Minimizing food waste in grocery store operations: literature review and research agenda

Research on grocery waste in food retailing has recently attracted particular interest. Investigations in this area are relevant to address the problems of wasted resources and ethical concerns, as well as economic aspects from the retailer’s perspective. Reasons for food waste in retail are already well-studied empirically, and based on this, proposals for reduction are discussed. However, comprehensive approaches for preventing food waste in store operations using analytics and modeling methods are scarce. No work has yet systematized related research in this domain. As a result, there is neither any up-to-date literature review nor any agenda for future research. We contribute with the first structured literature review of analytics and modeling methods dealing with food waste prevention in retail store operations. This work identifies cross-cutting store-related planning areas to mitigate food waste, namely (1) assortment and shelf space planning, (2) replenishment policies, and (3) dynamic pricing policies. We introduce a common classification scheme of literature with regard to the depth of food waste integration and the characteristics of these planning problems. This builds our foundation to review analytics and modeling approaches. Current literature considers food waste mainly as a side effect in costing and often ignores product age dependent demand by customers. Furthermore, approaches are not integrated across planning areas. Future lines of research point to the most promising open questions in this field

Joint production, quality control and maintenance policies subject to quality-dependant demand

This thesis is a strive to find a proper solution, using the stochastic optimal control means for an unreliable production system with product quality control and quality-dependent demand. The system consists of a single machine producing a single product type (M1P1) subject to breakdowns and random repairs and must satisfy a non-constant rate of customer demand, which response to the quality of parts received. Since the machine produces with a rate of noncompliant products, an inspection of the products is made to reduce the number of bad parts that would deliver to the customer. It is done continuously and consists of controlling a fraction of the production. Approved products are put back on the production line, while bad products are discarded. The intended objective of this study is to provide optimal quality control and production policy, which maximize the net revenue consisting of the gross revenue, the cost of inventory, the cost of shortage, the cost of the inspection, the cost of maintenance and the cost of no-quality parts. Main decision variables are the sampling rate of the quality control system as well as the threshold of finished product inventory. The demand function reacts to the average outgoing quality level (AOQ) of finished products. In the third chapter of this study, preventive maintenance and dynamic pricing policies are added up to the optimal policy, cited above. To achieve the optimal points of the policy, which maximize our net production revenue, a simulation approach is implemented as an experimental design and its results were used in response surface methodology. To implement the experiment design (simulation approach) which thoroughly reflects model considerations such as its continuous nature and the variety, first, a continuous variable for the probability of defectiveness was introduced, functioning with the age of machine up until its next breakdown maintenance. Second, so as to reflect the effect of quality control process that results in Average Outgoing Quality rather than simple defectiveness possibility, this function (AOQ) was built based on instant behavior of mentioned function above as its independent variable. Third, due to the use of prospect theory assumptions in building a demand function that responds to the level of client delivered defectiveness (AOQ), a responsive continuous function was created for the demand, reacting to the level of product quality by determining it's needed per time amount. Finally. To illustrate the machine’s manufacturing policy based on Hedging Point, finished product inventory variable was introduced in the experiment design. In a nutshell, we have a production system that has been designed in a way that by raising its age (At), leads to more possibility of defectiveness and less demand in time units. This manner continuous up until the next maintenance action of the system, which restores all factors to their initial conditions. By use of the simulation approach of optimization an experiment is designed and implemented to control decision variables of the policy and maximize the objective function of average net revenue (ANR). Decision variables are statistically and practically in the matter of consideration such as finished product inventory threshold (Z), the proportion of inspection (F) and PM thresholds (Mk or Pk)

An economic order quantity model for imperfect and deteriorating items with freshness and inventory level-dependent demand

Dissertation (MEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2023.Consumer purchasing behaviour is influenced by many factors. Depending on the circumstances, these factors may become relevant drivers of important supply chain decisions. Expiration dates have an influence on the purchasing decision of consumers for perishable goods. Another behavioural influence that stimulates demand is the volume of goods that are available on display as part of the purchase transaction. Furthermore, the fact that certain goods deteriorate over time must also be evaluated within the context of the study of perishable goods. The market is increasingly seeking goods that have no inherent defects or imperfections. This investigation seeks to determine the impact of imperfect quality, deterioration, freshness and inventory level and also, how those issues can be improved upon in workable situations. This paper proposes an inventory model that stipulates the demand as a function of freshness and the inventory level. In addition, the inventory depletes through both deterioration and demand, and the product quality is not always perfect. The objective of the inventory model is to maximise the system’s profit, hence the study has developed a theoretical mathematical model for imperfect and deteriorating items with freshness and inventory level-dependent demand. A numerical example was used to illustrate the practical application of the model in a real life environment. Sensitivity studies were conducted to determine the impact of changes or variations to the inputs that are used in the model. The findings were that the date of expiry, the elasticity of demand and the selling price of the perfect products are the main constituents that affect the profitability.Industrial and Systems EngineeringMEng (Industrial Engineering)Unrestricte

Application of Optimization in Production, Logistics, Inventory, Supply Chain Management and Block Chain

The evolution of industrial development since the 18th century is now experiencing the fourth industrial revolution. The effect of the development has propagated into almost every sector of the industry. From inventory to the circular economy, the effectiveness of technology has been fruitful for industry. The recent trends in research, with new ideas and methodologies, are included in this book. Several new ideas and business strategies are developed in the area of the supply chain management, logistics, optimization, and forecasting for the improvement of the economy of the society and the environment. The proposed technologies and ideas are either novel or help modify several other new ideas. Different real life problems with different dimensions are discussed in the book so that readers may connect with the recent issues in society and industry. The collection of the articles provides a glimpse into the new research trends in technology, business, and the environment

