Role of multiple stakeholders and the critical success factor theory for the sustainable supplier selection process

The crops of vegetables and fruits help farmers in generating employment, and increasing their income. This sector also provides nutritional security to the people in the remote as well as urban areas. The objective of this paper is to identify and model the causal factors of the post-harvesting losses in the Indian context. Through exhaustive literature survey and expert opinions, fourteen critical factors were identified, and the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach was used to establish an interrelationship among the defined factors and to determine the key criteria having high driving power. The research work is carried out in two parts, in Part- I inputs were taken from the experts of academia, and in Part-II inputs from the field experts were considered. Results obtained from both the cases were compared and discussed. After analyzing the factors, in two parts it was found that three factors, namely lack of linkages between industry, Government, and institution (B8), lack of technology and advanced technique in food processing (B10), and lack of linkage between farmers and processing unit (B6), were found to be the most significant factors. The developed ISM model is intended to guide the supply chain members at various stages and levels to achieve sustainability in social, economic, & ecological dimensions and increase efficiency of the vegetable and fruit supply chain by eliminating the crucial factors causing post-harvesting losses.

Modeling causal factors of post-harvesting losses in vegetable and fruit supply chain: An Indian perspective

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to identify and model critical barriers to sustainable practices implementation in Indian oil and gas sectors by the interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach.




Design/methodology/approach




In this paper, through exhaustive literature survey and experts opinions, 14 critical barriers were identified, and the ISM tool, which is a multi-criteria decision-making approach, was used to establish interrelationship among the identified barriers and to determine the key barriers having high driving power.




Findings




After analyzing, it was found that six barriers, namely, market competition and uncertainty (B7), shortage of resources (B8), governmental rules and regulations (B1), knowledge and training (B2), financial implications (B3), and management commitment and leadership (B5) were found to have high influencing power. These barriers need the maximum attention and organizations need to overcome these hindrances for the effective implementation of sustainable practices. From the driving and dependence power diagram, two barriers, namely, management commitment and leadership (B5) and knowledge and training (B2) were found to have the highest driving power and two barriers, namely, lack of green initiatives (B9) and lack of corporate social responsibility (B14) were found to have highest dependence power.




Research limitations/implications




The presently developed model is based on the experts’ opinions, which may be biased, influencing the final output of the structural model. The research implications of the developed model are to help managers of the organization in understanding significance of the barriers, to prioritize or eliminate the same for the practical implementation of sustainability.




Originality/value




This is for the first time an attempt has been made to apply the ISM methodology to explore the interdependencies among the critical barriers for Indian oil and gas industries. This paper will guide the managers at various levels of an organization for effective implementation of the sustainable practices.

An ISM approach for the barrier analysis in implementing sustainable practices: The Indian oil and gas sector

Overall Equipment Efficiency Improvement Using Time Study in an Aerospace Industry

Introduction of robots into manual assembly lines to assist human workers or introduction of human into robot-based manufacturing attracts more and more attention in academy and industry. This interest stems from the insight that the integration of robots into manual assembly lines or vice versa may increase productivity by combining the abilities of machines with those of humans. To uphold productivity while respecting safety constraints is the target, and one of the challenges is how to productively distribute tasks among workers and robots. We studied one small-part assembly scenario, namely the assembly of a PLC Input/Output module by an ABB Dual Arm Concept Robot and a human worker. A method is proposed in this paper to optimize the operation/task assignment in the collaborative environment. An exemplary calculation shows that the cycle time can be shortened to increase the productivity. Finally, we show that the developed method can also be generalized and applied to different scenarios in mixed environments.

Optimized task distribution for industrial assembly in mixed human-robot environments - Case study on IO module assembly

This paper highlights a methodology developed for minimization of non-productive activities in an assembly line. The case study was conducted in tractor manufacturing unit having a dedicated assembly line for tractor engine. The study conducted using MOST (Maynard's Operation Sequence Technique) revealed the excessive movements of the operators that significantly added to the basic work content. The necessary changes were suggested in workplace layout to minimize the stress creating unproductive movements. The paper, it is believed, would be of great help to those working in the area of efficiency improvement in automobile industry.

