Revistas
Revista:
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
ISSN:
0959-6526
Año:
2021
Vol.:
279
Págs.:
123605
Current research on the circular economy (CE) reveals that, while the concept and its application have been extensively explored as shown in several case studies, the definition of tools and criteria measuring ¿circularity¿ of products, companies or regions are not well-defined. Therefore, indicators for measuring the different levels of a CE (micro, meso, and macro) should be a high priority for stakeholders (governments, companies, NGOs, civil society, etc.) in order to track progress on CE initiatives. However, the increasing interest on CE has caused a still open debate on the conceptualization of CE which hampers the creation of indicators based on a common conceptual framework. As a result, the absence of standard indicators to track progress on circularity is leading to contradiction and misunderstanding, which represents a challenge to the implementation of CE strategies. Thus, this study tries to address this gap by advancing a set of indicators adapted from existing indicators that guarantees simplicity and effectiveness, closely based on indicators proposed by government bodies. This research carried out an exploratory study to formulate the indicators requirements based on literature, refined through experts¿ opinion and then they were tested in Spanish companies located in the Basque Country region through an empirical work to assess this theory...
Revista:
JOURNAL OF MODELLING IN MANAGEMENT
ISSN:
1746-5664
Año:
2021
Vol.:
16
N°:
2
Págs.:
464 - 485
Purpose This study aims to reduce carbon emissions and costs in an automobile production plant by improving the operational management efficiency of a serial assembly line assisted by a feeding electric tow vehicle (ETV). Design/methodology/approach A multi-objective function is formulated to minimize the energy consumption of the ETV from which emissions and costs are measured. First, a mixed-integer linear programming model is used to solve the feeding problem for different sizes of the assembly line. Second, a bi-objective optimization (HBOO) model is used to simultaneously minimize the most eco-efficient objectives: the number of completed runs (tours) by the ETV along the assembly line, and the number of visits (stops) made by the ETV to deliver kits of components to workstations. Findings The most eco-efficient strategy is always the bi-objective optimal solution regardless of the size of the assembly line, whereas, for single objectives, the optimization strategy differs depending on the size of the assembly line. Research limitations/implications Instances of the problem are randomly generated to reproduce real conditions of a particular automotive factory according to a previous case study. The optimization procedure allows managers to assess real scenarios improving the assembly line eco-efficiency. These results promote the implementation of automated control of feeding processes in green manufacturing. Originality/value The HBOO-model assesses the assembly line performance with a view to reducing the environmental impact effectively and contributes to reducing the existent gap in the literature. The optimization results define key strategies for manufacturing industries eager to integrate battery-operated motors or to address inefficient traffic of automated transport to curb the carbon footprint.
Revista:
HEALTH CARE MANAG SC
ISSN:
1386-9620
Año:
2020
Vol.:
23
N°:
1
Págs.:
66 - 79
We study the efficiency of operations management in a hospital from the dynamics of the flow of patients. Our principal aim is to characterize strategic departments and seasonal patterns in a hospital from a complex networks approach. Process mining techniques are developed to track out-patients¿ pathways along different departments for the purpose of building weekly networks. In these networks, departments act as nodes with multiple out/in-going arrows connecting other departments. Strategic departments are classified into target and critical departments. On the one hand, target departments, which in this study belong to the oncology area, correspond to those affected by new management policies whose impact is to be assessed. On the other hand, critical departments correspond to the most active departments, the hubs of the networks. Using suitable networks parameters, strategic departments are shown to be highly efficient regardless of the season, which naturally translates into a high level of service offered to patients. In addition, our results show conformance with the new objectives concerning target departments. The methodology presented is shown to be successful in evaluating the efficiency of hospital services in order to enhance process performances, and moreover, it is suitable to be implemented in healthcare management systems at a greater scale and the service industry whenever the flow of clients or customers are involved.
