Improving Vegetables' Quality in Small-Scale Farms Through Stakeholders' Collaboration

[EN] Small farms are responsible for 80% of theworld¿s agricultural production although they have difficulties to meet the market quality requirements. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs where modern retailers invest in empowering small farmers have been implemented obtaining an increase of the supply chain (SC) profits in cases where supply and demand are balanced. In this paper, a MILP model based onWahyudin et al. (In: Proceedings of the international multiconference of engineers and computer scientists, Hong Kong, pp. 877¿882, [1]) to select the investments to carry out by modern retailers, and the product flow through the SC in situations of supply and demand imbalance is proposed. Its objective is to find out if collaboration programs have a positive impact on SC profits when supply and demand are not balanced. This model allows for the rejection of demand and product wastes. Results show that collaboration programs positively impact on the SC profits and consumer satisfaction level when there is an imbalance between demand and supply.The first author acknowledges the partial support of the Programme of Formation of University Professors of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport (FPU15/03595), and the partial support of Project Development of an integrated maturity model for agility, resilience and gender perspective in supply chains (MoMARGE). Application to the agricultural sector. Ref. GV/2017/025, funded by the Generalitat Valenciana. The other authors acknowledge the partial support of Project 691249, RUC-APS: Enhancing and implementing Knowledge based ICT solutions within high Risk and Uncertain Conditions for Agriculture Production Systems, funded by the EU under its funding scheme H2020-MCSA-RISE-2015.Esteso, A.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Ortiz Bas, Á. (2020). Improving Vegetables' Quality in Small-Scale Farms Through Stakeholders' Collaboration. Lecture Notes in Management and Industrial Engineering. 95-103. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44530-0_12S95103Wahyudin RS, Hisjam M, Yuniaristanto, Kurniawan B (2015) An agri-food supply chain model for cultivating the capabilities of farmers in accessing capital using corporate social responsibility program. In: Proceedings of the international multiconference of engineers and computer scientists, Hong Kong, pp 877–882Lowder SK, Skoet J, Raney T (2016) The number, size, and distribution of farms, smallholder farms, and family farms worldwide. World Dev 87:16–29Sutopo W, Hisjam M, Yuniaristanto (2011) An agri-food supply chain model for cultivating the capabilities of farmers accessing market using social responsibility program. Int Sch Sci Res Innov 5(11):1588–1592Sutopo W, Hisjam M, Yuniaristanto (2012) An agri-food supply chain model to enhance the business skills of small-scale farmers using corporate social responsibility. Makara J Technol 16(1):43–50Sutopo W et al (2013a) A goal programming approach for assessing the financial risk of corporate social responsibility programs in agri-food supply chain network. Proc World Congr Eng 2013:732–736Sutopo W, Hisjam M, Yuniaristanto (2013b) An agri-food supply chain model to empower farmers for supplying deteriorated product to modern retailer. In: IAENG transactions on engineering technologies: special issue of the international multiconference of engineers and computer scientists 2012. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, 189–202Grillo H, Alemany MME, Ortiz A, Fuertes-Miquel VS (2017) Mathematical modelling of the order-promising process for fruit supply chains considering the perishability and subtypes of products. Appl Math Model 49:255–278Sutopo W, Hisjam M, Yuniaristanto (2013c) Developing an agri-food supply chain application for determining the priority of CSR program to empower farmers as a qualified supplier of modern retailer. In: 2013 World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science, pp 1180–1184Esteso A, Alemany MME, Ortiz A (2017) Conceptual framework for managing uncertainty in a collaborative agri-food supply chain context. Working conference on virtual enterprises. Springer, Cham, pp 715–72

Métodos y Modelos Deterministas e Inciertos para la Gestión de Cadenas de Suministro Agroalimentarias

