Development of a decision support framework for sustainable freight transport system evaluation using rough numbers

Among various operational decision-making tasks in a transportation system, sustainable performance evaluation has a very promising and direct influence on the community as well as environment. To prevent and reduce the negative impacts of a freight transportation system, a constant monitoring and performance measurement system has of paramount significance in the process of supply chain management. However, studies of complex transport evaluation systems are very scarce in the existing literature. This paper aims to resolve the problem of freight transport system’s performance measurement while developing a comprehensive framework with incorporation of sustainable elements and establishing a rough set-based decision-making approach. The applicability of the proposed framework is investigated to evaluate the performance of seven freight transportation companies in Spain. A decision support tool is designed by integrating rough number-based decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and multi-attributive border approximation area comparison (MABAC) methods for their performance appraisal. Sensitivity analysis and comparison with other popular methods are also performed to validate the efficacy of the proposed approach. It is established that rough number-based methodologies have advantages over fuzzy or interval-based models.     

The critical success factors of using social media for supply chain social sustainability in the freight logistics industry

This paper pioneers the investigation of the significant factors that influence corporate decisions on the use of social media for supply chain social sustainability, and it highlights a crucial research area that is currently understudied in supply chain management literature. A theoretical framework was developed in this study based upon the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) and Human–Organization–Technology (HOT) theories to obtain the significant critical success factors (CSFs) which influence the use of social media for supply chain social sustainability in freight logistics firms in Nigeria. The Best-Worst Method was applied to analyse and rank the CSFs using their determined relative importance level. The research findings indicate that customer satisfaction, sufficient security and privacy, affordability and competitive pressure are the highest ranked CSFs to achieve supply chain social sustainability using of social media. This research has important implications for policy makers and practitioners to gain perspectives on how to foster the use of social media in the freight logistics sector for supply chain social sustainability.     

Risk evaluation and mitigation of sustainable road freight transport operation: a case of trucking industry

Road freight transportation sustainability is gaining increasing importance due to an ever-increasing freight movement, globalisation and operational flexibility. The transport managers across the globe are finding it difficult to manage the increasing risks in its operation and implementation of risk-mitigation strategies under economical sustainability. However, very few literatures have examined the impact of sustainable risk management practices on road freight transportation. Our study addresses this important gap in the literature by proposing an integrated fuzzy failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) approach in the selection of risk-mitigation strategy on the trucking industry. Our findings direct to the managers that risk-mitigation strategies must be selected considering the criticality of risks along with the limited budget. In addition, we find that considering subjective evaluations of expert’s judgment and cost benefit justification gives a convincing outcome while calculating of risk-mitigation number in FMEA approach. Proposed approach provides supportive guidelines to the manager to improve the decision-making process.     

Re-framing the assessment of sustainable stormwater systems

Sustainability indicators have become popular as a tool for the assessment of sustainable development in different sectors in society, including the urban water sector. For urban water management several sets of indicators have been suggested, using frameworks based on sectors such as drinking water, wastewater and stormwater, or domains such as social, economic and environmental issues. Still, these approaches have some major drawbacks; they have a limited system definition, they are mainly focused on technical systems performance emphasizing a distance to target-perspective, and they focus upon different kinds of impact assessments. This paper presents a different framework for the assessment of sustainable stormwater systems in order to be used in planning and in comparisons between the different available options. It is a re-framing based on systems theory focusing on general systems characteristics instead of a case-specific target to reach. The advantage of this kind of indicator framework is that it relies on the perspective that sustainability cannot be measured on one quantitative scale, that the possibilities of formal comprehensive aggregation are limited, and that a system as such cannot be judged as sustainable without consideration of its surroundings. The indicators presented here can be altered and adjusted to case-specific conditions; they are not as important as the time-and-place-independent framework guiding the assessments.     