Revista:
SUSTAINABILITY
ISSN:
2071-1050
Año:
2020
Vol.:
12
N°:
20
Págs.:
8423
Defining the circular economy (CE) as a material and energy model coincides with the definition given by multiple authors in which Industrial Symbiosis (IS) has been deemed as a foundational strategy to support the implementation of the CE. The consumption of secondary materials is essential to achieve a successful transformation from a linear economy to a CE focused on IS practices. In this scenario, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a major role as stakeholders in developing CE systems as it is not possible to create this model with each company working in isolation. However, there is a lack of empirical studies on the role played by relevant local stakeholders such as individual firms interacting in the development of a local CE system. This study aimed to study the challenges that SMEs face in developing a CE system. A case study is selected as a research strategy using a mixed-method approach: a sequential quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) data collection techniques were employed for this research. It was observed that an absence of inter-organisational collaboration and a misunderstanding of the roles played by SMEs may impede the implementation of a local CE system level.
Revista:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING COMPUTATIONS
ISSN:
1923-2926
Año:
2019
Vol.:
10
N°:
3
Págs.:
375 - 392
This paper assesses the effectiveness in scheduling independent jobs with earliness/tardiness costs and variable setup times applying the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). The OEE is a common metric for measuring the manufacturing productivity. We defined a mixed-integer linear programming formulation of the parallel machine scheduling problem with four different objective functions in order to compare different scheduling configurations. Real data, from a plastic container manufacturing company located in the Basque Country (Spain), were used to validate this approach. A sensitivity analysis was performed with different production capacities and earliness/tardiness costs in order to evaluate the trade-offs between economic performance (i.e., costs) and the partial rates of OEE (i.e., quality, performance and availability). The objective of this study is to propose a guideline to help management make decisions regarding the measurement and improvement of scheduling effectiveness through contemplating earliness, tardiness and variable setup times. (C) 2019 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada
Revista:
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
ISSN:
1088-1913
Año:
2018
Vol.:
27
N°:
3
Págs.:
135 - 146
Global warming is negatively affecting the environment of the planet. This situation has led to the development of international standards, such as the International Organisation for Standardization's DIS 14064-1 and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard, both of which measure corporate carbon footprints. These standards provide guidelines that can be applied to different organizational sectors. However, these are not sufficient for controlling the reduction of carbon emissions, because although they propose the use of indicators, they do not explicitly define them. In addition, in the case of emissions from wastewater treatment, they only suggest that the emissions associated with this process be considered. In the present study, an eight¿step, unified methodology based on these two international standards is proposed, focusing on direct emissions. Moreover, the step¿by¿step to data collection, calculations, and the required indicators to control the emissions are defined. The first scope considers direct emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the company. Methane generation measurement from wastewater treatment has been included in the methodology within Scope 1, as it is the second most polluting gas after carbon dioxide, both of which give rise to global warming. The proposed methodology was tested as a case study in one of the most important companies in the food sector in Colombia.
Revista:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION RESEARCH
ISSN:
0020-7543
Año:
2016
Vol.:
54
N°:
3
Págs.:
878 - 893
The Assembly Line Part Feeding Problem (ALPFP) is a complex combinatorial optimisation problem concerned with the delivery of the required parts to the assembly workstations in the right quantities at the right time. Solving the ALPFP includes simultaneously solving two sub-problems, namely tour scheduling and tow-train loading. In this article, we first define the problem and formulate it as a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming model. Then, we carry out a complexity analysis, proving the ALPFP to be NP-complete. A modified particle swarm optimisation (MPSO) algorithm incorporating mutation as part of the position updating scheme is subsequently proposed. The MPSO is capable of finding very good solutions with small time requirements. Computational results are reported, demonstrating the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed MPSO.
Revista:
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
ISSN:
1751-5254
Año:
2016
Vol.:
10
N°:
2
Págs.:
145 - 169
The U-shaped assembly line has received a considerable attention and has been widely used in industry in recent years due to the pressures of the just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing philosophy. However, balancing the U-shaped line is more difficult than balancing the traditional straight line. This study aims at balancing the U-shaped assembly line by introducing a novel heuristic which is based on the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm. The objectives to be optimised in this study are the number of workstations and balance efficiency. The performance of the proposed algorithm is examined by solving a set of standard test problems and a real case study. The results attained by the proposed algorithm were compared against the best known solution in the literature and it was found that the proposed algorithm is able to find good solutions in a reasonably short computational time.