[EN] The market for agricultural products has grown substantially. At the same time, social concern in food issues such as food safety, food quality, traceability and sustainability is constantly increasing. These reasons have pointed out the need of new models and tools to manage the agri-food supply chains while considering the characteristics that differentiate them from other industrial supply chains as well as the uncertainties present in the sector. Thus, the aim of this paper is to present the current status of a project which mains objectives are to describe the complexity faced by agri-food supply chain decision makers, and to develop new tools based on mathematical programming models to help the decision making process in agri-food supply chain planning. These models novelty will include the consideration of the inherent characteristics of agri-food supply chains and the sources of uncertainty present in the sector. The proposed models and tools will be applied to a real agri-food supply chain in order to prove their validity and applicability and to compare the results obtained by deterministic and uncertain tools.[ES] El mercado de productos agrícolas está en continuo crecimiento, al igual que la preocupación social en temas alimentarios como la calidad y seguridad alimentaria. Esto genera la necesidad de desarrollar modelos y herramientas para gestionar las cadenas de suministro agroalimentarias de manera ajustada y teniendo en cuenta sus características y fuentes de incertidumbre inherentes. Este articulo presenta el estado actual de un proyecto cuyos principales objetivos son: describir la complejidad enfrentada por los decisores de las cadenas de suministro agroalimentarias, y desarrollar nuevas herramientas basadas en programación matemática para apoyar la toma de decisiones en este sector.This research has been supported by the Program of Formation of University Professors (FPU) of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU15/03595)Esteso, A.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Ortiz Bas, Á. (2017). Deterministic and Uncertain Methods and Models for Managing Agri-Food Supply Chain. Dirección y organización (Online). (62):41-46. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/108673S41466

Conceptual framework for designing agri-food supply chains under uncertainty by mathematical programming models

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in [include the complete citation information for the final version of the article as published in the International Journal of Production Research (2018) © Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1447706[EN] Agri-food sector performance strongly impacts global economy, which means that developing optimisation models to support the decision-making process in agri-food supply chains (AFSC) is necessary. These models should contemplate AFSC¿s inherent characteristics and sources of uncertainty to provide applicable and accurate solutions. To the best of our knowledge, there are no conceptual frameworks available to design AFSC through mathematical programming modelling while considering their inherent characteristics and sources of uncertainty, nor any there literature reviews that address such characteristics and uncertainty sources in existing AFSC design models. This paper aims to fill these gaps in the literature by proposing such a conceptual framework and state of the art. The framework can be used as a guide tool for both developing and analysing models based on mathematical programming to design AFSC. The implementation of the framework into the state of the art validates its. Finally, some literature gaps and future research lines were identified.This first author was partially supported by the Programme of Formation of University Professors of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport [grant number FPU15/03595]; the partial support of Project 'Development of an integrated maturity model for agility, resilience and gender perspective in supply chains (MoMARGE). Application to the agricultural sector.' Ref. GV/2017/025, funded by the Generalitat Valenciana. The other authors acknowledge the partial support of Project 691249, RUC-APS: Enhancing and implementing Knowledge based ICT solutions within high Risk and Uncertain Conditions for Agriculture Production Systems, funded by the EU under its funding scheme H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015.Esteso, A.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Ortiz Bas, Á. (2018). Conceptual framework for designing agri-food supply chains under uncertainty by mathematical programming models. International Journal of Production Research. 56(13):4418-4446. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1447706S44184446561

Collaborative Plan to Reduce Inequalities Among the Farms through Optimization

[EN] The crop planning problem consists in defining the crop and acreage to be planted at each farm. There are several centralized mathematical programming models to support crop planning in literature. However, centralized solutions often produce economic unfairness among the members of the supply chain, being especially relevant among the farmers in the agri-food sector. To solve it, this paper tries to answer the following research question: is it possible to reduce inequalities among the farmers through a collaborative plan? A centralized multi-objective mathematical programming model to support crop planning and the next decisions up to the sale of vegetables through a collaborative plan is proposed to answer this question. To show the validity of the proposed collaborative plan, results obtained are compared against those obtained without collaboration. The analysis of results shows that inequalities among the supply chain members can be highly reduced in a centralized decision-making approach by implementing the proposed collaborative plan, reducing a bit the supply chain profit.We acknowledge the support of the project 691249, RUCAPS: "Enhancing and implementing knowledge based ICT solutions within high risk and uncertain conditions for agriculture production systems", funded by the European Union's research and innovation programme under the H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions.Esteso, A.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Ortiz Bas, Á.; Iannacone, R. (2021). Collaborative Plan to Reduce Inequalities Among the Farms through Optimization. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. 629:125-137. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85969-5_11S12513762

Increasing the Sustainability of a Fresh Vegetables Supply Chain Through the Optimization of Funding Programs: A Multi-Objective Mathematical Programming Approach

