Research

22 pages, 7643 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Measuring Spatial Accessibility to Pick-Up Service Considering Differentiated Supply and Demand: A Case in Hangzhou, China

by Liyun Lin, Haoying Han, Wanglin Yan, Shun Nakayama and Xianfan Shu

Sustainability 2019, 11(12), 3448; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123448 - 23 Jun 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4029

Abstract

In recent years, customer pick-up at collection and delivery points has become a popular alternative to traditional home delivery, which is under great pressure. However, current service of pick-up facilities has seldom been geographically evaluated despite its general uneven distribution and diverse needs. [...] Read more.

In recent years, customer pick-up at collection and delivery points has become a popular alternative to traditional home delivery, which is under great pressure. However, current service of pick-up facilities has seldom been geographically evaluated despite its general uneven distribution and diverse needs. In this paper, in order to interpret the differentiation in customers’ service demands toward reception alternatives and in facilities’ service excludability in different built environments, a two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method is improved to measure customers’ spatial accessibility to pick-up facilities, providing a methodology to evaluate the match relation between the differentiated supply and demand of pick-up service. A case study of widespread automated parcel stations (APSs) is conducted in Hangzhou, China and correlative factors to residents’ accessibility are discussed. From the results, residents’ accessibility to pick-up service shows significant spatial unevenness and social inequity in the study area, which is found to correlate most to residences’ maintenance management. As well-managed, gated communities generally hold effective access to exclusive services, most open communities and self-built, single houses are in need of improvement due to inadequate service stemming from a high aging rate, lack of property management, and low service availability of nonexclusive facilities in open areas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2488 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Stochastic Differential Game in the Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Third-Party Collecting and Fairness Concerns

by Jianmin Xiao and Zongsheng Huang

Sustainability 2019, 11(8), 2241; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082241 - 14 Apr 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2780

Abstract

This paper investigates the optimal return control problem in a closed-loop supply chain consisted of one manufacturer, one retailer, and one third-party collector, in the presence of stochastic return disturbance and fairness concern of followers. We formulate the stochastic differential game-theoretic models and [...] Read more.

This paper investigates the optimal return control problem in a closed-loop supply chain consisted of one manufacturer, one retailer, and one third-party collector, in the presence of stochastic return disturbance and fairness concern of followers. We formulate the stochastic differential game-theoretic models and resolve the feedback Stackelberg equilibriums without and with fairness concern. We also derive the evolutionary paths of the stochastic return rate and the value functions of the supply chain members under the optimal control strategies. We find that the feedback equilibrium exists only under a specific condition, and the expectation and variance of the return rate both approach the stable state for a specific closed-loop supply chain system. We further discussed the impact of fairness concerns on the supply chain system. The manufacturer would shift profit to the retailer by lowering the wholesale price, and the stable expected return rate will be lower in the supply chain with fairness concerns, as the third party will have less incentive to collect used products, considering unfairness. The manufacturer should set a higher transfer subsidy to incentivize the third party to collect when the third party is concerned with fairness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 1797 KiB

Open AccessArticle

On the Environmental and Social Sustainability of Technological Innovations in Urban Bus Transport: The EU Case

by Cristina López, Rocío Ruíz-Benítez and Carmen Vargas-Machuca

Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1413; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11051413 - 07 Mar 2019

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5092

Abstract

Logistics in urban areas are currently suffering a radical transformation due to increasing population concentration and the massive use of cars as the preferred transport mode. These issues have resulted in higher pollution levels in urban environments and traffic congestion, impacting the world [...] Read more.

Logistics in urban areas are currently suffering a radical transformation due to increasing population concentration and the massive use of cars as the preferred transport mode. These issues have resulted in higher pollution levels in urban environments and traffic congestion, impacting the world globally. Facilitating the use of sustainable transport modes is widely regarded as a necessity to cope with these adverse effects on citizens’ life quality. Hence, some regions, such as the European Union, are encouraging bus transport firms to make their business models more environmentally and socially sustainable. The aim of this research is thus to explore how technological innovations adopted by urban bus companies can improve cities’ sustainability. With this in mind, a combined Importance Performance Analysis (IPA)–Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was applied. In this way, their environmental and social sustainability effects were separately represented through hierarchical structures. Subsequently, the importance and performance ratings of technological innovations in each sustainability dimension were estimated, and thus two IPA grids were generated. These grids support managers in the establishment of more effective action plans to improve logistics sustainability in cities. The findings also provide guidance to governments on the technological innovations that should be promoted in future urban mobility plans. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 1696 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Two-Way Logistics Operation with Uncertain Recycling Quality in Government Multi-Policy Environment

by Yue Tan and Chunxiang Guo

Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 882; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030882 - 08 Feb 2019