Responsible Inventory Models for Operation and Logistics Management

The industrialization and the subsequent economic development occurred in the last century have led industrialized societies to pursue increasingly higher economic and financial goals, laying temporarily aside the safeguard of the environment and the defense of human health. However, over the last decade, modern societies have begun to reconsider the importance of social and environmental issues nearby the economic and financial goals. In the real industrial environment as well as in today research activities, new concepts have been introduced, such as sustainable development (SD), green supply chain and ergonomics of the workplace. The notion of “triple bottom line” (3BL) accounting has become increasingly important in industrial management over the last few years (Norman and MacDonald, 2004). The main idea behind the 3BL paradigm is that companies’ ultimate success should not be measured only by the traditional financial results, but also by their ethical and environmental performances. Social and environmental responsibility is essential because a healthy society cannot be achieved and maintained if the population is in poor health. The increasing interest in sustainable development spurs companies and researchers to treat operations management and logistics decisions as a whole by integrating economic, environmental, and social goals (Bouchery et al., 2012). Because of the wideness of the field under consideration, this Ph.D. thesis focuses on a restricted selection of topics, that is Inventory Management and in particular the Lot Sizing problem. The lot sizing problem is undoubtedly one of the most traditional operations management interests, so much so that the first research about lot sizing has been faced more than one century ago (Harris, 1913). The main objectives of this thesis are listed below: 1) The study and the detailed analysis of the existing literature concerning Inventory Management and Lot Sizing, supporting the management of production and logistics activities. In particular, this thesis aims to highlight the different factors and decision-making approaches behind the existing models in the literature. Moreover, it develops a conceptual framework identifying the associated sub-problems, the decision variables and the sources of sustainable achievement in the logistics decisions. The last part of the literature analysis outlines the requirements for future researches. 2) The development of new computational models supporting the Inventory Management and Sustainable Lot Sizing. As a result, an integrated methodological procedure has been developed by making a complete mathematical modeling of the Sustainable Lot Sizing problem. Such a method has been properly validated with data derived from real cases. 3) Understanding and applying the multi-objective optimization techniques, in order to analyze the economic, environmental and social impacts derived from choices concerning the supply, transport and management of incoming materials to a production system. 4) The analysis of the feasibility and convenience of governmental systems of incentives to promote the reduction of emissions owing to the procurement and storage of purchasing materials. A new method based on the multi-objective theory is presented by applying the models developed and by conducting a sensitivity analysis. This method is able to quantify the effectiveness of carbon reduction incentives on varying the input parameters of the problem. 5) Extending the method developed in the first part of the research for the “Single-buyer” case in a "multi-buyer" optics, by introducing the possibility of Horizontal Cooperation. A kind of cooperation among companies in different stages of the purchasing and transportation of raw materials and components on a global scale is the Haulage Sharing approach which is here taken into consideration in depth. This research was supported by a fruitful collaboration with Prof. Robert W. Grubbström (University of Linkoping, Sweden) and its aim has been from the beginning to make a breakthrough both in the theoretical basis concerning sustainable Lot Sizing, and in the subsequent practical application in today industrial contexts

Inventory Management with Raw Materials Costs Subject to Quotation: The Analysis of the Jewellery Industry

This thesis has the objective to present the particular inventory management problem in case of procurement of raw materials subject to quotation, a subject that goes beyond traditional stock control policies proposed by literature, where purchase price is typically assumed as a constant and therefore not even considered in the decision of when and how much to order

Supply Chain

Traditionally supply chain management has meant factories, assembly lines, warehouses, transportation vehicles, and time sheets. Modern supply chain management is a highly complex, multidimensional problem set with virtually endless number of variables for optimization. An Internet enabled supply chain may have just-in-time delivery, precise inventory visibility, and up-to-the-minute distribution-tracking capabilities. Technology advances have enabled supply chains to become strategic weapons that can help avoid disasters, lower costs, and make money. From internal enterprise processes to external business transactions with suppliers, transporters, channels and end-users marks the wide range of challenges researchers have to handle. The aim of this book is at revealing and illustrating this diversity in terms of scientific and theoretical fundamentals, prevailing concepts as well as current practical applications

Dynamic Pricing for Vehicle Ferries: using Packing and Simulation to Optimize Revenues

We propose an heuristic approach to the vehicle ferry revenue management problem, where the aim is to maximize the revenue obtained from the sale of vehicle tickets by varying the prices charged to different vehicle types, each occupying a different amount of deck space. Customers arrive and purchase tickets according to their vehicle type and their willingness-to-pay, which typically increases over time because customers purchasing tickets closer to departure tend to accept higher prices. The optimization problem can be solved using dynamic programming but the possible states in the selling season are the set of all feasible vehicle mixes that fit onto the ferry. This makes the problem intractable as the number of vehicle types and ferry size increases. We propose a state space reduction, which uses a vehicle ferry loading simulator to map each vehicle mix to a remaining-space state. This reduces the state space of the dynamic program. Our approach allows the value function to be approximated rapidly and accurately with a relatively coarse discretization of states. We present simulations of the selling season using this reduced state space to validate the method. The vehicle ferry loading simulator was developed in collaboration with a vehicle ferry company and addresses real-world constraints such as manoeuvrability, elevator access, strategic parking gaps, vehicle height constraints and ease of implementation of the packing solutions