Emergy-based life cycle assessment (Em-LCA) for sustainability appraisal of infrastructure systems: a case study on paved roads

Civil infrastructure systems are critical assets that are subjected to damage, service-life deterioration, and increasing maintenance and rehabilitation cost. Effective infrastructure management and principles of sustainable development can help to find an optimal compromise between economic growth and environmental protection for all stakeholders. Colloquially, sustainability refers to meeting triple-bottom-line (TBL) performance objectives including environmental protection, economic prosperity, and social acceptability and equity as a result of short- and long-term policy decisions. In this paper, a comprehensive framework based on the integration of emergy synthesis and life cycle assessment (LCA) has been investigated for a public infrastructure system. The main purpose of the applied method, emergy-based LCA (Em-LCA), is to facilitate an informed decision making process for different asset management scenarios, by identifying and quantifying the attributes of TBL impacts over the life cycle of a civil infrastructure system. As a case study, Em-LCA framework has been applied to evaluate the sustainability of two different scenarios for a road construction project in interior British Columbia, Canada. The results indicate that Em-LCA offers a good understanding to address sustainability issues in infrastructure systems and provides quantitative and transparent results to facilitate informed decision making for asset management.     

A model for the evaluation of environmental impact indicators for a sustainable maritime transportation systems

Maritime shipping is considered the most efficient, low-cost means for transporting large quantities of freight over significant distances. However, this process also causes negative environmental and societal impacts. Therefore, environmental sustainability is a pressing issue for maritime shipping management, given the interest in addressing important issues that affect the safety, security, and air and water quality as part of the efficient movement of freight throughout the coasts and waterways and associated port facilities worldwide. In-depth studies of maritime transportation systems (MTS) can be used to identify key environmental impact indicators within the transportation system. This paper develops a tool for decision making in complex environments; this tool will quantify and rank preferred environmental impact indicators within a MTS. Such a model will help decision-makers to achieve the goals of improved environmental sustainability. The model will also provide environmental policy-makers in the shipping industry with an analytical tool that can evaluate tradeoffs within the system and identify possible alternatives to mitigate detrimental effects on the environment.     

An analytical technique to model and assess sustainable development index in manufacturing enterprises

Sustainable development (SD) will be the driving force to Twenty-first Century as automation was to the Twentieth Century and stream was to Nineteenth Century. There are two levels of sustainability: Macro-Level (country, cities) and Micro-Level (manufacturing enterprises and its town and regional areas). In this paper, Micro-Level of sustainability will be discussed. The major challenge of manufacturing enterprises is modelling and assessing the sustainable development performance. Introducing indexes for sustainable development assessment in manufacturing enterprises is important not only to enable them to quantitatively estimate SD, but also to determine the requirements of components for these enterprises to survive. The main objectives addressed in this paper is how to model the required components and how to introduce a new assessment framework for assessing sustainability from lowest levels, dimensions up to sustainable development level according to Micro-Level. The three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) are modelled, estimated and incorporated into a concept, the so-called ‘general sustainable development index’. Based on these concepts, the sustainable models will be analysed and presented through covering all aspects/issues of sustainability. The ultimate goal of this paper is considering the needs of manufacturing enterprise to be sustainable as well as to be globalised through introducing the concept of economic-social-environmental sustainable development and basic attitudes related to creating sustainable development value in engineering practices (economic), social (political) and environmental community. An industry-based case study is used to represent sustainability through aspects, performance metrics, indicators and pillars.     

Modelling and solution approaches for the interconnected city logistics

Achieving a sustainable delivery of goods in urban areas has become a challenging task for service providers and logistics managers. Under this context, the physical internet (PI) Manifesto offers through its emergent concept of interconnected city logistics (ICL) a solution toward a more sustainable transportation of PI containers within cities. In this article, we explore the operational urban transportation problem of PI containers under ICL considerations. For this variant, built on the multiplicity of urban logistics centres and their interconnection, a comprehensive modelling approach is proposed to include key features such as multiple time periods, multi-zone urban coverage, heterogeneous fleets, multi-trip and multi-hub pickups, and delivery constraints. In order to deal with solvability issues encountered with realistic instances of the problem, a heuristic solution approach is developed. This is done with the objective to come up with solutions offering the best trade-offs between economic and ecological attributes within a short computational time. To validate the approach, a realistic set of instances is built with data inspired from city freight movements in an urban area in France. Using these experiments, the solvability of the model and the performance of our heuristic approach are discussed and managerial insights are derived.     

