Effective urban transportation no doubt serves as engine room and catalyst for driving national economic development. Significantly, the purpose of urban transport is to provide both passenger and freight mobility over specific parts of urban areas including cities, and its efficiency is characterized upon transporting effectively and achieving economies of scale. Hence, this study examined intra-city mobility and characterization in Lagos, Nigeria. The data was sourced from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data detailed the use of two sets of questionnaires administered to commuters and motorists. 182 copies of questionnaire were randomly administered to commuters, while 60 units of the questionnaire were purposively and conveniently administered to motorists. Descriptive and inferential techniques were used for data analysis. Major findings revealed obvious variations in socio-economic parameters of intra-city trip makers and factors influencing trip making. It was observed that journey to work, school, shopping cum business constituted the major trips characterizing in Lagos. Findings also revealed that high patronage priority was given to most used and preferred means due to vehicle travel speed, trip purpose, and availability than safety and comfortability of modal choice. Regression analysis result revealed that commuters’ modal choice and patronage is statistically influenced by operational attributes of mode (e.g. transit time, delay duration, safety, vehicle condition and transit fare etc.) at Sig. p=0.000 and F14165 15.667 which is greater than table value at 5% significant level. The study recommended among others the formulation and implementation of effective policy for urban transport activities; standardization of service operations and expansion of infrastructural facilities including the last-mile in the city.
Abstract Supplier evaluation and selection is essential to any organization, and planning an effective and comprehensive approach to that end seems inevitable. Meanwhile, determining the requisite criteria for evaluating and selecting suppliers is probably one of the most important steps to be taken towards developing an evaluation and selection model in the organization. In this article, first a review of the literature on the criteria and the field of supplier evaluation and selection are provided. These criteria are then placed into proper categories. In order to formulate a supplier evaluation and selection framework for the manufacturing organization under study, the implemented categorization is applied where a list of fifteen attributes and performance criteria is created; where upon it is secured with the help of a designated panel (project team). These features are then screened using Lawshe’s method the “social attribute” is removed from the list of fifteen. The remaining 14 other criteria are configured within the SEAP (Suppliers Evaluation based on Attributes and Performances) framework. The framework follows the objective of continually evaluating suppliers, both potential and actual ones through incorporating their performances into their qualification ratings. Based on the proposed framework, suppliers are evaluated on the basis of two types of criteria, - feature (attribute) and performance.
Abstract Vision picking empowers users with access to real-time digital order information, while freeing them from handheld radio frequency devices. The smart glasses, as an example of vision picking enabler, provide visual and voice cues to guide order pickers. The glasses mostly also have installed navigation features that can sense the order picker’s position in the warehouse. This paper explores picking errors in vision systems with literature review and experimental work in laboratory environment. The results show the effectiveness of applying vision picking systems for the purposes of active error prevention, when they are compared to established methods, such as paper-picking and using cart mounted displays. A serious competitor to vision picking systems are pick-to-light systems. The strong advantage of vision picking system is that most of the errors are detected early in the process and not at the customer’s site. The cost of fixing the error is thus minimal. Most errors consequently directly influence order picker’s productivity in negative sense. Nonetheless, the distinctive feature of the system is extremely efficient error detection.
Electric load forecasting (ELF) is a vital process in the planning of the electricity industry and plays a crucial role in electric capacity scheduling and power systems management and, therefore, it has attracted increasing academic interest. Hence, the accuracy of electric load forecasting has great importance for energy generating capacity scheduling and power system management. This paper presents a review of forecasting methods and models for electricity load. About 45 academic papers have been used for the comparison based on specified criteria such as time frame, inputs, outputs, the scale of the project, and value. The review reveals that despite the relative simplicity of all reviewed models, the regression analysis is still widely used and efficient for long-term forecasting. As for short-term predictions, machine learning or artificial intelligence-based models such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Support Vector Machines (SVM), and Fuzzy logic are favored.
This paper deals with the multi-criteria evaluation of the intermodal (rail/road) freight corridors as competing transport alternatives. For such a purpose, the methodology has been developed consisting of two main components; i) the analytical models for estimating the indicators and measures of the corridors’ physical/spatial or infrastructural, technical/technological, operational, economic, social, and environmental performance; and ii) the MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision Making) method using the above-mentioned indicators and measures of performance as the evaluation attributes/criteria in ranking and identifying the preferred among the several mutually competing freight transport alternative corridors.
The greatest challenge of physically-challenged individuals is mobility, thereby making access to public transportation essential to independent living for these individuals. The study was conducted in Oyo State. Multistage sampling method comprising purposive and simple random sampling was used to select a sample size of 226 students from three special education centres in the state. Findings revealed that factors such as operators’ impatience/discrimination, waiting time and lack of assistance were major problems that affects accessibility to IPTs. Furthermore, results showed that difficulties experienced by the physically-challenged individuals differ significantly by the nature of disability as evidenced by a chi-square value of 37.218, p<0.05. It was therefore recommended that government should listen more to these transport disadvantaged people living with disabilities and integrate their concerns/suggestions in the design, implementation and monitoring of transport infrastructure and services as well as providing sustainable transport means to their transport challenges.
Abstract Transportation no doubt remains a catalyst for all aspect of socio-economic and environmental development. Without its singular significance of mobility and accessibility for farmers, agricultural produce will rot on farms, while efforts in providing food would be fruitless. This paper assessed agricultural freight transportation in Saki area of Oyo State with a view of enhancing better product delivery mechanisms for farmers. It examined farmers’ socio-demographic; nature of farming and farm characteristics; and appraised the relationship between attributes of agricultural production and freight movement. Primary data employed consists of a questionnaire designed for farmers, structured interview for government officials complemented with personal field observations of agricultural freight transportation. 225 farmers were randomly selected for questionnaire administration. Major findings revealed that food crops, vegetables, fruits and poultry products are in persistent motion in the study area and that agricultural freight is a neglected sector with significant consequences on the access to cheap and affordable urban wellbeing. Findings also revealed that agricultural freight transportation within the study is very poor and uneconomical, as this depletes farmers’ profit-making. Regression analysis results show a significant relationship between attributes of agricultural freight and transport cost (F19 205 11.916= P<0.05). The study recommends extensive road rehabilitation and constructions within the study area; provision of technological driven distribution and storage infrastructural facilities; creation of a databank for agricultural freight transport; reorganization and empowerment of farmers and improvement of rural infrastructure in Oyo state and Nigeria as a whole.
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) has been outlined for implementing total quality management (TQM) across logistics sector. This study constituted on the quality values of logistics firms in the logistics sector, which is examined with key performance indicators through the integrated method of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and SMART Goal Setting. The calculations were performed for logistics firms. The method used in this study is the integrated method of the AHP Method and SMART Goal Setting. The results highlight the most mentioned key performance indicators in the literature in a prioritized version also during the prioritizing process via AHP Method, the SMART Goal Setting approach also is applied.
Distribution is one of the major sources of carbon emissions and this issue has been addressed by Green Vehicle Routing Problem (GVRP). This problem aims to fulfill the demand of a set of customers using a homogeneous fleet of Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFV) originating from a single depot. The problem also includes a set of Alternative Fuel Stations (AFS) that can serve the AFVs. Since AFVs started to operate very recently, Alternative Fuel Stations servicing them are very few. Therefore, the driving span of the AFVs is very limited. This makes the routing decisions of AFVs more difficult. In this study, we formulated a multi-objective optimization model of Green Vehicle Routing Problem with two conflicting objective functions. While the first objective of our GVRP formulation aims to minimize total CO2 emission, which is proportional to the distance, the second aims to minimize the maximum traveling time of all routes. To solve this multi-objective problem, we used ɛ-constraint method, a multi-objective optimization technique, and found the Pareto optimal solutions. The problem is formulated as a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model in IBM OPL CPLEX. To test our proposed method, we generated two hypothetical but realistic distribution cases in Izmir, Turkey. The first case study focuses on an inner-city distribution in Izmir, and the second case study involves a regional distribution in the Aegean Region of Turkey. We presented the Pareto optimal solutions and showed that there is a tradeoff between the maximum distribution time and carbon emissions. The results showed that routes become shorter, the number of generated routes (and therefore, vehicles) increases and vehicles visit a lower number of fuel stations as the maximum traveling time decreases. We also showed that as maximum traveling time decreases, the solution time significantly decreases.
Development of sharing economy has brought new opportunities to the development of green logistics. Pallet pooling is a typical type of sharing economy. It has been recently promoted in almost every country in the world. Researchers have reached a common agreement that establishing an effective pallet pool is of great importance to the pallets use efficiency. It is also believed that the implementation of pallet pool will substantially contribute to the economic and social development. Detailed analysis of pallet pooling such as benefit analysis, mode choose, pallet allocation model & algorithm, quality control, etc. are discussed in this paper. Based on literature review, several important problems are listed for future study. These problems are information management, supply chain management, rental pricing, pallets tracking and allocation, quality control, sustainable development (carbon emissions), and “internet plus pallet pooling”. Some suggestions on China’s pallet pooling development are proposed as well.
Vehicle is an important element of transport; and its financing especially in road transport comes in 3 ways; outright purchase, hire purchase and lease. Of all these three methods of road transport financing, leasing has attracted little attention in Nigeria transport research. This study was carried out to examine the development, types and form, operating characteristics and problems of vehicle lease in Lagos State, Nigeria. Aggregate number of vehicle leasing companies in Nigeria from inception to 2018 was obtained from corporate affairs commission (CAC). Four prominent vehicle leasing companies: Cashlink Leasing Plc (CLP), NIKKY Taurus Ltd (NTL), C & I Leasing (CIL) and SAMTL Leasing Ltd (SLL) were purposively selected for the operating characteristics and challenges of the leasing companies. 298 structured questionnaires were administered to the staffs of the selected companies seeking the types and forms of lease and challenges encountered in the course of operation using stratified and simple random samplings techniques. Vehicle leasing started in Nigeria from 1986 with the likes of pine hill leasing, Cashlink leasing, VT leasing in Lagos. Within 1986 and 2018, it has spread to 23 different urban cities and the number has increased to 297 companies in 2018. Operating and finance leases exist in the industry with majority of 91.6% of the companies practice operating lease. The staff strength and fleet size level of the leasing companies varies overtime but positively significant to their operations. However, poor pricing of lease service, inadequate finance of vehicle, default in payment of rental charges and high cost of maintenance minimize leasing service efficiency and effectiveness. It is recommended that government should provide subvention for vehicles acquisition, face-off of racketing vehicles from cites and legislate policy to regulate operational activities (entry and exit) of the companies.
Forecasting is important in many branches of logistics, including the logistics related to Tourism supply chains. With an increasing inflow of American tourists, planning and forecasting the US tourists’ inflow to Slovenia have gained far more importance attention amongst scholars and practitioners. This study, therefore, was conducted to forecast the American tourists’ inflow to Slovenia using one of the predictive models based on the exponential smoothing approach, namely Holt-Winters damped additive (HWDA) exponential smoothing method. The model was modified by several improvements, while the obtained results were generalized to other supply chain components. The results show that the forecasting system can predict well the observed inflow, while the methodology used to derive the model might have enriched the plethora of existing practical forecasting approaches in the tourism domain. Benchmarking demonstrates that the proposed model outperforms a competitive ARIMA model and official forecasts. The practical implications are also discussed in this paper.
Abstract The importance of NTS has been realised in many safety critical industries. Recently the maritime domain has also embraced the idea and implemented an NTS training course for both merchant marine deck and engineering officers. NTS encompass both interpersonal and cognitive skills such as situational awareness, teamwork, decision making, leadership, managerial skills, communication and language skills. Well-developed NTS training allow ship’s officers to recognise quickly when a problem is developing and manage the situation safely and efficiently with the available team members. As a result, the evaluation and grading of deck officers’ NTS is necessary to assure safety at sea, reduce the effects of human error on-board ships, and allow ship board operations to be performed safely. This paper identifies the skills necessary for deck officers to effectively perform their duties on the bridge of a ship. To achieve this, initially, a taxonomy of deck officers’ NTS is developed through a review of relevant literature and the conducting of semi-structured interviews with experienced seafarers. Subsequently, NTS weighting data is collected from experienced seafarers to allow the weight of each element of the taxonomy to be established by the use of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP).
Road transport is showing growth in the period of globalization. Its task is to transport cargo as well as people to the required location within the shortest possible time and at the lowest price. Thus, road transport plays a crucial role in enabling the globalization to be developed and improved. However, the internal combustion engine hat prevail among the vehicles of freight and passenger transport are the producers of gaseous emissions from the exhaust gases. Many developed countries of the world has committed themselves, inter alia also trough the Paris Agreement, to reduce global warming, and thus to reduce the production of harmful gaseous emissions. The result is the endeavour to replace the internal combustion engine vehicles that burn carbon fuels with the vehicles powered by electric motors consuming electric energy. The reason of such trying claims that road transport using the internal combustion engine vehicles is environmentally aggressive, and the problem would not be solved by implementation of the vehicles with electric motors. Such claim is based on the fact that an electric car does not produce any of primary emissions. From an overall perspective, it is also necessary to take into account secondary emissions that are produced during the electric energy production by which is the vehicle with electric motor powered. The purpose of this article is to assume the possibility of reducing global pollution by replacing the internal combustion engine vehicles with the vehicles powered by electric motors in dependence with producing the emissions during the production of electric energy.
