Sayan Chakraborty, Charandeep Singh Bagga and S.P. Sarmah
Being the final end of the logistic distribution, attended home delivery (AHD) plays an important role in the distribution network. AHD typically refers to the service provided by…
Abstract
Purpose
Being the final end of the logistic distribution, attended home delivery (AHD) plays an important role in the distribution network. AHD typically refers to the service provided by the distribution service provider to the recipient's doorstep. Researchers have always identified AHD as a bottleneck for last-mile delivery. This paper addresses a real-life stochastic multi-objective AHD problem in the context of the Indian public distribution system (PDS).
Design/methodology/approach
Two multi-objective models are proposed. Initially, the problem is formulated in a deterministic environment, and later on, it is extended to a multi-objective AHD model with stochastic travel and response time. This stochastic AHD model is used to extensively analyze the impact of stochastic travel time and customer response time on the total expected cost and time-window violation. Due to the NP-hard nature of the problem, an ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm, tuned via response surface methodology (RSM), is proposed to solve the problem.
Findings
Experimental results show that a change in travel time and response time does not significantly alter the service level of an AHD problem. However, it is strongly correlated with the planning horizon and an increase in the planning horizon reduces the time-window violation drastically. It is also observed that a relatively longer planning horizon has a lower expected cost per delivery associated.
Research limitations/implications
The paper does not consider the uncertainty of supply from the warehouse. Also, stochastic delivery failure probabilities and randomness in customer behavior have not been taken into consideration in this study.
Practical implications
In this paper, the role of uncertainty in an AHD problem is extensively studied through a case of the Indian PDS. The paper analyzes the role of uncertain travel time and response time over different planning horizons in an AHD system. Further, the impact of the delivery planning horizon, travel time and response time on the overall cost and service level of an AHD system is also investigated.
Social implications
This paper investigates a unique and practical AHD problem in the context of Indian PDS. In the present context of AHD, this study is highly relevant for real-world applications and can help build a more efficient delivery system. The findings of this study will be of particular interest to the policy-makers to build a more robust PDS in India.
Originality/value
The most challenging part of an AHD problem is the requirement of the presence of customers during the time of delivery, due to which the probability of failed delivery drastically increases if the delivery deviates from the customer's preferred time slot. The paper modelled an AHD system to incorporate uncertainties to attain higher overall performance and explore the role of uncertainty in travel and response time with respect to the planning horizon in an AHD, which has not been considered by any other literature.
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S.K. Chakraborty and D. Chakraborty
Among the several sub‐themes for this Special Issue this paper aims to deal, broadly, with the Hindu view of economics and allied matters.
Abstract
Purpose
Among the several sub‐themes for this Special Issue this paper aims to deal, broadly, with the Hindu view of economics and allied matters.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach is a conceptual one that highlights a few crucial aspects of the “positive” flank of Hinduism vis‐à‐vis its “normative” dimension. Researchers, thinkers, scholars and, above all, some important but ignored realizers of Hindu psycho‐philosophy, have been dug into for materials comprising the paper.
Findings
The findings clearly show that the amazing sustainability of Bharat's (i.e. India's) socio‐economic processes, structures and systems, despite the tortures of history visiting her, can be explained by her abiding fidelity to the eternal as the basis of the temporal. This is the very foundation of the sacro‐secular character of Hindu culture.
Practical implications
The expected impact is long‐term through deep‐structure germination on a wide tract. Hurried practical application in tiny fractions is not intended as this will be premature and superficial.
Originality/value
The contents of this paper are meant to generate a holistic and respectful orientation to the forging of constructive links between culture and economics in the context of Hinduism.
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Arijit Maji and Indrajit Mukherjee
The purpose of this study is to propose an effective unsupervised one-class-classifier (OCC) support vector machine (SVM)-based single multivariate control chart (OCC-SVM) to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose an effective unsupervised one-class-classifier (OCC) support vector machine (SVM)-based single multivariate control chart (OCC-SVM) to simultaneously monitor “location” and “scale” shifts of a manufacturing process.
Design/methodology/approach
The step-by-step approach to developing, implementing and fine-tuning the intrinsic parameters of the OCC-SVM chart is demonstrated based on simulation and two real-life case examples.