[EN] Purpose: This research develops a model to improve the quality and freshness of sold vegetables through a funding program between farmers and retailers. Through this program, retailers who are interested in the distribution of first quality vegetables provide funds to farmers to increase their production this type of vegetables through the acquisition of new machinery, technology, or training. Design/methodology/approach: The problem is solved through a multi-objective mathematical programming model that simultaneously optimizes the supply chain profits, the waste of vegetables, the economic unfairness among farmers, the unfairness in the distribution of funds, and the freshness of sold vegetables. The ¿-constraint method is used to obtain several non-dominated solutions to the problem after linearizing the non-lineal equations related to the unfairness objectives. Findings: Results show that it is possible to improve the indicators related to the vegetable waste, the economic unfairness, the unfairness in the distribution of funds and the freshness of vegetables while maintaining similar to optimal profits for the supply chain. Interesting trade-offs between the five objectives are identified, which can be used by supply chain members to select the most appropriate solution to be implemented in the real supply chain. Originality/value: This research models aspects relevant to the agri-food sector that have not been previously modelled for the problem under study. The main novelties of this paper are the consideration of the limited shelf life of the vegetables as well as the requirement of ensuring a minimum freshness at the moment of their sale, the price dependence on the quality and freshness of vegetables, the optimization of vegetable waste and the freshness of vegetables sold, as well as the joint optimization of the five previously defined objectives.The authors acknowledge the support of the Project 691249, "RUCAPS: Enhancing and implementing Knowledge based ICT solutions within high Risk and Uncertain Conditions for Agriculture Production Systems", funded by the EU under its funding scheme H2020-MCSA-RISE-2015.Esteso, A.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Ortiz Bas, Á.; Panetto, H. (2022). Increasing the Sustainability of a Fresh Vegetables Supply Chain Through the Optimization of Funding Programs: A Multi-Objective Mathematical Programming Approach. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management. 15(2):256-274. https://doi.org/10.3926/jiem.371925627415

Reinforcement learning applied to production planning and control

[EN] The objective of this paper is to examine the use and applications of reinforcement learning (RL) techniques in the production planning and control (PPC) field addressing the following PPC areas: facility resource planning, capacity planning, purchase and supply management, production scheduling and inventory management. The main RL characteristics, such as method, context, states, actions, reward and highlights, were analysed. The considered number of agents, applications and RL software tools, specifically, programming language, platforms, application programming interfaces and RL frameworks, among others, were identified, and 181 articles were sreviewed. The results showed that RL was applied mainly to production scheduling problems, followed by purchase and supply management. The most revised RL algorithms were model-free and single-agent and were applied to simplified PPC environments. Nevertheless, their results seem to be promising compared to traditional mathematical programming and heuristics/metaheuristics solution methods, and even more so when they incorporate uncertainty or non-linear properties. Finally, RL value-based approaches are the most widely used, specifically Q-learning and its variants and for deep RL, deep Q-networks. In recent years however, the most widely used approach has been the actor-critic method, such as the advantage actor critic, proximal policy optimisation, deep deterministic policy gradient and trust region policy optimisation.The funding for the research work that has led to the obtained results came from the following grants: CADS4.0 (Ref. RTI2018-101344-B-I00) and NIOTOME (Ref. RTI2018102020-B-I00), financed byMCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and 'ERDF A way of making DEurope'; the EU H2020 research and innovation programme with grant numbers 825631 'Zero-Defect Manufacturing Platform (ZDMP)' and 958205 'Industrial Data Services for Quality Control in SmartManufacturing (i4Q)'; 'Industrial Production and Logistics Optimization in Industry 4.0' (i4OPT) (Ref. PROMETEO/2021/065) and 'Resilient, Sustainable and PeopleOriented Supply Chain 5.0 Optimization Using Hybrid Intelligence' (RESPECT) (Ref. CIGE/2021/159) Projects were funded by the Generalitat Valenciana (Valencian Regional Government).Esteso, A.; Peidro Payá, D.; Mula, J.; Díaz-Madroñero Boluda, FM. (2023). Reinforcement learning applied to production planning and control. International Journal of Production Research. 61(16):5772-5789. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2022.210418057725789611

Active learning methodologies at the university classroom

[EN] This paper identifies a set of active learning methodologies, which have in common the consideration of the emotion as a key element for learning. Active learning methodologies are not only intended to awaken emotions but also taught with emotion (Sempere-Ripoll and Rodriguez-Villalobos, 2019). To this extent, different teaching methodologies are used that complement each other, leading to reinforce and consolidate learning. Accordingly, the main aim of this work is to review the different active learning methodologies that can be applied at the university classroom.The authors acknowledge the support from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) through the Projects of Innovation and Educational Improvement ¿La docencia inversa como metodología soporte a metodologías activas de aprendizaje¿ (PIME/21-22/263) and ¿Innovación y mejora educativa aplicada a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible en la ETSII¿ (PIME/21-22/281).Andres, B.; Sempere-Ripoll, F.; Esteso, A.; Torre-Martínez, MRDL. (2022). Active learning methodologies at the university classroom. EDULEARN Proceedings (Internet). 2927-2935. https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2022.07402927293

