This paper presents a decision-support model aiming, primarily, at maximizing the productivity of surface coal mining activities through operational planning and management. The model is formulated based upon mixed integer programming, and it determines the optimal production plan of the shovels and allocation plan of the haul trucks in order to minimize operational cost, fuel consumption as well ...

Green supply chain management has been focused by both academicians and practitioners in recent years due to the increased public awareness on environmental problems and sustainable development. In this paper, a decision aided model for green supply chain network design and optimization is proposed to justify both economic and environmental performance in an optimal fashion. The model is formulated ...

—With the growing concern of climate change and global warming, the reduction on carbon emissions of supply chain activities have been increasingly focused by both academics and corporates in the last two decades. The increased public awareness on sustainability and stricter environmental policies together enforce the companies to rethink their practices in supply chain design and operations in an ...

The study of the network design problems related to reverse supply chain and reverse logistics is of great interest for both academicians and practitioners due to its important role for a sustainable society. However, reverse logistics network design is a complex decision-making problem that involves several interactive factors and faces many uncertainties. Thus, in order to improve the reverse ...

Nowadays, increasing number of companies incorporates the reverse logistics decisions into their supply chain design in order to cope with the enforced international and national legislation and improve the resource efficiency and public image. This paper investigates a new stochastic optimization model for designing a single-period multiproduct multi-level reverse logistics system under government ...

TARGET is a collaborative project involving a partnership of universities and institutes of higher education in UK, Ireland, Norway, Finland and Sweden. The project will develop tools to enhance capacity in regional manufacturing companies to adapt and embrace new technologies and innovation. This is to be done in collaboration with small/medium sized manufacturing engineering companies - developing, ...

Manufacturing companies in Northern Peripheral and Arctic region are predominately small and medium-sized and face considerable challenges like geographical isolation and a lack of benefits offered by industrial clusters. For the ultimate goal of enhancing their competitiveness in a global market, it is imperative for companies to innovate or adopt innovations in order to quickly response to changes ...

The study of the network design problems related to reverse supply chain and reverse logistics is of great interest for both academicians and practitioners due to its important role for a sustainable society. However, reverse logistics network design is a complex decision-making problem that involves several interactive factors and faces many uncertainties. Thus, in order to improve the reverse ...

In order to survive in this competitive and ever changing market, manufacturers have to improve and enhance the competitiveness, flexibility, responsiveness and sustainability with the application of the cutting-edge technologies and innovative management methods. New concepts, i.e., Intelligent manufacturing, flexible manufacturing, agile manufacturing, network manufacturing, green manufacturing ...

Regional research project are, as is also regional industry, highly need-based. That is, understanding the stakeholders’ (or customers’) real challenges and related needs is important. This study is based on interviews with SMEs in the Northern parts of Finland, Norway and Sweden, but also on available innovation agendas and strategies for each country. The differences among the companies in those ...