate and early detection of failure causes will also help managers to take prudent decision for smooth operation of plant.
Social implications
The results obtained ensure continuous operation of plant by utilizing the bagasse as fuel in boiler and also mitigate the wastages of fuel. If this bagasse (green fuel) is not properly utilized, there remains a dependency on coal-based power plants to meet the power demand. The results obtained are useful for decreasing dependency on coal, and promoting bagasse as the green, and alternative fuel, the emission by burning of these fuels are not harmful for environment and thereby contribute in preventing the environment from harmful effect of GHGs gases.
Originality/value
IFLT approach has been implemented to develop reliability modeling equations of the BCPG unit, and furthermore to compute various reliability parameters for both membership and non-membership function. The ranking results of IF-FMEA are compared to IF-TOPSIS approach. Sensitivity analysis is done to check stability of proposed framework.
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Astha Sanjeev Gupta, Jaydeep Mukherjee and Ruchi Garg
COVID-19 disrupted the lives of consumers across the globe, and the retail sector has been one of the hardest hits. The impact of COVID-19 on consumers' retail choice behaviour…
Abstract
Purpose
COVID-19 disrupted the lives of consumers across the globe, and the retail sector has been one of the hardest hits. The impact of COVID-19 on consumers' retail choice behaviour and retailers' responses has been studied in detail through multiple lenses. Now that the effect of COVID-19 is abating, there is a need to consolidate the learnings during the lifecycle of COVID-19 and set the agenda for research post-COVID-19.
Design/methodology/approach
Scopus database was searched to cull out academic papers published between March 2020 and June 6, 2022, using keywords; shopping behaviour, retailing, consumer behaviour, and retail channel choice along with COVID-19 (171 journals, 357 articles). Bibliometric analysis followed by selective content analysis was conducted.
Findings
COVID-19 was a black swan event that impacted consumers' psychology, leading to reversible and irreversible changes in retail consumer behaviour worldwide. Research on changes in consumer behaviour and consumption patterns has been mapped to the different stages of the COVID-19 lifecycle. Relevant research questions and potential theoretical lenses have been proposed for further studies.
Originality/value
This paper collates, classifies and organizes the extant research in retail from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies three retail consumption themes: short-term, long-term reversible and long-term irreversible changes. Research agenda related to the retailer and consumer behaviour is identified; for each of the three categories, facilitating the extraction of pertinent research questions for post-COVID-19 studies.
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Shweta Bajaj, Ruchi Garg, Monika Sethi and Sujit Dey
The purpose of this paper is to classify the total quality management (TQM) practices and position them based on their importance in the implementation of TQM in steel industries…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to classify the total quality management (TQM) practices and position them based on their importance in the implementation of TQM in steel industries for obtaining improved business performance and customer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study undergoes a deep literature review to recognise the TQM practices necessary for the implementation of TQM in the steel industry. The identified 17 practices were grouped under three activities such as “breakthrough activities”, “improvement activities” and “routine operational and maintenance activities” with experts’ suggestion. The positioning of 17 TQM practices and 3 activities of TQM was done using an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique as per their relevance in TQM implementation.
Findings
The findings of the research show that though all the 17 practices and 3 activities of TQM play a vital role in the successful implementation of TQM in steel industries, breakthrough activities have gained more weightage as compared to the other two activities. Top management commitment, quality system and continuous improvement are relatively more important than the other practices.
Research limitations/implications
The research has limitation analogous to the AHP technique. The technique considers all the sub-sets of each nod to be independent from each other, whereas in real world this does not stand true.
Practical implications
The study positions the TQM practices and activities on the basis of their relevance in TQM implementation in the steel industry, thus helping the managers in understanding which practice has to give how much importance for TQM implementation in steel industries. By following the practices according to the weights, the managers can achieve the results desired from TQM implementation.
Originality/value
The study gives the implementation priorities of TQM practices in the steel industry. To the best knowledge of researcher, it is the first study in the steel sector for TQM implementation. The lacuna was reported by the literature, and the researcher has made an attempt to fill that gap.
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Dilip Kumar Sen, Saurav Datta and S.S. Mahapatra
Robot selection is basically a task of choosing appropriate robot among available alternatives with respect to some evaluation criteria. The task becomes much more complicated…
Abstract
Purpose
Robot selection is basically a task of choosing appropriate robot among available alternatives with respect to some evaluation criteria. The task becomes much more complicated since apart from objective criteria a number of subjective criteria need to be evaluated simultaneously. Plenty of decision support systems have been well documented in existing literature which considers either objective or subjective data set; however, decision support module with simultaneous consideration of objective as well as subjective data has rarely been attempted before. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Motivated by this, present work exhibits application potential of preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluations (extended to operate under fuzzy environment) to solve decision-making problems which encounter both objective as well as subjective evaluation data.
Findings
An empirical case study has been demonstrated in the context of robot selection problem. Finally, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to make the robot selection process more robust. A trade-off between objective criteria measure and subjective criteria measure has been shown using sensitivity analysis.
Originality/value
Robot selection has long been viewed as an important decision-making scenario in the industrial context. Appropriate robot selection helps in enhancing value of the product and thereby, results in increased profitability for the manufacturing industries. The proposed decision support system considering simultaneous exploration of subjective as well as objective database is rarely attempted before.