Successful companies are continually striving to streamline costs and optimize processes, enabling them to grow progress, develop and ensure competitiveness on the market. A large part of the costs arises in warehouses, where up to 55% of total costs are generated by order-picking, which makes it important and interesting in terms of research. The paper explores “picker to part” order-picking concept, which enables flexible work and is the optimal choice for most companies. The concept is associated with a high level of work-related injuries and work-related illnesses. Work requires physical efforts resulting from handling heavy goods, performing repetitive movements and using manipulative means. Human as the main actor of the concept affects the costs caused by picking and the quality of work done, which depends on technological support, physically and psychologically capable and motivated people. Due to the high costs of service, the focus on time planning and productivity increases. Contrary, the lack of attention is paid to the working conditions and the health status of the pickers. To overcome this gab, a review of scientific and professional literature on ergonomic principles in picking concept »picker to part« was carried out, followed by a quantitative survey of ergonomic properties in warehousing activities. Results revealed that more than 60% of the surveyed order-pickers associate problems with health with the characteristics of work, about 24% of them associate health problems with the use of a particular means of transport, and all agree that provided measures to reduce physical effort and greater support of technologies influence on increased speed of work and better health status of order-pickers.
Abstract Improvements in battery technology make electric vehicles more and more suitable for the use as electricity storages. Many benefits could be achieved by using electric vehicles for storing electricity in their batteries. This paper talks about the idea of electric vehicles as electricity storages in electric power systems. The idea has a great number of supporters, but also a significant part of the professional community believes that is unfeasible. This paper is not classified in either side and strives to give a realistic picture of this idea. For this purpose, findings from papers published in scientific journals are mainly used. There is also some information from websites, mainly for some technical issues. Partly, the opinions of the authors are present. Specificities of EVs and EPSs that enabled the birth of this idea are explained along with proposed concepts through which the idea can be implemented. Keeping with the vehicle to grid concept, issues about the implementation of the idea are considered. Achievements in the practical realization of the idea are also presented.
Road traffic safety among socioeconomic issues has become the major concern across the globe due to rise in road crashes attributed largely to human factor. This study tends to address attitudinal behavior of road users towards road ethics in Ilorin metropolis-Nigeria; covering both driver and motorcyclists and perception of motorists on road traffic enforcement agent. Questionnaire was employed as survey tools. Ordered logistic model were used to analyse the data on attitude of motorists and road traffic laws enforcement agents. About 87% of the 440 administered questionnaire were returned valid. A 3-model analysis was carried out and the findings showed that the attitude of the motorists, road traffic law enforcement agents and demographical index (gender, age and education) correlated with, and influence compliance with road traffic laws.
The salient scope of this paper is to enable the knowledge and understanding of urban freight transportation and provide guidance for implementing sustainable policies and measures in a city. To achieve this goal, an evaluation framework for city logistics policies and measures is developed, which demonstrates the complexity of urban freight transportation systems, through selected performance indicators, taking into account divergent stakeholders’ interests, conflicting business models and operations. Evaluation follows a hierarchical process; sustainability disciplines (economy and energy, environment, transportation and mobility, society), applicability enablers (policy and measure maturity, social acceptance and users’ uptake), multiple criteria and indicators, capturing the lifecycle impact of policies and measures and multiple stakeholders. Apart from the multicriteria context, the framework embeds methodologies, including, Impact Assessment, Social Cost Benefit Analysis, Transferability and Adaptability, and Risk Analysis. To demonstrate its applicability a case study is set for the City of Graz assessing the establishment of an Urban Consolidation Center. Results show that there is an overall improvement of 2.2% in the Logistics Sustainability Index when comparing before and after implementation cases of the Urban Consolidation Center.
Maritime transportation for Tunisia plays an important role in trade exchange with other countries. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to measure the efficiency scores of 7 seaports in Tunisia by applying the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) with Cobb-Douglas production function and Data envelopment analysis (DEA) with CCR and BCC models. The annual data collected cover the 2007-2017 period for each port. Thus, the sample size for the analysis comprises a total of 77 observations. The empirical result shows that the total average scores of operating efficiency scores were DEA-BCC (0.746) >SFACD (0.536)>DEA-CCR (0.334) from 2007 to 2017. Given these results, the port of Gabes can be considered as the best efficient port in the 3 models (DEA-BCC, DEA-CCR and SFA-CD).
Our research objective is to lower intralogistics costs by minimizing the number of shuffling operations in a steel plant company commercial warehouse. The process of dispatching products consists of retrieving set of steel bar (SSB) from a floor stored stack or a special stacking frame by an overhead crane. To retrieve a targeted merchandise all SSB above targeted must be reshuffled. Proper assignment of storage locations is a key logistics problem for efficient order picking. We are comparing two heuristics, that do not require information of dispatching sequence of any stored products. We simulated the problem at hand with both methods. Our objective is to count the number of reshuffles using each heuristic on randomly generated examples and decide which is better in the long run. Our problem has similarities with storage assignment of steel plates or steel coils for minimization of reshuffling operations. The problem is also comparable to storage assignment of containers in a container yard. In our case we are dealing with a special stacking configuration of products, that demands different approach. We want to demonstrate which heuristic should be used in companies that lack necessary storage information infrastructure.