Impacto de la Perspectiva de Género en la Resiliencia de la Cadena de Suministro

[ES] Para mejorar la igualdad de género, reducir daños de reputación en las organizaciones y mejorar su resiliencia, es necesario analizar su situación real y participar en un diálogo constructivo. Sin embargo, a menudo éstas carecen de la formación necesaria para implementar políticas exitosas con ese fin. Este artículo trata de cubrir dicho vacío proponiendo una herramienta para evaluar la inclusión de género actual en las CS. Se evalúan tres objetivos: 1) garantizar negocios con organizaciones que respeten la igualdad de género, 2) promover el emprendimiento femenino y 3) divulgar políticas de igualdad de género a lo largo de la CS.Esta investigación se ha llevado a cabo en el marco del proyecto Desarrollo de un modelo de madurez integrado para la agilidad, resiliencia y perspectiva de género en cadenas de suministro (MoMARGE). Aplicación al sector agrícola. Ref. GV/2017/025 financiado por la Generalitat Valenciana. El tercer autor agradece la financiación parcial por el programa de Formación de Profesorado Universitario del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte Español (FPU15/03595).Cuenca, L.; Esteso, A.; Navarro Astor, E. (2019). Impacto de la Perspectiva de Género en la Resiliencia de la Cadena de Suministro. Direccion y Organizacion. 67:52-58. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/155504S52586

Simulation to reallocate supply to committed orders under shortage

[EN] This article aims to deal with the reallocating supply problem in both its real and planned contexts, to orders that result from the order promising process under shortage. To this end, we propose a system dynamics-based simulation model to facilitate modelling for order managers, and to provide a graphic support tool to understand the process and to make decisions. The basis of the simulation model's structure is a mixed-integer linear programming approach that intends to maximise profits by considering the possibility of making partial and delayed deliveries. To illustrate this, we consider a real-world problem from the ceramic sector that contemplates 35 orders. We obtained a solution by a mathematical programming model and a simulation model. The results show the simulation model's capacity to obtain near-optimum results, and to provide a simulated history of the system."This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Esteso, Ana, Josefa Mula, Francisco Campuzano-Bolarín, MME Alemany Diaz, and Angel Ortiz. 2018. Simulation to Reallocate Supply to Committed Orders under Shortage. International Journal of Production Research 57 (5). Informa UK Limited: 1552 70. doi:10.1080/00207543.2018.1493239, available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207543.2018.1493239"Esteso, A.; Mula, J.; Campuzano-Bolarín, F.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Ortiz Bas, Á. (2019). Simulation to reallocate supply to committed orders under shortage. International Journal of Production Research. 57(5):1552-1570. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1493239S15521570575Alarcón, F., Alemany, M. M. E., Lario, F. C., & Oltra, R. F. (2011). La falta de homogeneidad del producto (FHP) en las empresas cerámicas y su impacto en la reasignación del inventario. Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, 50(1), 49-58. doi:10.3989/cyv.072011Alemany, M. M. E., Alarcón, F., Oltra, R. F., & Lario, F. C. (2013). Reasignación óptima del inventario a pedidos en empresas cerámicas caracterizadas por la falta de homogeneidad en el producto (FHP). Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, 52(1), 31-41. doi:10.3989/cyv.42013Alemany, M. M. E., Grillo, H., Ortiz, A., & Fuertes-Miquel, V. S. (2015). A fuzzy model for shortage planning under uncertainty due to lack of homogeneity in planned production lots. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 39(15), 4463-4481. doi:10.1016/j.apm.2014.12.057Alemany, M. M. E., Lario, F.-C., Ortiz, A., & Gómez, F. (2013). Available-To-Promise modeling for multi-plant manufacturing characterized by lack of homogeneity in the product: An illustration of a ceramic case. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 37(5), 3380-3398. doi:10.1016/j.apm.2012.07.022ALEMANY, M. M. E., A., A., BOZA, A., & FUERTES-MIQUEL, V. S. (2015). A MODEL-DRIVEN DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR REALLOCATION OF SUPPLY TO ORDERS UNDER UNCERTAINTY IN CERAMIC COMPANIES. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 21(4), 596-625. doi:10.3846/20294913.2015.1055613Boza, A., Alemany, M. M. E., Alarcón, F., & Cuenca, L. (2013). A model-driven DSS architecture for delivery management in collaborative supply chains with lack of homogeneity in products. Production Planning & Control, 25(8), 650-661. doi:10.1080/09537287.2013.798085Campuzano-Bolarín, F., Mula, J., & Peidro, D. (2013). An extension to fuzzy estimations and system dynamics for improving supply chains. International Journal of Production Research, 51(10), 3156-3166. doi:10.1080/00207543.2012.760854Framinan, J. M., & Leisten, R. (2009). Available-to-promise (ATP) systems: a classification and framework for analysis. International Journal of Production Research, 48(11), 3079-3103. doi:10.1080/00207540902810544Georgiadis, P., & Michaloudis, C. (2012). Real-time production planning and control system for job-shop manufacturing: A system dynamics analysis. European Journal of Operational Research, 216(1), 94-104. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2011.07.022Georgiadis, P., & Politou, A. (2013). Dynamic Drum-Buffer-Rope approach for production planning and control in capacitated flow-shop manufacturing systems. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 65(4), 689-703. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2013.04.013Grillo, H., Alemany, M. M. E., & Ortiz, A. (2016). A review of mathematical models for supporting the order promising process under Lack of Homogeneity in Product and other sources of uncertainty. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 91, 239-261. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2015.11.013Grillo, H., Alemany, M. M. E., Ortiz, A., & Mula, J. (2017). A Fuzzy Order Promising Model With Non-Uniform Finished Goods. International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, 20(1), 187-208. doi:10.1007/s40815-017-0317-yJeon, S. M., & Kim, G. (2016). A survey of simulation modeling techniques in production planning and control (PPC). Production Planning & Control, 27(5), 360-377. doi:10.1080/09537287.2015.1128010Mula, J., Campuzano-Bolarin, F., Díaz-Madroñero, M., & Carpio, K. M. (2013). A system dynamics model for the supply chain procurement transport problem: comparing spreadsheets, fuzzy programming and simulation approaches. International Journal of Production Research, 51(13), 4087-4104. doi:10.1080/00207543.2013.774487Olhager, J. (2003). Strategic positioning of the order penetration point. International Journal of Production Economics, 85(3), 319-329. doi:10.1016/s0925-5273(03)00119-1Tako, A. A., & Robinson, S. (2012). The application of discrete event simulation and system dynamics in the logistics and supply chain context. Decision Support Systems, 52(4), 802-815. doi:10.1016/j.dss.2011.11.01