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L.A. Schuch, V.K. Garg, E. Kuzmann, R. Garg and A.C. de Oliveira
The continent of Antarctica consists of 14 million km2, roughly equivalent to the whole of South America, and is of immense interest to humanity, in particular to the countries of…
Abstract
The continent of Antarctica consists of 14 million km2, roughly equivalent to the whole of South America, and is of immense interest to humanity, in particular to the countries of the Antarctic Treaty. The Antarctic continent is the continent of superlatives: it is almost isolated from the rest of the continents, and is severely cold, windy, and dry. In winter, the Antarctic area increases to nearly 32 million km2, because of formation of a 1,000km wide ice‐belt. The average depth of ice on the continent is in the order of 2,000m, and in the transantarctic region this depth is 4,800 meters. Antarctica is the biggest sweet water reservoir of the planet earth. Icebergs are common and huge ones (190km in length and 130km wide) have also been observed. The minimum temperature recorded (–89.2°C) at Vostok (Russian base) on 21 July 1983 is also the minimum recorded environmental temperature on the planet earth. Because of extreme temperature variations the Antarctic winds have high velocity. The environment is very dry and at the center of the continent the dryness is of the same magnitude as in the driest desert anywhere on the planet. This is the only uninhabited continent of the planet, except for some 50 research bases which cover an insignificant area located on the continent and the Antarctica Peninsula. Because of its economic, strategic, geopolitical, scientific, meteorological, and oceanographic importance and possible exploitation in the future, Antarctica has been attracting greater attention every day. Antarctica is basically concentrated around the South Pole and it touches the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Brazil, in common with many other nations, has geopolitical interests and in untapped mineral deposits (considerable deposits of coal, petroleum, gas). In the south, where the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans meet, the cold water of Antarctica is the habitat housing hundreds of species of sea life. Unrestricted and unbalanced exploitation of Antarctica could cause changes in the meteorological and oceanographic balance. In the present paper, the Brazilian Antarctic Program, and summarized results of studies of Antarctic soil, rocks, and sediments are reported.
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Marwa Ben Ali and Ghada Boukettaya
For decades, the fast population growth worldwide was interrelated with the adopted rapid lifestyle behavior that relies on the extensive use of fossil fuels. This primary energy…
Abstract
For decades, the fast population growth worldwide was interrelated with the adopted rapid lifestyle behavior that relies on the extensive use of fossil fuels. This primary energy source has caused various urban and environmental impacts, such as global warming, air pollution, and so forth. Consequently, the identified circumstance issues have caused many health, social, and economic hindering effects for global citizens. It poses an existential threat to humanity and the global earth's ecosystem. The alarming levels of urban pollution emissions are putting enormous challenges to the related stakeholders (governments, businesses, investors, automakers, and citizens) to admit the need to decarbonize the global economy and reach sustainable development goals (SDGs) for cleaner and smarter cities across borders. As such, a vital part of a smart city is the transport sector. The road transport sector, precisely, is one of the primary consumers of fossil fuels that contribute to high carbon dioxide emissions. Accordingly, it is essential to adopt novel and sustainable urban transport solutions and promote the achievement of the SDG's eleventh goal for sustainable cities and communities. This chapter provides insight into the present global energy situation with particular attention to the road transport sector. Indeed, it highlights different emerging technologies for a sustainable and smart urban mobility future that will mitigate the environmental situation thanks to the development of drive and internet telecommunication technologies. Furthermore, we aim in this chapter to study the international progress of the transition project using the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal (PESTEL) analysis methodology. This study is to pinpoint opportunities for project development and the challenges that set back its evolution.
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Chitresh Kumar and Anirban Ganguly
This study aims to investigate the conditions for the financial feasibility of an incentive-based model for self-drop or crowdsourced drop of the product to be returned at…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the conditions for the financial feasibility of an incentive-based model for self-drop or crowdsourced drop of the product to be returned at designated drop boxes (thereby ensuring a contactless process).
Design/methodology/approach
Constraint-based non-linear mathematical modeling was done for cost differential with and without crowdsourcing. This was analyzed against returns on investment for the installed infrastructure. Scenarios were looked into from the linear, iso-elastic and logarithmic demand functions to identify the optimal incentive policy. The results were further evaluated using “willingness to return” for customer willingness for product returns via drop boxes.
Findings
Crowdsourcing is viable when product returns are no more than 15%–20% of the overall products, with a logistics cost differential of 15%–25%. These were only viable when the product return incentive was within the range of 15%–20% of the product cost, as well as the penalty was in the range of 25 to 40% for wrong returns.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are expected to aid the organizations in successfully designing product return policies while adhering to the post-COVID-19 norms, including contactless transactions and social distancing.
Originality/value
The study provides a look into the viability sensitivity of effective gains/profitability against the required level of service for returns, wrong returns, penalties and incentives for crowdsourcing in a developing country like India.
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Susobhan Maiti, Tanushree Gupta and Govind Singh Rajpal
Women Empowerment means boosting the social, economic, political, and legal strength of women to secure equal right and make them confident to claim their rights. India has…
Abstract
Women Empowerment means boosting the social, economic, political, and legal strength of women to secure equal right and make them confident to claim their rights. India has focused on women's empowerment to reduce domestic abuse and gender violence in recent decades. The study analyzes the relationship between women's empowerment and gender-based violence, employing a non-linear regression model using the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5, 2019–20 data. In the present study gender-based violence is measured on the basis of spousal violence and women's empowerment is represented by women who are currently married and usually take part in three household decisions, women who worked in the past year and were paid in cash, women who own a house or land (alone or with others), women who use their own bank or savings account, and women who use their own cell phone for each state. Analysis of the result shows a link between women's empowerment and gender-based violence and a large disparity among states.