Revista:
THE TQM JOURNAL
ISSN:
1754-2731
Año:
2016
Vol.:
28
N°:
6
Págs.:
798 - 813
Revista:
REVISTA GLOBALIZACION, COMPETITIVIDAD Y GOBERNABILIDAD
ISSN:
1988-7116
Año:
2016
Vol.:
10
N°:
1
Págs.:
66 - 81
This study focuses on how innovation capability can be developed within a company and how information
capability is integrated into the innovation process. Innovation, helped by elements that generate and share
knowledge, is generated through different practices. Thus, the present study develops an analysis of the role
of information capability in innovation through the assessment of the direct experiences of managers from
innovative companies located in Spain through grounded theory methodology. Our findings suggest that
strategy promotes the appropriate culture and values that are aligned with innovation in the company.
Strategy also establishes and acquires the resources, both internal and external, that an organization
needs in order to achieve competiveness through innovation. Moreover, the organizational culture and
resources support the information capability, and this information capability in turn supports the knowledge
management which supports and develops innovation. The contribution of this research is the proposal of
a framework that explains the elements that underlie innovation management in companies. The paper
contributes to a deeper understanding of how to use information capability and knowledge management as
potential sources of innovation.
Revista:
REVISTA GLOBALIZACION, COMPETITIVIDAD Y GOBERNABILIDAD
ISSN:
1988-7116
Año:
2016
Vol.:
10
N°:
1
Págs.:
66 - 81
Revista:
ACM JOURNAL OF DATA AND INFORMATION QUALITY
ISSN:
1936-1955
Año:
2015
Vol.:
6
N°:
2-3
Information is a strategic company resource, but there is no consensus in the literature regarding the set of dimensions to be considered when measuring the quality of the information. Most measures of information quality depend on user perception. Using multiple correlation analysis, we obtain a model that allows us to explain how information quality dimensions influence information consumers¿ overall feeling of being well informed. A set of dimensions that any measure of information quality should at least include is proposed. This exploratory study reports the results of a research survey among managers of companies committed to quality management within the framework of a Total Quality Management (TQM) model, which is an information-intensive management model.
Revista:
INFORMATION RESEARCH
ISSN:
1368-1613
Introduction. The aim of this study is to obtain deeper knowledge about the information practices and competences that evidence information capability in a company. The first objective of this study is to define a set of practices that can be implemented in order to develop information capability in a company and to explore the common underlying dimensions of these practices, that is, the information competences. The second is to explore which information competences can be expected to have a greater influence on the quality of the information managed. Method. Our target population for the study was companies committed to total quality management models because those models are information-intensive management systems. Data was collected with a questionnaire designed to elicit information regarding information practices. Forty-six companies that have applied the European framework for quality management excellence model were respondents to the survey. Analysis. Quantitative analyses with the support of the Minitab software package were carried out on the data. More specifically we performed an exploratory factor analysis and a multiple regression analysis to achieve the objectives of the study. Results. Main findings reveal eighteen information-related practices that can be pooled in 6 information competences that make up information capability. Key information competences which would most affect information quality are also found. Conclusion. The competences identified by this study are presented in other literature as being equally important to business performance; however just three of these competences have a significant influence on the quality of information managed.
Revista:
MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS IN ENGINEERING
ISSN:
1024-123X
Different aspects of assembly line optimization have been extensively studied. Part feeding at assembly lines, however, is quite an undeveloped area of research. This study focuses on the optimization of part feeding at mixed-model assembly lines with respect to the Just-In-Time principle motivated by a real situation encountered at one of the major automobile assembly plants in Spain. The study presents a mixed integer linear programming model and a novel simulated annealing algorithm-based heuristic to pave the way for the minimization of the number of tours as well as inventory level. In order to evaluate the performance of the algorithm proposed and validate the mathematical model, a set of generated test problems and two real-life instances are solved. The solutions found by both the mathematical model and proposed algorithm are compared in terms of minimizing the number of tours and inventory levels, as well as a performance measure called workload variation. The results show that although the exact mathematical model had computational difficulty solving the problems, the proposed algorithm provides good solutions in a short computational time.
Revista:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
ISSN:
0268-3768
Año:
2014
Vol.:
75
N°:
1
Págs.:
629 - 643
In recent years, part feeding at assembly lines has become a critical issue as the result of a high level of product customization. The assembly line part feeding problem is a complex problem in which a number of decisions should be made in order to select the right quantity of each part to be supplied at the right time under a set of constraints. This study aims to cope with the part feeding problem at assembly lines by introducing a new memetic ant colony optimization-based heuristic algorithm. Due to the novelty of the problem and in order to evaluate the performance of the proposed memetic algorithm, a mathematical formulation is also presented. Case data from an automobile manufacturer and a set of generated instances are used to test both the mathematical model and the proposed memetic algorithm. The results reveal that although it is computationally difficult to solve the problem using the exact mathematical model, the mimetic algorithm was able to find sufficiently good solutions in a short period of time.
Revista:
PROCEDIA: SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
ISSN:
1877-0428
Año:
2014
Vol.:
109
N°:
8
Págs.:
716 -721
Revista:
REVISTA GLOBALIZACION, COMPETITIVIDAD Y GOBERNABILIDAD
ISSN:
1988-7116
Año:
2014
Vol.:
8
N°:
3
Págs.:
33 - 44
El objetivo de este estudio es analizar si la gestión y el uso de la información es eficiente en empresas comprometidas con la gestión de la calidad y si depende del sistema de gestión de calidad adoptado por la organización. A partir de una revisión bibliográfica hemos establecido un conjunto de buenas prácticas que conducen a la gestión y el uso eficiente de la información en la organización. A continuación, usando un cuestionario, hemos recogido la percepción de los directivos sobre el nivel de adopción de las prácticas establecidas. Los directivos pertenecían a dos tipos de organizaciones: empresas que han adoptado la ISO9000 como sistema de gestión de calidad y empresas que han adoptado el modelo EFQM de calidad total. El estudio contribuye a lograr un conocimiento más profundo de la gestión y uso eficiente de la información como fuente de ventaja competitiva para la organización. El nivel de adopción de las prácticas que conducen a la gestión y uso eficiente de la información es elevado en las organizaciones comprometidas con la gestión de la calidad. Además se han detectado diferencias que dependen del sistema de calidad adoptado por la misma. Los datos se han obtenido de muestras pequeñas de empresas de diferentes regiones del mundo. Por otro lado, sólo se han tenido en cuenta dos sistemas de calidad
Revista:
REVISTA GLOBALIZACION, COMPETITIVIDAD Y GOBERNABILIDAD
ISSN:
1988-7116
Año:
2014
Vol.:
8
N°:
3
Págs.:
33 -34
Explore the development of the information capability in companies committed to quality management and explore whether the development of information capability depends on the quality management system adopted by the company. The efficient use and management of information can be considered a capability for a company. From a review of the literature we first define information capability related practices. Then, through a questionnaire, we captured the perception of managers in two types of companies regarding the existence of information practices. We contacted companies that used ISO 9000 as their quality management system and companies that were committed to the EFQM excellence model. The paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the information capability construct. According to the results, companies committed to quality management have developed the information capability. Also, this study shows the differences in its development in terms of the quality system adopted by the company.The data has been obtained from small samples of companies from different regions in the world. Also other quality management systems could be considered.
Revista:
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS EXCELLENCE
ISSN:
1478-3363
Año:
2013
Vol.:
24
N°:
5-6
Págs.:
539 - 560
Revista:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUALITY AND SERVICE SCIENCES
ISSN:
1756-669X
Año:
2012
Vol.:
4
N°:
1
Págs.:
51-60
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to see how quality management is carried out in hotels in the Basque Country, a region in the north of Spain with a long tradition in the tourist sector.
Design/methodology/approach: The objective of the study was to establish what approaches to quality management are utilised by hotels in the region. The data were collated from information gathered via a survey conducted by e-mail.
Findings : A large percentage of surveyed hotels implement a quality management system that has been designed in-house. A figure of note, is the fact that 79 per cent of participants claim their quality management system has been introduced successfully. The study also indicated that a significant number of hotels implement a policy of continuous improvement to the system, as hotels believe in the effectiveness of quality management systems and think that such systems have resulted in an increase in customers and profit.
