1,720,984 research outputs found
Spatial layout of retail waste logistics – the case for localised treatment
No full textIn recent years, the spatial layout of waste logistics in the retail sector has presented significant changes, as a result of legislative mandates and environmental concerns raised by the increased use of packaging and hazardous materials by retailers. The enactment of new legislation has affected producers and distributors by placing them responsible for the collection, treatment and recovery of hazardous waste. This has had direct impacts on the type, number and location of treatment/disposal facilities and the design, planning and management of the associated logistics networks.This project investigates current trends in waste supply-chain configurations, using a substantial database of logistics operations compiled from 92 businesses in a shopping centre. The aim is to develop an origin-destination inventory in order to quantify the considerable transport and environmental footprint currently associated with retail waste logistics. Through selected case studies, this paper investigates the scope for coordinated collection strategies across supply-chains potentially using either local treatment facilities or an under-examination sub-urban consolidation centre intended to accommodate deliveries destined for the businesses in the shopping centr
Sustainable forward and reverse logistics practices across competing supply chains
No full textIn recent years, rapid changes in markets including outsourcing and globalisation of trade and production systems have led to a dramatic upsurge of interest in retail logistics with the aim to minimise operational and logistics costs, improve responsiveness and ameliorate customer services. The notable massification and commodification of production and consumption have created structural changes in traditional urban distribution systems with the establishment of peripheral transshipment and hub systems. In the light of sustainable development, green logistics and transparency on emissions have become a further requirement conforming to the times with a special focus being placed on the logistics of collecting, processing and recycling waste materials. This has increased the need to develop more efficient and effective city distribution plans and to establish optimised logistics models which will integrate the delivery of materials and the collection of waste and returns in order to reduce congestion, costs and emissions.To this end, this thesis aims to investigate opportunities to improve existing delivery mechanisms in a dedicated shopping centre in the UK in order to minimise freight activity and emissions, while optimising the reverse flow system for product returns and waste. Using a substantial database of logistics operations compiled for 92 businesses in Southampton’s shopping centre, the study aimed to understand the current opportunities to better utilise the existing back-load capacity and assess the potential logistical and environmental savings that could arise from the use of a peripheral consolidation centre for core goods and waste.Following statistical analysis on West Quay managers, logistics providers, waste contractors and head offices responses it was found that the fill rates of delivery vehicles were considerably low and therefore there was a great potential to increase back-load rates and consolidation among loads of different businesses. In examining the waste and return flows it was found that there were already centrally managed collections of general waste and some recyclables and therefore further opportunities to reduce the logistics and environmental impact would lie into the consolidation of forward traffic and the back-loading of specific waste streams such as hazardous materials. The examination however of specific case study examples exhibited the variety in the characteristics and properties of hazardous wastes and the role of material-specific legislation on the way different waste streams should be managed and disposed of which limited the collaboration opportunities among businesses producing different waste streams. Instead the study highlighted the considerable transport, environmental and economic gains that could be achieved by individual businesses through the use of regional waste contractors and recycling sites. With regard to the consolidation of forward flows, the study reviewed a number of existing consolidation schemes and their characteristics to identify potential strengths, weaknesses and risks that would impact on the operation of a consolidation centre in the outskirts of Southampton. Various scenarios regarding the operation of the consolidation scheme were examined considering different take up combinations among different vehicle modes and loads. The scenario analysis suggested that the establishment of the consolidation centre could offer great opportunities to reduce the overall urban freight activity, while mitigating the environmental impacts and cutting down the total costs to businesses
Urban freight consolidation centers: a case study in the uk retail sector
No full textIn recent years, traditional urban distribution systems have undergone major structural changes as a result of the increasing power of customers demanding greater variety of quality products at a low cost. This has increased the competition between businesses and at the same time more complicated and longer supply chains have emerged as a result of the globalization of many businesses in their search for low cost production locations and access to new skills. In response hub-and-spoke systems are increasingly used to deal with product flows from numerous origins and to many destinations. As a result, a growing number of studies examine the establishment of various forms of inter-modal transshipment centers to minimize the road use in city centers and support the frequent and rapid replenishment of goods at retail and catering outlets. To this end, this paper examines the establishment of a consolidation center servicing nearly 100 businesses that operate in an urban shopping mall in Southampton U.K. Through the review of numerous existing U.K. and international consolidation schemes and the examination of their operational characteristics, this paper aims to identify potential strengths, weaknesses and risks that would impact its operation. Various operational scenarios considering different business take-up combinations, vehicle delivery mixes, fill rates and back-load practices are examined to elucidate the potential transport and environmental effects of the consolidation scheme. To accurately quantify and verify these effects, a multi-stage analysis framework is developed including data collection, map routing, emissions assessment and scenarios building activities.<br/
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The logistics of managing hazardous waste: a case study analysis in the retail sector
No full textIn recent years there has been a marked increase in the use of hazardous materials in retail activities, resulting in heightened concern about hazardous wastes ending up in landfill. In response, environmental legislation has been enacted to increase re-use and recycling by placing responsibility on producers and distributors for the collection, treatment and recovery of hazardous waste. This has had direct impacts on the type, number and location of treatment/disposal facilities and the design, planning and management of the associated logistics networks. This study has investigated the legislative, contractual and operational practices governing the management of five hazardous waste streams emanating from retailers in a dedicated shopping centre. Using a substantial database of logistics operations compiled from 92 businesses, the study quantifies the considerable transport footprint currently associated with hazardous waste logistics and discusses the scope for coordinated collection strategies across supply chains potentially using local treatment facilities
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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