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 3661

Abstract

With the emphasis on environmental protection issues, countries have introduced a number of circular economy-related policies aimed at guiding enterprises to green development and green innovation. At the same time, they are encouraged to strengthen the combination of forward logistics and reverse logistics, [...] Read more.

With the emphasis on environmental protection issues, countries have introduced a number of circular economy-related policies aimed at guiding enterprises to green development and green innovation. At the same time, they are encouraged to strengthen the combination of forward logistics and reverse logistics, providing an effective way to improve resource shortages and reduce environmental pollution. However, the quality of recycled products in reverse logistics is often uncertain, which not only increases the risk of production decisions of remanufacturers, but also affects the sales of new products in the forward logistics to a certain extent. Based on the uncertainty of recycling quality of waste products and the controllability of remanufacturing technology level, this paper studies the impact of various regulatory environments on the operation of a two-way logistics system. We solve the decision model of the system through game theory. The results show that the government’s policy can improve product recycling quality and remanufacturing technology. However, recycling rewards and punishments, remanufacturing technology subsidies, and recycling payment factors need to be within a certain range to ensure the effectiveness of the trading market. When the recycling regulation has been implemented, it is beneficial for manufacturers to choose to improve their remanufacturing technology level. This means that the combined effect of multiple policies is more conducive to the operation of a two-way logistics system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 770 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigating the Impact Factors of the Logistics Service Supply Chain for Sustainable Performance: Focused on Integrators

by Yingjie Ju, Yue Wang, Ye Cheng and Jun Jia

Sustainability 2019, 11(2), 538; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020538 - 21 Jan 2019

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6147

Abstract

The overall scale of China’s logistics industry is growing rapidly, and the environment and conditions for its development are constantly improving, which lays a solid foundation for further accelerating the development of the logistics industry. However, logistics services are characterized by subordination, immediacy, [...] Read more.

The overall scale of China’s logistics industry is growing rapidly, and the environment and conditions for its development are constantly improving, which lays a solid foundation for further accelerating the development of the logistics industry. However, logistics services are characterized by subordination, immediacy, demand volatility, and substitutability. Low-level integrated management of logistics services seriously hinders the development of the logistics service supply chain (LSSC) for sustainable performance. Many studies have been limited to the performance evaluation of LSSCs, and the factors affecting LSSC performance have generally been ignored. This study focuses on integrated LSSCs by using an integrator’s opportunistic behavior as the entry point of research and investigates the factors that affect the sustainability of LSSC performance. On the basis of relevant theories, a model for a hypothesis is constructed and eight hypotheses are subsequently proposed. Moreover, 271 survey responses from functional logistics service providers (research object) are utilized to develop a structural equation model for empirical research. Findings show that integrators with opportunistic behavior inhibit the information-sharing behavior of supply chain members. Consequently, the integration capability and agility of LSSCs are reduced, which affects the overall performance of LSSCs. The findings of this study can provide management insights into the behaviors of supply chain members and governments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

25 pages, 3850 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Distribution Organization Based on the Supply–Demand Coordination in Large Chinese Cities

by Sijing Liu, Jiuping Xu, Xiaoyuan Shi, Guoqi Li and Dinglong Liu

Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3042; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093042 - 27 Aug 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3934

Abstract

In large Chinese cities, inefficient logistics organization, a rapid increase in freight demand, and the spreading of city logistics space have jointly contributed to the urban problems related to goods movement, such as spatial conflicts, traffic congestion, and air pollution. To address these [...] Read more.

