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Sustainability
Special Issues
Efficient Management of Sustainable Supply Chains
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Efficient Management of Sustainable Supply Chains

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2021) | Viewed by 17922

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maria Grazia Gnoni

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Guest Editor
Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: circular economy models in production and services; sustainable waste management; digital technologies for sustainability
Prof. Dr. Giada La Scalia

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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: facility layout problem; logistics; supply chain management; industrial process optimization; warehouse management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Rosa Micale

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: supply chains; project management; multi-criteria optimization; facility layout problem; warehouse management; sustainability; shelf life
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable development is dependent on significant improvement in supply chain resource utilization and efficiency. Following recent developments in supply chain management and environmental policy integration, it is clear that a holistic approach is essential to face new challenges in the current market, as well as in society. Profitable opportunities to improve resource use efficiency throughout the supply chain have to be properly highlighted by companies to support the adoption of more sustainable models. The reduction of waste by-products along the whole supply chain will allow companies to achieve a double benefit in terms of disposal costs and environmental impact reduction. Sustainable supply chain involves the re-design and management of traditional supply chains to take into account economic, social, and environmental performance dimensions in organizational planning and decision-making. Decision support systems that provide effective and innovative solutions for solving new problems that involve conflicting and multiple objectives could help the decision makers to improve the management of a sustainable supply chain.
This Special Issue is intended to present a collection of significant contributions that describe recent advances in the varied field of supply chain management toward economic, environmental, and social sustainability. In this regard, methods and support-decision tools, as well as an advanced approach, can aid the design and management of more sustainable operations throughout processing, storage, and distribution activities.
Research papers on theory, methods, and modeling with methodologies including mathematical modeling and conceptual framework formulation, as well as on applications and case studies, are all welcome.

Prof. Maria Grazia Gnoni
Prof. Giada La Scalia
Dr. Rosa Micale
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Sustainable supply chain management with applications
  • Sustainable production and inventory management
  • Sustainable waste management
  • By-product re-utilization for sustainable management
  • Perishable products management and cold chain
  • Life cycle assessment of products and processes
  • Risk management for sustainable supply chain
  • Decision support systems for sustainable operations

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 577 KiB  
Article
Driving Sustainability in Dairy Farming from a TBL Perspective: Insights from a Case Study in the West Region of Santa Catarina, Brazil
by Antônio Zanin, Cristian Baú Dal Magro, Diones Kleinibing Bugalho, Francieli Morlin, Paulo Afonso and Andrzej Sztando
Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 6038; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156038 - 28 Jul 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4416
Abstract
All companies in agribusiness supply chains need to be aware of the best use of available resources, which demands an integrated assessment of environmental, economic and social aspects, i.e., the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). Such analysis allows us to get a more balanced [...] Read more.
All companies in agribusiness supply chains need to be aware of the best use of available resources, which demands an integrated assessment of environmental, economic and social aspects, i.e., the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). Such analysis allows us to get a more balanced and complete understanding of the real performance of companies, supply chains and industries. Companies in the upstream of agribusinesses supply chains present some limitations, but can contribute significantly to the overall sustainability of the entire value chain. The objective of this research was to understand the role of the drivers of sustainability in dairy farming from a TBL perspective, such as assistance to producers and the value chain, and the use of better technology and management practices. A sample of 54 rural farms in the dairy supply chain of the western region of Santa Catarina, Brazil, was used to test four hypotheses about what can drive sustainability. Furthermore, first- and second-order structural equation models using SMART PLS software were used for the analysis of the data. The results obtained show that social sustainability is positively influenced by the use of good management practices, and the latter, as well as public policies, positively influence economic sustainability. Furthermore, it was found that improvements in production techniques positively influence environmental sustainability, and this is mostly influenced by the use of good management practices, and less so by policies directed at the supply chain. Finally, from the analysis of the second-order variable for sustainability, it was highlighted that the economic dimension prevails in the eyes of the farmers, as the main dimension of sustainability, and that environmental aspects are still neglected. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Management of Sustainable Supply Chains)
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13 pages, 845 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Outsourcing Development for Sustainable Competitive Advantage in a High-Tech Backend Semiconductor Equipment Firm
by Hyun-Joon Jo, Timothy Connerton and Hyun-Jung Kim
Sustainability 2020, 12(1), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010155 - 24 Dec 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3593
Abstract
In a high-tech backend semiconductor business where a market environment changes sharply and requires competitiveness of high technology, one of the most important criteria is to establish an optimal strategy for outsourcing development so a firm can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Many [...] Read more.
In a high-tech backend semiconductor business where a market environment changes sharply and requires competitiveness of high technology, one of the most important criteria is to establish an optimal strategy for outsourcing development so a firm can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Many studies have investigated sustainable and successful strategies for the selection and management of outsourcing suppliers, whereas, this study focuses mainly on analyzing the most affecting factor for outsourcing development in the perspective of dynamic capability by using the Delphi Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. For the analysis of affecting factors, 4 dimensions are defined: technology, organization, environment, and process. The research result shows that the sustainability of the productive skill in the technology dimension is adopted as the most affecting factor for outsourcing development among the defined 4 dimensions of an outsourcing supplier’s capability. With this research, a high-tech firm can measure the level of each dimension and each factor in developing outsourcing service providers. Then the firm can develop an appropriate outsourcing provider who contributes to the firm’s sustainable competitive advantage. This study also provides a practical and strategic framework of a high-tech firm’s outsourcing development in variable market situations and changeable conditions of transaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Management of Sustainable Supply Chains)
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11 pages, 1282 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Benefits of Productization in the Utilities Sector
by Valerio Elia, Maria Grazia Gnoni and Fabiana Tornese
Sustainability 2019, 11(20), 5864; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205864 - 22 Oct 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4083
Abstract
The adoption of Product–Service Systems (PSS) in a business strategy is often mainly associated with the servitization process, where a service component is added to the product component in order to improve the value proposition of the company and better satisfy the customer’s [...] Read more.
The adoption of Product–Service Systems (PSS) in a business strategy is often mainly associated with the servitization process, where a service component is added to the product component in order to improve the value proposition of the company and better satisfy the customer’s needs. The productization phenomenon is far less studied in literature, but growingly prominent in today’s market. In particular, companies in the utilities sector have been exploring the potentialities of productization and proposing new business models for improving their offer to the customers, in order to be more and more competitive on the market. In this paper, we provide a first analysis and classification of productization strategies in the utilities sector, starting from experiences in the Italian market, with the aim of understanding which can be the main benefits of a PSS approach in this field, considering the effects on the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Management of Sustainable Supply Chains)
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15 pages, 4685 KiB  
Article
Innovative Recycling of Lime Slaker Grits from Paper-Pulp Industry Reused as Aggregate in Ambient Cured Biomass Fly Ash-Based Geopolymers for Sustainable Construction Material
by Manfredi Saeli, Luciano Senff, David Maria Tobaldi, Giada La Scalia, Maria Paula Seabra and João Antonio Labrincha
Sustainability 2019, 11(12), 3481; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123481 - 25 Jun 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4559
Abstract
Lime slaker grits and biomass fly ash are solid wastes produced by the Kraft paper-pulp industry that are commonly disposed of in landfill. However, recent studies and European regulations discourage such disposal practices. This work investigates an alternative and innovative way to recycle [...] Read more.
Lime slaker grits and biomass fly ash are solid wastes produced by the Kraft paper-pulp industry that are commonly disposed of in landfill. However, recent studies and European regulations discourage such disposal practices. This work investigates an alternative and innovative way to recycle and reuse these wastes in the production of green geopolymeric mortars intended for application in the construction industry. Here, biomass fly ash was used as the main source of alumino-silicate in the binder precursor (70 wt.% substitution to metakaolin), and grits (ranging from 1–12.5 mm, as provided by the industry) were reused as aggregate. Aggregate granulometry was also completed by using a commercial natural siliceous sand (<1 mm). Mortars using sand only were prepared for comparative reasons. The implemented mix was designed to investigate the influence of the grits on the mortar’s properties such as its binder/aggregate ratio, workability, bulk density, water sorptivity, and compressive strength. At the same time, waste reuse was analysed in light of its limitations and potentialities. Moreover, in the pursuit of sustainability, the manufacturing process that was followed was highly cost-effective in ambient curing conditions (20 °C, 65% RH), which avoided the use of any external source of energy as commonly used in geopolymers processing. The achieved results proved that the combined use of these wastes, which to date has hardly been explored, along with ambient manufacturing conditions increases the material sustainability. The produced mortars are suitable for innovative applications in various fields, with a particular focus on construction and contribute to the circular economy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Efficient Management of Sustainable Supply Chains)
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