Developing environmental and social performance: the role of suppliers’ sustainability and buyer–supplier trust

We explore how environmental and social performance of manufacturing firms can be improved as sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) develops and evolves within a firm from internal to external practices. Importantly, this study considers how key suppliers’ sustainability performance and buyer–supplier trust mediate and moderate such a development. A conceptual framework is developed which relies on resource-based theories and emerging empirical evidence. Then, partial least square methodology is applied on survey data from a sample of Italian manufacturing firms. Results show that manufacturing firms’ sustainability performance improves as SSCM develops; however, while internal practices have a direct impact on performance, the effect of external practices on a manufacturing firm’s sustainability performance is fully mediated by key suppliers’ sustainability performance. Yet, buyer–supplier trust significantly influences the scope of such gains. Since evidence suggests that manufacturing firms are still struggling with how to leverage supply chain innovation potential for sustainable development, this study provides a timely and valuable contribution.     

Do not blame the driver: A systems analysis of the causes of road freight crashes

Although many have advocated a systems approach in road transportation, this view has not meaningfully penetrated road safety research, practice or policy. In this study, a systems theory-based approach, Rasmussens’s (1997) risk management framework and associated Accimap technique, is applied to the analysis of road freight transportation crashes. Twenty-seven highway crash investigation reports were downloaded from the National Transport Safety Bureau website. Thematic analysis was used to identify the complex system of contributory factors, and relationships, identified within the reports. The Accimap technique was then used to represent the linkages and dependencies within and across system levels in the road freight transportation industry and to identify common factors and interactions across multiple crashes. The results demonstrate how a systems approach can increase knowledge in this safety critical domain, while the findings can be used to guide prevention efforts and the development of system-based investigation processes for the heavy vehicle industry. A research agenda for developing an investigation technique to better support the application of the Accimap technique by practitioners in road freight transportation industry is proposed.     

Measuring critical success factors of TQM implementation successfully – a systematic literature review

In times of globalisation and international trade, the concept of total quality management (TQM) as a strategy to enhance organisational performance is growing in importance. To exploit the benefits provided by TQM, organisations must manage the complex implementation process successfully. Therefore, organisations need to measure critical success factors (CSFs) when introducing TQM. However, previous research has developed a plethora of measurement instruments and researchers do not agree on certain factors or on one single measurement instrument. A systematic literature review is conducted to structure and clarify the scattered research field. The analysis of 145 studies reveals that CSFs can be classified into 11 distinct dimensions. The article proposes a three-level framework and a holistic set of measurement instruments to help researchers and managers measure each critical dimension in a timely and comprehensive manner. A focus group consisting of six quality managers validated these results. The study concludes with further findings and future research. Deficiencies of current measurements are presented and the article discusses the finding that human related factors are regarded as highly relevant but have remained low on many researchers’ and practitioners’ agendas. Hence, this article is a major contribution to structure the complex research field of measuring CSFs of TQM implementation.     

Antecedents of implementation success in closed-loop supply chain: an empirical investigation

Implementation of closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) has gained increased consideration in the last few years owing to an increase in environmental concerns, product returns and scarcity of natural resources. It aids in improving environmental, economic and social performances. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of CLSC critical success factors (CSFs) on performance outcomes. Firstly, CSFs and performance outcomes are extracted by conducting exploratory factor analysis using SPSS software. Then, the relationships between CLSC CSFs and performance outcomes are empirically tested by Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approach, using the data collected from 138 professionals working in remanufacturing, refurbishing and recycling operations in North American manufacturing organisations. Empirical analysis demonstrates that CSFs, ‘environmental concerns’, ‘sustainable production’ and ‘product design and collection’ have a significant positive effect on environmental performance. Results also validate the significant positive effect of CSFs, ‘demand and inventory management’ and ‘raw material prices’ on economic performance. In our knowledge, this is the first study that examines the impact of CLSC CSFs on performance outcomes. The results provide managers in manufacturing organisations with insights on most important CSFs that improve performance.     