In large Chinese cities, inefficient logistics organization, a rapid increase in freight demand, and the spreading of city logistics space have jointly contributed to the urban problems related to goods movement, such as spatial conflicts, traffic congestion, and air pollution. To address these problems and improve urban sustainability, we proposed a new spatial organization model of supply–demand coordination. We used the data from the Third China Economic Census and online point-of-interest (POI) for China’s four direct-controlled municipalities and 13 sub-provincial cities. We found that: (1) the freight supply and demand in China’s large cities are both spatially decentralized and clustered. However, there is a significant spatial mismatch between freight supply and demand in most of the studied cities. (2) The 17 studied cities can be divided into three types—highly unbalanced, unbalanced, and balanced—in light of the spatial mismatch between freight supply and demand. (3) The capacities of road surface and logistics nodes spatially differ. The supply capacity of the road systems in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou can only accommodate 18.4%, 35.5%, and 32.2% of the demand, respectively, while the supply capacity of the logistics nodes is more than twice that of the actual demand in these cities. Based on the findings, this paper proposed a differentiated method of demand management in different areas of the cities. To achieve the goals of low-carbon and sustainable development in logistics distribution, policy makers may consider planning urban freight activities along metro lines and intercity rail lines. Thus, this paper will provide a new perspective for understanding the urban freight distribution and management in large Chinese cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 1643 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Green Supplier Selection Based on Consensus Process and Integrating Prioritized Operator and Choquet Integral

by Jianghong Zhu and Yanlai Li

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2744; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082744 - 03 Aug 2018

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3118

Abstract

Green supplier selection, as a core part of green supply chain management, has attracted the attention of various researchers in the past decade. Plenty of green supplier selection methods based on multi-criteria group decision-making have been presented in previous literature. However, these approaches [...] Read more.

Green supplier selection, as a core part of green supply chain management, has attracted the attention of various researchers in the past decade. Plenty of green supplier selection methods based on multi-criteria group decision-making have been presented in previous literature. However, these approaches ignore the consensus level between the experts, and they rarely consider the priority level among the experts and the interdependent relationship between criteria. To handle these issues, an integrated framework of green supplier selection under the hesitant fuzzy linguistic (HFL) environment was established. In this framework, the preference information expressed by HFL was transformed into the hesitant 2-tuple linguistic (H2TL). Then, the consensus process was introduced into the green supplier selection process to increase the consensus level between experts. The H2TL prioritized operator and Choquet integral operator were respectively applied to construct the group decision matrix and derive the ranking order of green suppliers. Finally, we used a numerical example to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the presented framework and implemented a comparative analysis to highlight the features of the presented method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 1306 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synergy Degree Evaluation Based on Synergetics for Sustainable Logistics Enterprises

by Juan Huang, Yuhong Shuai, Qi Liu, Hang Zhou and Zhenggang He

Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2187; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072187 - 27 Jun 2018

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3802

Abstract

Today, logistics activities have become a major source of pollution that affects the environment and green logistics is becoming a hot topic. A logistics company’s operating strategy determines the direction of logistics activities and impact degree of logistics activities on the environment. And [...] Read more.

Today, logistics activities have become a major source of pollution that affects the environment and green logistics is becoming a hot topic. A logistics company’s operating strategy determines the direction of logistics activities and impact degree of logistics activities on the environment. And in logistics enterprises, there is a direct relationship between efficiency and collaboration as collaboration can reduce logistics costs and the negative impact of the bullwhip effect and increase the service level. Synergy degree evaluation, therefore, is crucial to analyze collaboration, identify vulnerabilities, promote development and is also a key step in building a green logistics system. This paper employs Synergetics to comprehensively evaluate the synergy degree in sustainable logistics enterprises. First, Synergetics is introduced to evaluate the synergy degree of sustainable logistics enterprises and the basic Synergetics principles are presented. Second, based on the Law of the Factors of Production, the synergy elements and logistics enterprise content is divided into three main factors: subject elements, object elements and facility and equipment elements. Then, a measurement model and framework for the synergy degree of logistics enterprises is built. Finally, a case study is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and framework. It was found that the higher the logistics enterprise synergy degree, the higher the efficiency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

New Business and Operational Models for the Management of Green and Sustainable City Logistics

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (8 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI