Smart supply chain management in Industry 4.0

The emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) related to Industry 4.0 play a critical role to enhance supply chain performance. Employing the smart technologies has led to so-called smart supply chains. Understanding how Industry 4.0 and related ICT affect smart supply chains and how smart supply chains evolve with the support of the advanced technologies are vital to practical and academic communities. Existing review works on smart supply chains with ICT mainly rely on the academic literature alone. This paper presents an integrated approach to explore the effects of Industry 4.0 and related ICT on smart supply chains, by combining introduction of the current national strategies in North America, the research status analysis on ICT assisted supply chains from the major North American national research councils, and a systematic literature review of the subject. Besides, we introduce a smart supply chain hierarchical framework with multi-level intelligence. Furthermore, the challenges faced by supply chains under Industry 4.0 and future research directions are discussed as well

A Control Strategy for Smart Energy Charging of Warehouse Material Handling Equipment

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Review of Literature and Curricula in Smart Supply Chain & Transportation

This study provides a review of existing smart supply chain management (SCM) literature and current course offerings in order to identify unexplored implications of smart SCM. Specifically, the study focuses on curricula within the state of California to derive potential opportunities for the relevant practitioners in the Bay Area. In addition, the study further extends curriculum review to other well-recognized SCM programs around the U.S. By exploring current relevant course offerings from different academic institutions for higher education (i.e., universities), this research aims to deliver general ideas useful to knowledge practitioners in fields concerning SCM. Finally, the research illustrates a conceptual framework aimed at fostering familiarity with the necessary research topics for the evolving smart SCM

FASTEN: An IoT platform for Supply Chain Management in a Covid-19 Pandemic Scenario

This paper points out the major disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It proposes an automated Internet-of-Things (IoT) based manufacturing and supply chain system, termed FASTEN, that can deal with such severe disruptions

Logistics 4.0: Evolution of transport for the pharmaceutical sector: Evolution and application analysis of autonomous vehicles for pharmaceutical logistics in Portugal

Digital transformation makes the business environment increasingly competitive. Companies must follow this transformation to differentiate themselves and build a solid competitive position in the markets in which they operate. In this sense, it is crucial to recognize the importance of new technologies in improving logistics operations and the advantages that come with them. Among these technologies, autonomous vehicles stand out. Thus, this study attempts, on the one hand, to understand how autonomous vehicle technology can transform the way goods are transported and how logistics processes and the dynamics within supply chains can be improved. On the other hand, it aims to understand how companies in the supply chain of the pharmaceutical market in Portugal view these transformations from the point of view of the logistics operations they develop. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate if it is possible to implement this technology in the sector and in which activities its use will bring more benefits and may be feasible. The main results allow us to conclude that autonomous vehicles are already a reality in various activities, particularly for logistics operations carried out in restricted environments such as warehouses. In this segment of warehouse activities, companies in the sector under study are more willing to invest in autonomous vehicles. The results indicate that companies do not believe in the possibility of these vehicles being used in the distribution of medicines in the short and medium-term, and there are still factors that limit the introduction of this technology in this market.A transformação digital torna o ambiente empresarial cada vez mais competitivo. As empresas devem seguir essa transformação, caso queiram diferenciar-se e construir uma posição competitiva sólida nos mercados em que operam. Neste sentido, é crucial reconhecer a importância das novas tecnologias na melhoria das operações logísticas e as vantagens que daí advêm. Entre estas tecnologias destacam-se os veículos autónomos. Deste modo, o presente estudo tenta, por um lado, compreender de que forma é que a tecnologia dos veículos autónomos poderá transformar a maneira como os bens são transportados, e como os processos logísticos e as dinâmicas dentro das cadeias de abastecimento podem ser melhorados. Por outro lado, visa perceber como é que as empresas da cadeia de abastecimento do mercado farmacêutico em Portugal, encaram estas transformações do ponto de vista das operações logísticas que desenvolvem. Assim sendo, esta investigação pretende avaliar se será possível implementar esta tecnologia no sector e em que atividades a sua utilização trará mais benefícios e poderá ser viável. Os principais resultados alcançados permitem concluir que, os veículos autónomos já são uma realidade em várias atividades, nomeadamente nas operações logísticas efetuadas em ambientes restritos como armazéns. É neste segmento das atividades de armazém, que as empresas do sector em estudo estão mais recetivas em apostar na utilização de veículos autónomos. Os resultados indicam que as empresas não acreditam na possibilidade destes veículos serem utilizados na distribuição de medicamentos a curto e medio prazo, existindo ainda fatores que limitam a introdução desta tecnologia neste mercado

Operations Management of Satellite Launch Centers

Driven by the business potentialities of the satellite industry, the last years witnessed a massive increase of attention in the space industry. This sector has been always considered critical by national entities and international organizations worldwide due to economic, cultural, scientific, military and civil implications. The need of cutting down satellite launch costs has become even more impellent due to the competition generated by the entrance in the sector of new players, including commercial organizations. Indeed, the high demand of satellite services requires affordable and flexible launch. In this context, a fundamental aspect is represented by the optimization of launch centers' logistics. The aim of this paper is to investigate and review the benefits and potential impact that consolidated operations research and management strategies, coupled with emerging paradigms in machine learning and control can have in the satellite industry, surveying techniques which could be adopted in advanced operations management of satellite launch centers

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based wireless manufacturing systems, a review

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is one of the most promising technological innovations in order to track and trace products as well as material flow in manufacturing systems. High Frequency (HF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID systems can track a wide range of products in the part production process via radio waves with level of accuracy and reliability.   As a result, quality and transparency of data across the supply chain can be accurately obtained in order to decrease time and cost of part production. Also, process planning and part production scheduling can be modified using the advanced RFID systems in part manufacturing process. Moreover, to decrease the cost of produced parts, material handling systems in the advanced assembly lines can be analyzed and developed by using the RFID. Smart storage systems can increase efficiency in part production systems by providing accurate information from the stored raw materials and products for the production planning systems. To increase efficiency of energy consumption in production processes, energy management systems can be developed by using the RFID-sensor networks. Therefore, smart factories and intelligent manufacturing systems as industry 4.0 can be introduced by using the developed RFID systems in order to provide new generation of part production systems. In this paper, a review of RFID based wireless manufacturing systems is presented and future research works are also suggested. It has been observed that the research filed can be moved forward by reviewing and analyzing recent achievements in the published papers