Cooperation in Supply Chain Networks: Motives, Outcomes, and Barriers

This paper analyzes the phenomenon of cooperation in modern supply chains in the light of Game Theory. We first provide a discussion on the meaning of cooperation in supply chains, its motives, outcomes and barriers. We then highlighted the applicability of Cooperative Game Theory as methodology for analyzing cooperation in supply chains. Second, we review recent studies that analyze the cooperation in supply chains by means of cooperative game theory. A special emphasis will be given inventory centralizations games. Finally, gaps in the literature are identified to clarify and to suggest future research opportunities

A Goal Programming Model for Fairly Scheduling Medicine Residents

In this study we develop a goal programming model for scheduling the shifts of the residents in a Qatari hospital. The residents are assigned for on-call shifts during their training (called first resident), as well as working during the regular day shifts (called helper). Residents schedules must address several considerations like work rules and hospital coverage requirements of two different departments: Oncology and Hematology as well as fairness of the workload distribution. The problem has been formulated using goal programming and solved using CPLEX. We were able to solve problems of realistic size to optimality in a few seconds

Combinatorial-Based Auction For The Transportation Procurement: An Optimization-Oriented Review

This paper conducts a literature review on freight transport service procurements (FTSP) and explores the application of combinatorial auctions (CAs) mechanism and the mathematical modeling approach of the associated problems. It provides an overview of modeling the problems and their solution strategies. The results demonstrate that there has been limited scholarly attention to sustainable issues, risk mitigation and the stochastic nature of parameters. Finally, several promising future directions for FTSP research have been proposed, including FTSP for green orientation in the context of carbon reduction, shipper’s reputation, carrier collaboration for bid generation, etc

Solving the winner determination problem with discounted bids in transportation auctions

Continuing advances in modern technologies have transformed the procedure of transportation procurement through auctions in supply chain management (SCM). This study examines the online combinatorial auction (CA), which serves customers placed at the nodes of a transportation network, with particular consideration given to carbon emissions. The CA mechanism allows early shipments of the carriers to improve their load consolidation and reduce their repositioning trips. Sustainability and carbon emissions are considered by prioritizing the carrier’s carbon reduction performances. Two models are examined under the carbon emission regulations (Carbon tax and Cap-and-offset) to choose the winners in the CA. Our aim is to minimize the cost of transportation procurement and reduce carbon emissions by incorporating the green reputation-based winner determination problem within the procurement model. Computational experiments reveal the positive impact of prioritization and discounted offers in reducing both transportation costs and the number of empty trips. Indeed, our results show the introduction of the discounted bids allows a reduction of about 2% in the transportation cost for the shipper and 24% of empty movements, on average, for the carriers

Data of the design of solar assisted district cooling systems

The collected datasets are relevant and related to Optimization of Design and Operation of Solar Assisted District Cooling Systems [1] paper. Part of the data is collected on the main and common components of the system. That includes solar collectors unit price ($/m2), type, and efficiency; absorption chiller capacity (kW), type, initial cost ($), and COP; the hot/chilled water thermal energy storage tank type, initial cost ($) and capacity (kWh); and auxiliary boiler initial cost ($), capacity (kW), type and efficiency. The other part of the data is collected on hourly cooling demand over the year for the state of Qatar (kW), hourly global solar irradiance over the year for the state of Qatar (W/m2) and variable cost of producing and storing chilled and hot water ($/kWh,$/kW). The data are collected from different resources such as government websites, commercial websites, government sectors, journals and real-life case studies. The value of this data comes from that most of the data required to conduct such research in this area are available in one resource. Also, some of the data such as the annual hourly cooling demand and global solar radiation are not available online. Moreover, the collected data are already filtered and the units are consistent and ready to be used. Finally, the data considered to be crucial and the core of such research are available in this paper. 2020 The AuthorsThis publication was made possible by the NPRP award [ NPRP 10-0129-170280 ] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the author[s].Scopu

Optimal design and operation of conventional, solar electric, and solar thermal district cooling systems

This research investigates the integration of solar energy with traditional cooling technologies using solar electric cooling systems. A holistic optimization process is introduced to enable the cost-effective design of such technology. Two mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) models are developed, one for a baseline conventional cooling system and the other for a solar electric cooling system. The MILP models determine the optimal system design and the hourly optimal quantities of electricity and cold water that should be produced and stored while satisfying the cooling demand. The models are tested and analyzed using real-world data, and multiple sensitivity analyses are conducted. Finally, an economic comparison of solar thermal and solar electric cooling systems against a baseline conventional cooling system is performed to determine the most cost-effective system. The findings indicate that the photovoltaic panels used in solar electric cooling cover 42% of the chiller demand for electricity. Moreover, the solar electric cooling system is found to be the most cost-effective, achieving ~5.5% and 55% cost savings compared with conventional and solar thermal cooling systems, respectively. A sensitivity analysis shows that the efficiency of photovoltaic panels has the greatest impact on the annual cost of solar electric cooling systems-their annual cost only increases by 10% when the price of electricity increases by 20%, making solar electric the most economical system. 2021 The Authors. Energy Science & Engineering published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library. This publication was made possible by the NPRP award [NPRP 10-0129-170280] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu

Optimization of design and operation of solar assisted district cooling systems

The demand for air conditioning and cooling services is rapidly increasing worldwide. As cooling demand has high coincidence to occur in countries with high solar irradiation, the combination of solar thermal energy and cooling appears to be an exciting alternative to replace traditional electricity-driven cooling systems where electricity is generated from fossil fuels. Nevertheless, solar assisted cooling is not yet widely deployed because of many barriers amongst them the presumed high investment cost of solar cooling technology. This research aims at making this technology more affordable by providing a holistic optimization design of solar assisted district cooling systems. Toward this end, a mixed-integer linear programming model (MILP) is proposed that captures the key design and operation variables of a solar-assisted district cooling system. Hence, the proposed model aims at finding the optimal system design (i.e., the system's main components along with their optimal capacities) together with the optimal hourly policies for production and storage of hot and cold water while satisfying the expected cooling demand. The model was validated using collected real data of different case studies. The optimal system design of some cases showed that solar collectors covered about 46% of the chiller's heat demand. Moreover, the existence of the cold-water TES in the system depends on the chosen chiller capacity and the cooling demand of the case study. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to study the model robustness. The sensitivity analysis shows that the chiller COP had the highest impact on the annual total system cost, where increasing COP by 20% of its initial value, will decrease the annual total system cost by 4.4%. 2020 The AuthorsThis publication was made possible by the NPRP award [NPRP 10-0129-170280] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors.Scopu

Innovative solutions in last mile delivery: concepts, practices, challenges, and future directions

In the last decade, e-commerce has been growing consistently. Fostered by the covid pandemic, online retail has grown exponentially, particularly in industries including food, clothing, groceries and many others. This growth in online retailing activities has raised critical logistic challenges, especially in the last leg of the distribution, commonly referred to as the Last Mile. For instance, traditional truck-based home delivery has reached its limit within metropolitan areas and can no longer be an effective delivery method. Driven by technological progress, several other logistic solutions have been deployed as innovative alternatives to deliver parcels. This includes delivery by drones, smart parcel stations, robots, and crowdsourcing, among others. In this setting, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of the latest trends in last-mile delivery solutions from both industry and academic perspectives (see Figure 1 for overview). We use a content analysis literature review to analyse over 80 relevant publications, derive the necessary features of the latest innovation in the last mile delivery, and point out their different maturity levels and the related theoretical and operational challenges

Solar Technology and District Cooling System in a Hot Climate Regions: Optimal Configuration and Technology Selection

With the increasing need for cooling and the concerns for pollution due to fossil fuel-based energy use, renewable energy is considered an add-on to cooling technologies. The climatic condition in the Middle East, analyzed in this paper, provides the potential to integrate solar energy with the cooling system. Due to the availability of various solar energy and cooling technologies, multiple configurations of solar-cooling systems can be considered to satisfy the cooling demand. The research presented in this paper aims to assess and compare these configurations by considering the energy prices and the installation area. The proposed model is formulated in Mixed-Integer Linear Programming and optimizes the holistic system design and operation. The economic, renewable energy use, and environmental performances of the optimal solution for each configuration are analyzed and compared to the base grid-DCS configuration. Results show that the electricity tariff and the available installation area impact the economic competitiveness of the solar energy integration. When electricity tariff is subsided (low), the conventional grid-based DCS is the most competitive. The PV-DCS configuration is economically competitive among the solar assisted cooling systems, and it can contribute to reducing the environmental impact by 58.3%. The PVT-DCS configuration has the lowest operation cost and the highest environmental performance by decreasing the global warming potential by 89.5%. The T-DCS configuration becomes economically competitive only at high electricity tariffs. 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: This publication was made possible by the [NPRP10-0129-170280] from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library.Scopus2-s2.0-8512847810

A bibliometric analysis and visualization of decision support systems for healthcare referral strategies

Background: The referral process is an important research focus because of the potential consequences of delays, especially for patients with serious medical conditions that need immediate care, such as those with metastatic cancer. Thus, a systematic literature review of recent and influential manuscripts is critical to understanding the current methods and future directions in order to improve the referral process. Methods: A hybrid bibliometric-structured review was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Searches were conducted of three databases, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, in addition to the references from the eligible papers. The papers were considered to be eligible if they were relevant English articles or reviews that were published from January 2010 to June 2021. The searches were conducted using three groups of keywords, and bibliometric analysis was performed, followed by content analysis. Results: A total of 163 papers that were published in impactful journals between January 2010 and June 2021 were selected. These papers were then reviewed, analyzed, and categorized as follows: descriptive analysis (n = 77), cause and effect (n = 12), interventions (n = 50), and quality management (n = 24). Six future research directions were identified. Conclusions: Minimal attention was given to the study of the primary referral of blood cancer cases versus those with solid cancer types, which is a gap that future studies should address. More research is needed in order to optimize the referral process, specifically for suspected hematological cancer patients