Sustainability of smart rural mobility and tourism: A key performance indicators-based approach

The concept of smart mobility and tourism has evolved from a technology-driven approach to one that focuses on sustainable solutions to address economic, social, and environmental issues. The United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) provide a framework for measuring and tracking progress toward sustainability goals. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are a useful tool for measuring and tracking progress towards these goals, allowing for continuous monitoring and evaluation of progress, identification of areas for improvement, and directing targeted interventions. This research aims to develop an indicators-based framework to evaluate the sustainability of smart and sustainable mobility and tourism in rural areas. Rural areas have often been neglected, or at least less prioritized, in the sustainability development of the mobility sector. The study also seeks to identify the overlap of KPIs between rural tourism and mobility, and how improved green mobility services can enhance sustainable rural tourism. Smart mobility and tourism indicators have a strong mutual relationship in rural communities, driving economic development, improving the quality of life for residents and visitors, and creating more sustainable and livable communities. Smart mobility and tourism indicators also play a crucial role in supporting the UN SDGs by providing data and insights that can inform policy and decision-making. The results of this research conclude how the target and performance setting of projects on sustainable mobility and tourism in rural communities support each other, and how they support achieving SDGs.     

A review of sustainability metrics for the construction and operation of airport and roadway infrastructure

Sustainability has become increasingly important, however, relatively little attention has focused on metrics for the construction and operation of airport and roadway infrastructure. Most attention has focused on buildings, with high profile BREEAM and LEED projects taking center stage. Sustainability is also important in airport and roadway infrastructure projects, which have significant public impact but have a much lower profile than vertical construction when it comes to sustainability. Sustainable infrastructure is important in China and India where new infrastructure is under construction to meet growing and developing economies, and in the US, where infrastructure is in substandard condition and requires reconstruction. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and discussion of sustainability rating systems for airport and roadway infrastructure, including both construction and operation. Specific projects that highlight both proven and innovative sustainable practices are included to illustrate the application of these concepts. Finally, the relationship between sustainable transportation infrastructure and resilient transportation infrastructure is addressed since resiliency is of growing interest and there is overlap between these concepts.     

Towards a holistic sustainability index for measuring sustainability of manufacturing companies

Competition from low wage countries and the adoption of free market strategies have forced manufacturing firms to recognise and implement productivity enhancement strategies. This research defines a holistic sustainability index embedding several performance indices. The aim of this study was to establish a relevant framework that would assess the current situation of an industry through aggregation of environmental, social, economical as well as manufacturing variables. The proposition has its roots in trends and gaps in the sustainability literature of manufacturing industries and is based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. A list of indicators measuring the industry performance based on an AHP scoring methodology is proposed. The next stages include grouping industries according to common deficiencies across the four dimensions and establishing a cooperation framework. The food manufacturing industry is the main target in this study and will benefit from adopting sustainable long-term policies. By recognising the importance of social–environmental sustainability and taking the initiative to pursue it, profits will grow as a positive effect of such policies. The added value is twofold: (1) coupling all sustainability dimensions, often addressed in silos and (2) integrating manufacturing indicators which enable the analysis of interrelationships with sustainability.     

The outlook of building information modeling for sustainable development

As human needs evolve, information technologies and natural environments require a wider perspective of sustainable development, especially when examining the built environment that impacts the central of social-ecological systems. The objectives of the paper are (a) to review the status and development of building information modeling (BIM) in regards to the sustainable development in the built environment, and (b) to develop a future outlook framework that promotes BIM in sustainable development. Seven areas of sustainability were classified to analyze forty-four BIM guidelines and standards. This review examines the use of BIM in sustainable development, focusing primarily on certain areas of sustainability, such as project development, design, and construction. The developed framework describes the need for collaboration with the multiple disciplines for the future adoption and use of BIM for the sustainable development. It also considers the integration between “BIM and green assessment criteria”; and “BIM and renewable energy” to address the shortcomings of the standards and guidelines.     