Findings
A comparative study, considering varied known and unknown response distributions, indicates that the OCC-SVM is highly effective in detecting process shifts of samples with individual observations. OCC-SVM chart also shows promising results for samples with a rational subgroup of observations. In addition, the results also indicate that the performance of OCC-SVM is unaffected by the small reference sample size.
Research limitations/implications
The sample responses are considered identically distributed with no significant multivariate autocorrelation between sample observations.
Practical implications
The proposed easy-to-implement chart shows satisfactory performance to detect an out-of-control signal with known or unknown response distributions.
Originality/value
Various multivariate (e.g. parametric or nonparametric) control chart(s) are recommended to monitor the mean (e.g. location) and variance (e.g. scale) of multiple correlated responses in a manufacturing process. However, real-life implementation of a parametric control chart may be complex due to its restrictive response distribution assumptions. There is no evidence of work in the open literature that demonstrates the suitability of an unsupervised OCC-SVM chart to simultaneously monitor “location” and “scale” shifts of multivariate responses. Thus, a new efficient OCC-SVM single chart approach is proposed to address this gap to monitor a multivariate manufacturing process with unknown response distributions.
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In this study, workplace spirituality is discussed in the context of remote work and the COVID-19 pandemic. First, the focus is on the changes in the meaning and function of…
Abstract
In this study, workplace spirituality is discussed in the context of remote work and the COVID-19 pandemic. First, the focus is on the changes in the meaning and function of employees in the organization during the evolutionary process of industrialization and management paradigms. Afterward, conceptual frameworks for spirituality and workplace spirituality are presented, and in the last section, academic studies that deal with workplace spirituality with distance or hybrid work arrangements are included. Early studies offer insights and recommendations on conceptualizing, developing, and managing workplace spirituality. They all emphasize that spirituality is necessary for remote work as a tool to overcome stress and mental health problems and increase employee well-being. Unfortunately, the remote work and workplace spirituality literature is relatively narrow and needs to be expanded.
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Akansha Mer and Amarpreet Singh Virdi
The study aims to propose a conceptual Bhartiya (Indian) model of workplace spirituality (WPS) in non-profit organisations (NPOs) in the context of burnout and resilience by…
Abstract
The study aims to propose a conceptual Bhartiya (Indian) model of workplace spirituality (WPS) in non-profit organisations (NPOs) in the context of burnout and resilience by synthesising the concepts of the east and the west. The researchers have kept an open approach by exploring various dimensions of WPS by reviewing the extant literature of both the east and the west. The researchers delved into Bhartiya (Indian) scriptures to identify the concepts that have similarity with the dimensions of WPS so that it may further assist in facilitating those dimensions in NPOs. Furthermore, to propose a conceptual Bhartiya model for NPOs, the researchers synthesised the literature pool of Bhartiya studies on WPS. They examined how WPS decreases burnout and leads to resilience. The study’s findings reveal that concepts from Bhartiya scriptures such as Karm Yog (Nishkam Karm, self-abnegation, swadharm), parasparam bhavayantaha, loksangrah, daivi sampat and kritagyata are instrumental in facilitating the constructs of WPS. Meaningful work is facilitated through karm yog; sense of community is facilitated through parasparam bhavayantaha and loksangrah; and alignment with organisational values is facilitated through daivi sampat and kritagyata. The findings further suggest that WPS is an antidote to burnout and an enabler of resilience.
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Sayan Chakraborty and Sarada Prasad Sarmah
India has the largest public distribution system (PDS) in the world, working through over five million fair price shops (FPS) to distribute food grains among its beneficiaries at…
Abstract
Purpose
India has the largest public distribution system (PDS) in the world, working through over five million fair price shops (FPS) to distribute food grains among its beneficiaries at a subsidized rate. In this paper, the authors study the inventory system of Indian FPS. The system involves a distributor, who is solely responsible for the replenishment of the FPS. In a real-world scenario, the distributor is subjected to random supply and transportation disruptions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and minimize the impacts of such disruptions.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors adopt a simulation-based technique to explore the impacts of various traits of disruptions like frequency and duration on the FPS inventory system. A simulation model for the Indian FPS is developed and the impacts of disruptions are investigated by a case study.
Findings
The authors use a simulation-based optimization technique to suggest a simple managerial change that can lead to a minimization of inventory shortage up to 60 per cent and system cost up to 21 per cent over the existing practice.