Minimization of Engine Assembly Time by Elimination of Unproductive Activities through 'MOST'

The relationships among various items in a group can be deciphered using a data mining technique such as market basket analysis (MBA). It plays a significant role in the analytical systems in supermarkets to determine the arrangement of goods, design of sales promotion and discounts for different customer segments to improve customer satisfaction and thereby increase the sales. This case study involves the use of data gathered from a supermarket as a database. Measures such as support, confidence and lift are used to measure the association between each product. Based on these values, association rules are generated. This information can give supermarket managers an edge over their consumer counterpart to strategically promote products and improve sales. These results also provide valuable insights for cross-selling, up-selling and new product integration tasks.

Market Basket Analysis: Case Study of a Supermarket

Decision making plays a prominent role in the personal and professional life of every human being. Though some of the decision problems can be modelled easily using appropriate mathematical tools, systematic structural modelling is required for complex problems due to cognitive limit of human being. Structural modelling has acquired immense importance in modelling the mental models. Interpretive structural modelling (ISM) is a widely used structural modelling technique to establish hierarchical relationships within a set of elements based on the information obtained through group exercise or otherwise. Since its inception in 1974, ISM has been applied in numerous fields of study. However, like any other method necessitating human involvement and judgment to a significant level, ISM is also found suffering from certain drawbacks. These limitations surface to a greater degree when ISM is used involving a group of analysts who are familiar with the problem at hand. In the present paper, these limitations are highlighted along with their deleterious effects and also improvements are suggested to overcome these limitations. The applicability of these improvements is demonstrated with the help of a real life case study.

Modifications in interpretive structural modelling methodology to enhance its applicability in group decision process and power of discrimination

Quality, the buzzword of today’s globalised business world, has remained mysterious throughout the ages. Many researchers and practitioners viewed quality in different contexts and tried to exploit the underlying similarities. Since there is no consensus about the concept of the quality, there exists a lot of ambiguity regarding its ingredients. Abstruseness about these ingredients makes product quality management challenging. Present research deals with the identification of the quality ingredients for consumer durables and provides a methodology for the effective management of the consumer durable product quality. Interpretive structural modelling is used for this purpose.

A structured approach to prioritise critical-to-customer-satisfaction attributes of consumer durable products

Public transport system (PTS) is basically an infrastructure-based system consisting of huge fleet of buses, bus stops, fuel stations, maintenance workshops and bus depots. It has to rely on local government authority for construction and maintenance of roads. Being infrastructure-based system, PTS has to spend considerable time and energy in managing its facilities; providing less time to pay attention to the passengers and commuters. Due to this, PTS is often considered as a substandard system and is generally ignored by the citizens as a primary means of transportation. Wherever possible, the passengers prefer personal conveyance such as car, scooters or motorcycle in comparison with PTS. Ever-increasing number of personal vehicles has posed the challenges of managing the traffic congestions, environmental pollution, road accidents, driving stress, etc. On this note, there is a good scope to develop customer-centric model for PTS. The present research is a small step in this direction. Based on a passenger survey, various travelling criteria were identified and they were prioritized using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). This helped to propose customized services to the PTS for various classes of commuters.

Dhananjay A. Jolhe

Papers

Minimization of Engine Assembly Time by Elimination of Unproductive Activities through 'MOST'

Market Basket Analysis: Case Study of a Supermarket

Modifications in interpretive structural modelling methodology to enhance its applicability in group decision process and power of discrimination

A structured approach to prioritise critical-to-customer-satisfaction attributes of consumer durable products

Prioritizing the Travelling Criteria for Customer-Centric Business Model of Public Transport System