Wireless communication, identification and sensing technologies enabling integrated logistics: a study in the harbor environment

In the last decade, integrated logistics has become an important challenge in the development of wireless communication, identification and sensing technology, due to the growing complexity of logistics processes and the increasing demand for adapting systems to new requirements. The advancement of wireless technology provides a wide range of options for the maritime container terminals. Electronic devices employed in container terminals reduce the manual effort, facilitating timely information flow and enhancing control and quality of service and decision made. In this paper, we examine the technology that can be used to support integration in harbor's logistics. In the literature, most systems have been developed to address specific needs of particular harbors, but a systematic study is missing. The purpose is to provide an overview to the reader about which technology of integrated logistics can be implemented and what remains to be addressed in the future

Can Brazilian Firms Survive the Chinese Challenge: Effects of Globalization on Markets, Strategies, and Performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply the structure-conduct-performance theory and the strategic fit concept to examine the effects of globalization on markets, strategies, and performance of business-to-consumer firms in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes a qualitative approach to answer the research questions. Top decision makers such as president, chief executive officer, chairman of the board, vice president, and director of the companies were interviewed. The elite approach to in-depth interviewing was followed to obtain reliable information from the decision makers. Findings – Findings indicate that globalization and especially the entry of Chinese firms significantly changed market contexts in Brazil. Brazilian executives responded to changes in market contexts by shifting from production to customer orientation, building brand equity, developing new products, and differentiating offerings. Overall, marketing performance of Brazilian firms was positive, but profitability suffered. Originality/value – The study contributes to the literature by showing that globalization has changed market contexts in Brazil by developing a new form of competition in which firms from emerging economies are now competing against each other. Findings from this study can provide useful theoretical and strategic insights into the behavior and performance of firms in other emerging markets

Applications of blockchain technology in sustainable manufacturing and supply chain management: A systematic review

Developing sustainable products and processes is essential for the survival of manufacturers in the current competitive market and the industry 4.0 era. The activities of manufacturers and their supply chain partners should be aligned with sustainable development goals. Manufacturers have faced many barriers and challenges in implementing sustainable practices along the entire supply chain due to globalisation, outsourcing, and offshoring. Blockchain technology has the potential to address the challenges of sustainability. This study aims to explain the applications of blockchain technology to sustainable manufacturing. We conducted a systematic literature review and explained the potential contributions of blockchain technology to the economic, environmental, and social performances of manufacturers and their supply chains. The findings of the study extend our understanding of the blockchain applications in sustainable manufacturing and sustainable supply chains. Furthermore, the study explains how blockchain can influence the sustainable performance of manufacturers by creating transparency, traceability, real-time information sharing, and security of the data capabilities

A Comparative analysis of service supply chain performance using analytic hierarchy process methodology

© 2024 The Author(s). . Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives CC BY-NC-ND licence, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the service supply chain (SSC) of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and to offer insights to improve its supply chain performance. The study employs mixed methods, to analyse the data collected from SMEs. The findings highlight several key metrics of effective supply chain management in a service firm such as utilisation and flexibility of service capacity, inventory, order lead times, relationships between the organisation, its suppliers and customers, the importance of effective demand forecasting and inventory management as valuable attributes to improve the supply chain performance of service firms. Inventory lead time is presented as a fundamental metric useful in determining the service supply chain performance of SMEs.Peer reviewe

Nexus of Block Chain Alignment, Supply Chain Agility, Supply Chain Performance and their Impact on Firm’s Environmental Performance: A Developing Country Perspective

Blockchain technology has significant potential for improving the environmental performance of businesses and supply chains. One of the key benefits of blockchain is its ability to provide greater transparency and traceability in supply chains. This can enable companies to better monitor and manage their environmental impacts, such as carbon emissions and waste production, throughout their supply chain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the use of blockchain technology in improving supply chain alignment (SCA), supply chain agility (SCAG), and supply chain performance (SCP), and their influence on the environmental performance (EP) of firms. Additionally, the study aimed to identify the moderating effect of innovative climate (IC) on the relationship between SCA, SCAG, SCP, and EP. The researchers employed a quantitative research paradigm and collected data through a survey questionnaire. The sample was collected using the probability cluster sampling method and consisted of 350 personnel in executive and middle management positions. The results indicated that SCA, SCAG, and SCP positively impact the EP of businesses, and this relationship is moderated by IC. The study's findings have several theoretical and practical implications, including the potential for blockchain technology to improve supply chain sustainability and the importance of fostering an innovative climate to enhance the positive effects of SCA, SCAG, and SCP on EP