Originality/value: This study offers an understanding on the philosophy of quality management adopted by hotels in the Basque Country. Moreover, it provides empirical evidence on the perceived results of the implementation of quality management in hotels.
Revista:
WORLD ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY. PROCEEDINGS
ISSN:
1307-6884
Año:
2011
Vol.:
59
Págs.:
413 - 421
Revista:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SAFETY, NUTRITION AND PUBLIC HEALTH
ISSN:
1479-3911
Año:
2011
Vol.:
4
N°:
1
Págs.:
63 - 82
The food supply chain has been recognised by the USA and the EU as a critical infrastructure, and it should be considered a target for possible terrorist attacks. In this paper, we present a methodological approach developed within the EU project SecuFood to evaluate the risk associated with this threat. The usefulness of the approach is related to the improvement of the analysis of food supply chain risk in terms of the potential threats, the vulnerability of the system, and the effectiveness of counter measures. The followed approach is based on identifying biological and chemical hazards, analysing those biological and chemical agents, and determining the risk level they present in the main phases of the food supply chain. We consider the feasibility of an attack (what we call likelihood), taking into account the accessibility and manageability of the contamination agents, the vulnerability of the supply chain for specific products, and the possible adverse consequences.
Revista:
ALIMENTARIA
ISSN:
0300-5755
Año:
2011
N°:
423
Págs.:
72 - 80
Revista:
TECNURA
ISSN:
0123-921X
Año:
2011
Vol.:
15
N°:
30
Págs.:
71 - 81
Las rupturas en la cadena de frío representan importantes pérdidas económicas en las empresas farmacéuticas y alimentarias. Muchos de los fallos en la cadena de frío se deben a un inadecuado ajuste en los parámetros de los equipos, como por ejemplo el ajuste de los parámetros para condiciones teóricas, sin su correspondiente verificación en condiciones normales de operación. Las empresas que transportan productos refrigerados deben ser capaces de ajustar los parámetros de los equipos de una manera fácil y rápida para adaptar su funcionamiento a los cambios en las condiciones ambientales. En este artículo se presentan los resultados de un estudio llevado a cabo con una empresa distribuidora de alimentos. El principal objetivo de estudio es verificar la efectividad de la metodología "Seis sigma" como herramienta metodológica para ajustar los parámetros de los equipos en la cadena de frío. El segundo objetivo es más específico y consiste en estudiar el impacto de: la reducción del volumen de almacenamiento en el camión, la temperatura inicial del área de almacenamiento en el camión y la frecuencia de descarche en el transporte de productos refrigerados
Revista:
INTANGIBLE CAPITAL
ISSN:
1697-9818
Año:
2010
Vol.:
6
N°:
2
Págs.:
202 - 235
Revista:
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART E-LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION REVIEW
ISSN:
1366-5545
Año:
2010
Vol.:
46
N°:
3
Págs.:
367 - 383
One of the most important challenges that confronts less-than-truckload carriers serving many-to-many distribution networks consists of determining how to consolidate flows of small shipments. The objective is to determine a route for each origin-destination pair that minimizes the cost while still guaranteeing a certain level of service. This research studies different aspects of the problem and provides a metaheuristic algorithm (based on Ant Colony Optimization techniques) capable of solving real-life problems in a reasonable computational time. The viability of the approach has been tested with a real case in Spain and encouraging results have been obtained
Revista:
ALIMENTARIA
ISSN:
0300-5755
Año:
2010
N°:
411
Págs.:
80 - 81
Revista:
JOURNAL OF APPLIED STATISTICS
ISSN:
0266-4763
Año:
2010
Vol.:
37
N°:
12
Págs.:
1961-1977
An extensive literature review was carried out to detect why design of experiments (DoE) is not widely used among engineers in Europe. Once 16 main barriers were identified, a survey was carried out to obtain first-hand information about the significance of each. We obtained 101 responses from academics, consultants and practitioners interested in DoE. A statistical analysis of the survey is introduced, including: (a) a ranking of the barriers, (b) grouping of barriers using factorial analysis, (c) differences between characteristics of respondents. This exploratory analysis showed that the main barriers that hinder the widespread use of DoE are low managerial commitment and engineers' general weakness in statistics. Once the barriers were classified, the most important resultant group was that related to business barriers.