How does the use of digital platforms impact on students marks at high education?

[EN] More and more universities use educational digital platforms to support teaching. Due to the covid-19 crisis, and with the online teaching approval, the usage of digital platforms in universities has gone from being an option to a necessity. Therefore, efforts have been made to promote the use of existing platforms in each university. This has required teachers not only to make an effort to transform and adapt in record time all the presential teaching to virtual teaching, but also has required professors to learn how to use some of the features of existing digital platforms that were not familiar to them. However, did using this type of platforms positively impact on high education students marks? This study aims to determine if such impact existed in engineering schools. More concretely, this paper focus on engineering students from different grades and levels from the Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain, and on the use of the PoliformaT digital platform, which is an adaptation of Sakai platform for the mentioned university. Statistics data provided by PoliformaT about the number of visits, number of events with the platform, and downloaded documents per student for several subjects from the School of Industrial Engineering and the School of Informatics for the course 2019-2020 are analysed. Multiple linear regression models on marks obtained by students and their activity on PoliformaT platform have been built to determine if the usage of digital platforms has any relation with the students¿ marks. A varied casuistry is observed in the results. Relations of the analysed items with marks have been identified in some of the analysed subjects, still these relations being moderate. In this sense, some unconsidered factors might be influencing these relations, being appropriate to analyse them in future research. On the other hand, it is necessary to re-analyse this same scenario in future courses when both, students and professors, have enough usage level of the employed teaching tools. Next course we expect that some of the deficiencies identified in this first study will be reduced after both actors become familiar to these digital tools.This work has been developed within the framework of the projects Coordinación metodológica a través de webs de apoyo en títulos ETSII para diferentes Competencias Trasversales of the call for Educational Innovation and Improvement Projects (PIME) with code PIME/19-20 Ref. 150, Ref. 151 and Ref. 152, in its institutional modality, promoted by the Vice-Rectorate for Studies, Quality and Accreditation and the Institute of Education Sciences of the Universitat Politècnica de València. The second author was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana (Conselleria de Educación, Investigación, Cultura y Deporte) under Grant ACIF/2019/021.Esteso, A.; Rodríguez-Sánchez, MDLÁ.; Alarcón Valero, F.; Prats-Montalbán, JM. (2021). How does the use of digital platforms impact on students marks at high education?. IATED Academy. 9559-9563. https://doi.org/10.21125/inted.2021.19989559956