What it takes to design a supply chain resilient to major disruptions and recurrent interruptions

Global supply chains are more than ever under threat of major disruptions caused by devastating natural and man-made disasters as well as recurrent interruptions caused by variations in supply and demand. This paper presents an optimization model for designing a supply chain resilient to (1) supply/demand interruptions and (2) facility disruptions whose probability of occurrence and magnitude of impact can be mitigated through fortification investments. Numerical results and managerial insights obtained from model implementation are presented. Our analysis focuses on how supply chain design decisions are influenced by facility fortification strategies, a decision maker’s conservatism degree, demand fluctuations, supply capacity variations, and budgetary constraints. Finally, examining the performance of the proposed model using a Monte Carlo simulation method provides additional insights and practical implications

A resilient and sustainable supply chain: Is it affordable?

Developing environmentally and socially sustainable supply chains has become an integral part of corporate strategy for virtually every industry. However, little is understood about the broader impacts of sustainability practices on the capacity of the supply chain to tolerate disruptions. This article aims to investigate the sustainability-resilience relationship at the strategic supply chain design level using a multi-objective optimization model and an empirical case study. The proposed model utilizes a sustainability performance scoring method and a novel programming approach to perform a dynamic sustainability tradeoff analysis and design a “resiliently green” supply chain

Sustainability Analysis under Disruption Risks

Resilience to disruptions and sustainability are both of paramount importance to supply chains. This paper presents a hybrid methodology for the design of a sustainable supply network that performs resiliently in the face of random disruptions. A stochastic bi-objective optimization model is developed that utilizes a fuzzy c-means clustering method to quantify and assess the sustainability performance of the suppliers. The proposed model determines outsourcing decisions and buttressing strategies that minimize the expected total cost and maximize the overall sustainability performance in disruptions. Important managerial insights and practical implications are obtained from the model implementation in a case study of plastic pipe industry

Components of the Implementation of Bibliotherapy in Public Libraries: Viewpoints of LIS and Psychology professionals

Purpose: This research aimed at the identification of the necessities for implementation of bibliotherapy in public libraries from the viewpoint of library and information science professionals and psychology professionals, and proposing a model. Methodology: First, in order to identify the necessary components for the implementation of bibliotherapy in the public libraries, we have done an exploratory study, reviewing the literature and then, we designed a web-based questionnaire with well-measured scales of reliability and validity to assess the viewpoints of professionals about prepared criteria. The population of the study included 61 members of library and information science and psychology professionals. Findings: The results showed that on the basis of the viewpoints of professionals, clients of the bibliotherapy projects in public libraries should be normal people, the most important organization that can involve is “Public Libraries Foundation”, the central requisite for initial engagement is “trained and specialized personnel”, the best method of performance is “creative bibliotherapy”, the most important contribution of corporate organizations is “providing suitable booklists”, the most important task of an engaged public library was “providing needed books”; and the joint task of all cooperating organizations was “evaluation and revalidation of the process”. Originality/Value: This research introduces the main elements of the implementation of bibliotherapy projects in public libraries and provides a basis for provides an action list

Supply Chain Greening versus Resilience

The relationship between supply chain resilience and environmental sustainability (greening) has been a topic of peripheral discussion in the research literature. The aim in this paper is to investigate, from a supply chain modeling perspective, the extent to which supply chain greening and resilience strategies are supportive of each other. A strategic supply chain design model is introduced that utilizes an environmental performance scoring approach and a new robustness measure, called “elastic p-robustness”, to (1) explore the relationship between greening and buttressing (building resilience), and (2) identify potential tradeoffs to develop “resiliently green” and “greenly resilient” supply chains. Utilizing real data from a multinational apparel company, our analyses and investigations arrive at important practical implications and managerial insights and set the stage for additional research in this area

How green is a lean supply chain?

This article presents a supply chain planning model that can be used to investigate tradeoffs between cost and environmental degradation including carbon emissions, energy consumption and waste generation. The model also incorporates other aspects of real world supply chains such as multiple transport lot sizing and flexible holding capacity of warehouses. The application of the model and solution method is investigated in an actual case problem. Our analysis of the numerical results focuses on investigating relationship between lean practices and green outcomes. We find that (1) not all lean interventions at the tactical supply chain planning level result in green benefits, and (2) an agile supply chain is the greenest and most efficient alternative when compared to strictly lean and centralized situations

Supply Chain Carbon Management

Sustainable supply chain and carbon management have seen a growing interest in the last decade due to the increasing concerns about global warming and climate change. Policymakers, researchers, and executives have taken various roles in efforts to better measure and control greenhouse gas emissions. This book chapter aims to discuss the current state of the art, and key motivations for businesses to decrease emissions, and different policies and regulations that have been designed to incentivize carbon reduction and enhance the environmental awareness of all stakeholders. The chapter also examines the methodologies for measuring and managing carbon emissions of an organization and its supply chain. Further, it discusses carbon management issues related to reverse logistics, life cycle assessment and double counting of emissions

Behavioral Considerations in Developing Web Information Systems: User-centered Design Agenda

