Facility layout planning (FLP) is one of the most discussed industrial topics that affects the performance of a manufacturing system. Conventional approaches have extensively focused on quantitative analyses with a primary focus on cost minimization. The recent technological development in computer-based simulation has provided powerful tools to better visualize and test different layouts in an ...

With the emergence and the widespread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe, there is an urgent need to effectively control the disease spread through mass vaccination. Several COVID-19 vaccines, e.g., Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna, etc., have been proven highly effective and have been distributed and administrated in many countries. These vaccines need to be produced in large quantities and ...

With the increase of the concern from the public for environmental pollution and waste of resources, the value recovery through reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling from the end-of-use (EOU) and end-of-life (EOL) products have become increasingly important. Reverse logistics is the process for capturing the remaining value from the EOU and EOL products and also for the proper disposal of the ...

Since 2013, the postal service provider in Norway: Posten has implemented a new strategic plan to close their large post offices across the country for improving the cost and operational efficiency. Instead, with the cooperation with large retailers, the local postal service is provided at the Posten sub-branches at some supermarkets. In this paper, an optimization problem for relocating the post ...

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 ...

The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) and digitalization in the Industry 5.0 era have opened up new opportunities for reverse logistics management to become digitalized, smarter, more sustainable, and simplified by incorporating disruptive technologies, e.g., Internet-of-things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), big data analysis, simulation, blockchain, etc. ...

The ongoing transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 brings promising prospects for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to bolster their competitiveness and sustainability. To fully capitalize the benefits brought by this transition, SMEs need to master the upskilling of their workforce that conforms to the rhythm of technological development. Creating an educational symbiosis which supports ...

Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) has seen significant growth in recent years, with sub-processes like Metal Material Extrusion (MEX) reaching industrial readiness. MEX, known for its cost-effectiveness and ease of integration, targets a distinct market segment compared to established high-end MAM processes. However, despite technological improvements, its overall integration into the industry as ...

Human history is full of epidemic outbreaks that occur on a regular basis. The past epidemics have resulted in millions of deaths and economic recessions. With the increasing frequency of human-induced epidemics in recent years, effective and efficient epidemic logistics management has become vital for successfully containing the spread of the disease as well as preventing societal disruption, ...

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 ...