Originality/value
The present study addresses the FPS inventory system of Indian PDS, which is by its nature unique and has not been considered by any other previous literature. The findings of this study will be of particular interest to the policy-makers to build a more robust PDS in India.
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Somnath Santra, Shubhadeep Mandal and Suman Chakraborty
The purpose of this study is to perform a detailed review on the numerical modeling of multiphase and multicomponent flows in microfluidic system using phase-field method. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to perform a detailed review on the numerical modeling of multiphase and multicomponent flows in microfluidic system using phase-field method. The phase-field method is of emerging importance in numerical computation of transport phenomena involving multiple phases and/or components. This method is not only used to model interfacial phenomena typical to multiphase flows encountered in engineering and nature but also turns out to be a promising tool in modeling the dynamics of complex fluid-fluid interfaces encountered in physiological systems such as dynamics of vesicles and red blood cells). Intrinsically, a priori unknown topological evolution of interfaces offers to be the most concerning challenge toward accurate modeling of moving boundary problems. However, the numerical difficulties can be tackled simultaneously with numerical convenience and thermodynamic rigor in the paradigm of the phase field method.
Design/methodology/approach
The phase-field method replaces the macroscopically sharp interfaces separating the fluids by a diffuse transition layer where the interfacial forces are smoothly distributed. As against the moving mesh methods (Lagrangian) for the explicit tracking of interfaces, the phase-field method implicitly captures the same through the evolution of a phase-field function (Eulerian). In contrast to the deployment of an artificially smoothing function for the interface as used in the volume of a fluid or level set method, however, the phase-field method uses mixing free energy for describing the interface. This needs the consideration of an additional equation for an order parameter. The dynamic evolution of the system (equation for order parameter) can be described by Allen–Cahn or Cahn–Hilliard formulation, which couples with the Navier–Stokes equation with the aid of a forcing function that depends on the chemical potential and the gradient of the order parameter.
Findings
In this review, first, the authors discuss the broad motivation and the fundamental theoretical foundation associated with phase-field modeling from the perspective of computational microfluidics. They subsequently pinpoint the outstanding numerical challenges, including estimations of the model-free parameters. They outline some numerical examples, including electrohydrodynamic flows, to demonstrate the efficacy of the method. Finally, they pinpoint various emerging issues and futuristic perspectives connecting the phase-field method and computational microfluidics.
Originality/value
This paper gives unique perspectives to future directions of research on this topic.
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Prodyut Chakraborty and Pradip Dutta
The purpose of this paper is to present a new numerical approach for modeling the multi‐phase flow during an alloy solidification process. In many solidification processes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a new numerical approach for modeling the multi‐phase flow during an alloy solidification process. In many solidification processes, advection of solid may have a dramatic effect on bulk convection field as well as on the solid front growth and hence on the macro‐segregation pattern. In the present work, a numerical model is developed to simulate directional solidification in presence of melt convection as well as solid advection in the form of sedimentation. A 2D cavity filled with hyper‐eutectic aqueous ammonium chloride solution (25 wt.% of ammonium chloride) being chilled from one of the side walls has been chosen as the model problem for the numerical simulation.
Design/methodology/approach
A fixed grid volume averaging technique has been used for solving mass, momentum, energy, and species equation while taking into account the solid phase advection and local re‐melting. Two different criteria have been identified for the solid particles in the mushy zone to be mobile. These two criteria are represented by a critical solid fraction, and a critical velocity. Based on these two criteria, the mushy zone has been subdivided into two different regions namely, an immobile coherent zone consisting of packed equiaxed crystals and a mobile non‐coherent zone where the solid crystals are able to move.
Findings
The numerical results are compared with corresponding experimental observations.
Originality/value
The solid advection velocity and source terms dealing with solid velocity have been calculated using an explicit scheme, whereas the main conservation equations are solved using an implicit scheme.
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S.K. Chakraborty and Debangshu Chakraborty
This paper presents both conceptual insights and practical examples about spiritually transformed leadership. The Yoga‐Vedanta spiritual model is its anchor. Some profound Western…
Abstract
This paper presents both conceptual insights and practical examples about spiritually transformed leadership. The Yoga‐Vedanta spiritual model is its anchor. Some profound Western thinkers, besides Indian realizers, have provided clues relevant to this approach. This paper explores a much wider vista for transformational leadership beyond business success or political strategy. Transformed leaders are the cause, transformation of followers the effect.