Blockchain for sustainability: a systematic literature review for policy impact

Blockchain technology has been proposed to achieve sustainable development through various solutions, such as carbon credit trading, energy systems and supply chain management. While existing literature has not covered this topic in a structured fashion, this paper provides insights to policymakers on how blockchain can deliver sustainable development. This study conducted a systematic literature review on the role of blockchain technologies in assisting policymakers in achieving ESG and environmental sustainability goals. The paper performs a detailed PRISMA SLR analysis of 10,188 technical and policy papers sourced from Scopus and IEEE databases to ensure high-quality inputs and breadth of coverage across relevant sources. In addition, the study reviews the relevant regulatory environment related to ESG, including SDGs, IPCC, COP 27, ESMA, ISSB, SEC, GRI, TCFD, ESRS, IFRS S1 and S2 and CRSD. Most papers do not outline a structured approach to applying blockchain in the emerging regulatory environment. Our paper outlines recommendations to policymakers wishing to ensure that the blockchain research community and solutions proposed are usefully directed to enable the world to achieve its net zero goals

A Scalable Multi-Layered Blockchain Architecture for Enhanced EHR Sharing and Drug Supply Chain Management

In recent years, the healthcare sector's shift to online platforms has spotlighted challenges concerning data security, privacy, and scalability. Blockchain technology, known for its decentralized, secure, and immutable nature, emerges as a viable solution for these pressing issues. This article presents an innovative Electronic Health Records (EHR) sharing and drug supply chain management framework tailored to address scalability, security, data integrity, traceability, and secure data sharing. The framework introduces five layers and transactions, prioritizing patient-centric healthcare by granting patients comprehensive access control over their health information. This access facilitates smoother processes, such as insurance claims, while maintaining robust security measures. Notably, our implementation of parallelism significantly bolsters scalability and transaction throughput while minimizing network traffic. Performance evaluations conducted through the Caliper benchmark indicate a slight increase in processor consumption during specific transactions, mitigated effectively by parallelization. RAM requirements remain largely stable. Additionally, our approach notably reduces network traffic while tripling transaction throughput. The framework ensures patient privacy, data integrity, access control, and interoperability, aligning with traditional healthcare systems. Moreover, it provides transparency and real-time drug supply monitoring, empowering decision-makers with actionable insights. As healthcare evolves, our framework sets a crucial precedent for innovative, scalable, and secure systems. Future enhancements could focus on scalability, real-world deployment, standardized data formats, reinforced security protocols, privacy preservation, and IoT integration to comply with regulations and meet evolving industry needs

Di-ANFIS: an integrated blockchain–IoT–big data-enabled framework for evaluating service supply chain performance

Service supply chain management is a complex process because of its intangibility, high diversity of services, trustless settings, and uncertain conditions. However, the traditional evaluating models mostly consider the historical performance data and fail to predict and diagnose the problems’ root. This paper proposes a distributed, trustworthy, tamper-proof, and learning framework for evaluating service supply chain performance based on Blockchain and Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) techniques, named Di-ANFIS. The main objectives of this research are: 1) presenting hierarchical criteria of service supply chain performance to cope with the diagnosis of the problems’ root; 2) proposing a smart learning model to deal with the uncertainty conditions by a combination of neural network and fuzzy logic, 3) and introducing a distributed Blockchain-based framework due to the dependence of ANFIS on big data and the lack of trust and security in the supply chain. Furthermore, the proposed six-layer conceptual framework consists of the data layer, connection layer, Blockchain layer, smart layer, ANFIS layer, and application layer. This architecture creates a performance management system using the Internet of Things (IoT), smart contracts, and ANFIS based on the Blockchain platform. The Di-ANFIS model provides a performance evaluation system without needing a third party and a reliable intermediary that provides an agile and diagnostic model in a smart and learning process. It also saves computing time and speeds up information flow.Service supply chain management is a complex process because of its intangibility, high diversity of services, trustless settings, and uncertain conditions. However, the traditional evaluating models mostly consider the historical performance data and fail to predict and diagnose the problems’ root. This paper proposes a distributed, trustworthy, tamper-proof, and learning framework for evaluating service supply chain performance based on Blockchain and Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference Systems (ANFIS) techniques, named Di-ANFIS. The main objectives of this research are: 1) presenting hierarchical criteria of service supply chain performance to cope with the diagnosis of the problems’ root; 2) proposing a smart learning model to deal with the uncertainty conditions by a combination of neural network and fuzzy logic, 3) and introducing a distributed Blockchain-based framework due to the dependence of ANFIS on big data and the lack of trust and security in the supply chain. Furthermore, the proposed six-layer conceptual framework consists of the data layer, connection layer, Blockchain layer, smart layer, ANFIS layer, and application layer. This architecture creates a performance management system using the Internet of Things (IoT), smart contracts, and ANFIS based on the Blockchain platform. The Di-ANFIS model provides a performance evaluation system without needing a third party and a reliable intermediary that provides an agile and diagnostic model in a smart and learning process. It also saves computing time and speeds up information flow