The triple value model: a systems approach to sustainable solutions

The unintended environmental impacts of economic development threaten the continued availability of ecosystem services that are critical to human well-being. An integrated systems approach is needed to characterize sustainability problems and evaluate potential solutions. The Triple Value Model is an innovative framework that depicts the dynamic linkages and resource flows among industrial, societal, and environmental systems. The U.S. EPA has begun using this model to support transdisciplinary research projects that focus upon water resources, communities, and other broad sustainability themes. One recent application addresses opportunities for mitigation of nutrient impairment in the Narragansett Bay watershed, and has produced a policy simulation tool that enables evaluation of alternative sustainable solutions.     

Adoption of green supply chain management practices and their impact on performance: an exploratory study of Indian manufacturing firms

Research on green supply chain management (GSCM) or sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has attracted increased attention in recent years. Although GSCM/SSCM has been studied for developed and developing countries, there has been little information about the adoption of GSCM/SSCM practices in India. This article presents one of the earliest surveys on GSCM practices in Indian manufacturing firms. The items for the survey were developed based on the extant literature and feedback from corporates. Some of the major findings of the survey are as follows. We found that the state of adoption of GSCM practices by Indian firms was still in its infancy, the awareness of environmental sustainability was quite low among consumers, and the regulatory framework was also lacking in terms of promoting environmental sustainability. Results of data analysis showed that supplier collaboration for environmental sustainability had a positive impact on environmentally sustainable product design and logistics, which in turn was positively related to competitiveness and economic performance of the firm. We compared the results with the observations made by other researchers for developed and developing countries and provided managerial implications for the government and manufacturers as to what steps need to be taken to generate awareness towards environmental sustainability and facilitate the adoption of GSCM practices among Indian firms to a greater extent. We conclude the paper by indicating directions for future research on GSCM/SSCM.     

A supply chain sustainability innovation framework and evaluation methodology

Sustainability is hinged on innovation. The importance of sustainable innovation management in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) cannot be underestimated. Studies on SSCM have emphasised the need for sustainable innovation in achieving sustainability but none provide deep insights into sustainable innovation management in SSCM implementation. This lack of research depth stimulates this study to identify and investigate criteria for sustainable supply chain management innovation advancement. This paper proposes a sustainable innovation criteria framework for investigating sustainable supply chains in manufacturing companies. To exemplify the applicability and efficiency of the proposed framework, a sample of five Indian manufacturing companies are used to evaluate and prioritise the sustainable innovation management criteria, using the ‘best–worst’ multi-criteria decision-making (BW-MCDM) model. The criteria weights for all companies from BWM are aggregated, averaged and used for ranking. The respondent managers viewed ‘financial availability for innovation’ as the most important sustainable innovation sub-criteria. The results of the study will inform industrial managers, practitioners and decision-makers on which criteria to focus on during the implementation stage, to increase sustainability in manufacturing supply chains, and further advance corporate and supply chain sustainable development. The framework may also serve as a theoretical construct for a future empirical study on sustainable supply chain innovation in the manufacturing sector. This paper sets the stage for further research in sustainable innovation practices in the manufacturing sector and its supply chains.     

A process systems framework for rapid generation of life cycle inventories for pollution control and sustainability evaluation

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that aids in sustainable decision-making among product and process alternatives. When implementing LCA, the efficient and accurate modeling of chemical processes for life cycle inventory (LCI) generation is still challenging. Challenges include a lack of systematic design and simulation tools and approaches to develop chemical process models for obtaining and analyzing more realistic LCI results. In this contribution, a novel process systems framework is proposed for estimating LCI results when implementing pollution control technologies. This framework involves the development and incorporation of pollution control unit (PCU) modules into process simulation and generation of LCI data associated with the PCUs for use in a sustainability evaluation. Different pollution control modules are designed for rapid LCI estimation and applied to obtain emissions, utility consumption, material, and land footprint results related to waste streams of a process simulation. Then, the LCI results are analyzed with the objectives of minimizing the environmental impact and utility consumption. The proposed framework is illustrated via a biomass/coal gasification process for syngas production with the end goal of acetic acid manufacturing. Results associated with this case study show that the developed framework can provide guidelines for sustainable decision-making based on generated LCI results.