The current paper explores designing a web information retrieval system regarding the searching behavior of users in real and everyday life. Designing an information system that is closely linked to human behavior is equally important for providers and the end users. From an Information Science point of view, four approaches in designing information retrieval systems were identified as system-centered; user-centered; interactive and cognitive designs. However, there is a lack of research related to possible relationships between information behavior and information systems design to date. Traditionally, designers used human factors but not necessarily human behaviors while designing information systems. Therefore, there are few systems designed by information scientist aiming to regard or support the human information behavior. There are now new techniques and methodologies such as Contextual Design and Participatory Design to fill the gap. Implementing a behavioral approach to designing information systems are of interest and importance in terms of modern information technologies like social software, web 2.0, mobile phones and internet websites. New methodologies and research frameworks are proposed that place user location, attention and behavior as their main issues

Behavioral Considerations in Developing Web Information Systems: User-centered Design Agenda

The current paper explores designing a web information retrieval system regarding the searching behavior of users in real and everyday life. Designing an information system that is closely linked to human behavior is equally important for providers and the end users. From an Information Science point of view, four approaches in designing information retrieval systems were identified as system-centered; user-centered; interactive and cognitive designs. However, there is a lack of research related to possible relationships between information behavior and information systems design to date. Traditionally, designers used human factors but not necessarily human behaviors while designing information systems. Therefore, there are few systems designed by information scientist aiming to regard or support the human information behavior. There are now new techniques and methodologies such as Contextual Design and Participatory Design to fill the gap. Implementing a behavioral approach to designing information systems are of interest and importance in terms of modern information technologies like social software, web 2.0, mobile phones and internet websites. New methodologies and research frameworks are proposed that place user location, attention and behavior as their main issues

Millimeter-Wave Band Pass Distributed Amplifier for Low-Cost Active Multi-Beam Antennas

Recently, there have been a great interest in the millimeter-wave (mmW) and terahertz (THz) bands due to the unique features they provide for various applications. For example, the mmW is not significantly affected by the atmospheric constraints and it can penetrate through clothing and other dielectric materials. Therefore, it is suitable for a vast range of imaging applications such as vision, safety, health, environmental studies, security and non-destructive testing. Millimeter-wave imaging systems have been conventionally used for high end applications implementing sophisticated and expensive technologies. Recent advancements in the silicon integrated and low loss material passive technologies have created a great opportunity to study the feasibility of low cost mmW imaging systems. However, there are several challenges to be addressed first. Examples are modeling of active and passive devices and their low performance, highly attenuated channel and poor signal to noise ratio in the mmW. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate and develop new technologies enabling cost-effective implementation of mmW and sub-mmW imaging systems. To achieve this goal, an integrated active Rotman lens architecture is proposed as an ultimate solution to combine the unique properties of a Rotman lens with the superiority of CMOS technology for fabrication of cost effective integrated mmW systems. However, due to the limited sensitivity of on-chip detectors in the mmW, a large number of high gain, wide-band and miniaturized mmW Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA) are required to implement the proposed integrated Rotman lens architecture. A unique solution presented in this thesis is the novel Band Pass Distributed Amplifier (BPDA) topology. In this new topology, by short circuiting the line terminations in a Conventional Distributed Amplifier (CDA), standing waves are created in its artificial transmission lines. Conventionally, standing waves are strongly avoided by carefully matching these lines to 50 Ω in order to prevent instability of the amplifier. This causes that a large portion of the signal be absorbed in these resistive terminations. In this thesis, it is shown that due to presence of highly lossy parasitics of CMOS transistor at the mmW the amplifier stability is inherently achieved. Moreover, by eliminating these lossy and noise terminations in the CDA, the amplifier gain is boosted and its noise figure is reduced. In addition, a considerable decrease in the number of elements enables low power realization of many amplifiers in a small chip area. Using the lumped element model of the transistor, the transfer function of a single stage BPDAs is derived and compared to its conventional counter part. A methodology to design a single stage BPDA to achieve all the design goals is presented. Using the presented design guidelines, amplifiers for different mmW frequencies have been designed, fabricated and tested. Using only 4 transistors, a 60 GHz amplifier is fabricated on a very small chip area of 0.105 mm2 by a low-cost 130 nm CMOS technology. A peak gain of 14.7 dB and a noise figure of 6 dB are measured for this fabricated amplifier. oreover, it is shown that by further circuit optimization, high gain amplification can be realized at frequencies above the cut-off frequency of the transistor. Simulations show 32 and 28 dB gain can be obtained by implementing only 6 transistors using this CMOS technology at 60 and 77 GHz. A 4-stage 85 GHz amplifier is also designed and fabricated and a measured gain of 10 dB at 82 GHz is achieved with a 3 dB bandwidth of 11 GHz from 80 to 91 GHz. A good agreement between the simulated and measured results verifies the accuracy of the design procedure. In addition, a multi-stage wide-band BPDA has been designed to show the ability of the proposed topology for design of wide band mmW amplifiers using the CMOS technology. Simulated gain of 20.5 dB with a considerable 3 dB bandwidth of 38 GHz from 30 to 68 GHz is achieved while the noise figure is less than 6 dB in the whole bandwidth. An amplifier figure of merit is defined in terms of gain, noise figure, chip area, band width and power consumption. The results are compared to those of the state of the art to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed circuit topology and presented design techniques. Finally, a Rotman lens is designed and optimized by choosing a very small Focal Lens Ratio (FL), and a high measured efficiency of greater than 30% is achieved while the lens dimensions are less than 6 mm. The lens is designed and implemented using a low cost Alumina substrate and conventional microstrip lines to ease its integration with the active parts of the system.1 yea