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BackgroundClimate change and the burden of noncommunicable diseases are major global challenges. Opportunities exist to investigate health and climate change co-benefits through a shift from motorized to active transport (walking and cycling) and a shift in dietary patterns away from a globalized diet to reduced consumption of meat and energy dense foods. Given the ubiquitous use and proliferation of smartphone apps, an opportunity exists to use this technology to capture individual travel and dietary behavior and the associated impact on the environment and health. ObjectiveThe objective of the study is to identify, describe the features, and rate the quality of existing smartphone apps which capture personal travel and dietary behavior and simultaneously estimate the carbon cost and potential health consequences of these actions. MethodsThe Google Play and Apple App Stores were searched between October 19 and November 6, 2015, and a secondary Google search using the apps filter was conducted between August 8 and September 18, 2016. Eligible apps were required to estimate the carbon cost of personal behaviors with the potential to include features to maximize health outcomes. The quality of included apps was assessed by 2 researchers using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). ResultsOut of 7213 results, 40 apps were identified and rated. Multiple travel-related apps were identified, however no apps solely focused on the carbon impact or health consequences of dietary behavior. None of the rated apps provided sufficient information on the health consequences of travel and dietary behavior. Some apps included features to maximize participant engagement and encourage behavior change towards reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Most apps were rated as acceptable quality as determined by the MARS; 1 was of poor quality and 10 apps were of good quality. Interrater reliability of the 2 evaluators was excellent (ICC=0.94, 95% CI 0.87-0.97). ConclusionsExisting apps capturing travel and dietary behavior and the associated health and environmental impact are of mixed quality. Most apps do not include all desirable features or provide sufficient health information. Further research is needed to determine the potential of smartphone apps to evoke behavior change resulting in climate change and health co-benefits.

Blockchain - also known as I distributed ledger i - technology is set to revolutionise data and business process management and transactions. This position paper aligned with the I International Journal of Production Research i Special Issue on Blockchain in Transport and Logistics aims to provide a foundation for the cutting-edge leading cases of the adoption of blockchain in transport and logistics, and chart the next wave of blockchain's transformational role in transport and logistics. Research can include: how to design processes for blockchain execution; design blockchain smart contracts to help identify ways to improve inter-organisational business processes; and developing approaches for identifying, discovering, and analysing relevant processes that can work best using blockchain technology. Thus, not only do business processes get altered, but actual delivery scheduling based on flow information across the blockchain may source, store, and deliver goods differently over time - and even automatically - when blockchain information is linked to artificial intelligence and machine learning systems. [Extracted from the article]

From a theoretical perspective, a number of concepts, approaches and/or paradigms have been related to CE, such as cradle-to-cradle, sustainability, industrial ecology, blue economy, circular business models, closed loop value chain, green supply chain and closed loop supply chain to name a few. The paper by Batista et al. (2019) 'Circular supply chains in emerging economies - a comparative study of packaging recovery ecosystems in China and Brazil' proposes a circular supply chain framework to derive insights from specific packaging recovery supply chain ecosystems. In terms of scope circular supply chains extend the boundaries of closed-loop supply chains by taking into account post-production stewardship to include forward feeding flows (open loops) into alternative supply chains. We realise that the preferred approach to implementing circular economy principles on production systems is supply chain management-based models, in particular, closed-loop supply chain management. [Extracted from the article]

Functional ceramics such as piezoelectrics, thermoelectrics, magnetic materials, ionic conductors, and semiconductors are opening new frontiers that underpin numerous aspects of modern life. This widespread usage comes with a responsibility to understand what impact their mass production has on the environment. Life‐cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool employed for the identification of sustainable materials pathways through the consideration of environmental burdens of materials both during fabrication and as a final product. Although the LCA technique has been widely used for the evaluation of environmental impacts in numerous product supply chains, its application for environmental profiling of functional ceramics is now gaining attention. This paper presents a review of current developments in LCA, including existing and emerging applications with emphasis on the development and fabrication of functional materials and devices (FM&D). Selected published works on LCA of functional ceramics are discussed, highlighting the importance of adopting LCA at the design stage and/or at laboratory stage before expensive investments and resources are committed. Drawing from the extant literature, we show that the integration of environmental and sustainability principles into the overall process of FM&D manufacturing, in a way that anticipates foreseeable harmful consequences while identifying opportunities for improvement, can aid the timely communications of key findings to functional materials developers. This guides the orientation of research, development and deployment, and provides insights toward the prioritization of research activities while potentially averting unintended consequences. It is intended that the review presented will encourage the materials science community to engage with LCA to address important materials design, substitution, and optimization needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: K.L. Choy, Steve Frankland, Lenny S.C. Koh, Dennis W.K. Leung For Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) logistics service providers, delivery and transportation management is usually based on simple communication systems such as the use of fax, mobile phone, etc. This causes time delays to occur more frequently for SMEs than would be the case with an asset-based organisation. Moreover, the absence of well developed logistics management systems exacerbates the situation. In fact, the continuous increase in efficiency of delivery in Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta Region has driven many logistics service companies to integrate mobile technologies with their fleet management system for tracking orders in a real time situation. This paper describes an Intelligent Logistics Fleet Management System (ILFMS) for third party logistics providers using the integration of mobile technologies, the application of Global Positioning System (GPS) and a Rule-Based Expert System (RBES) for route optimisation. By applying ILFMS in Extrans International (HK) Limited, it is found that dispatching efficiency is greatly enhanced.

Byline: Gideon Azumah, Lenny Koh, Stuart Maguire The main focus of this paper is identifying e-strategies within SMEs in the logistics and tourism industries to provide competitive advantage via an insight into the current strategies employed by the SMEs. This paper uses triangulation research method to obtain data from 56 SMEs to explore some of the strategic issues in the Internet Cultural Era (ICE). An analysis of the data and the literature provides new evidence of emerging e-strategies. Also the data analysis and results in this research reveals significant gaps between theory and practice and leads to the development of a new understanding of business e-strategies.

The ability of services to pervade all aspects of productivity creates the need for an interdisciplinary framework of service to be developed. It is, however, critical that any proposed service framework is jointly developed between the service purveyor and the stakeholders involved. An expected outcome from a focus on productivity in the Service Science arena is that a much closer relationship between the purveyor of a service and the customer is initiated and fostered. This requires a clear focus on the requirements of the customer and the various ways in which the service can be conveyed. This is not too far removed from what is required in other areas such as product specification that should also be carefully crafted from the needs of the customer. The research utilises two case studies to highlight the impact of Service Science as a co-producer of service productivity. We find from the case studies that human factors play an extremely important role in improving service productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The criteria selection of green suppliers is an interesting and practical research topic. With the development and consciousness of environmental management, this issue has received a significant consideration from academics, researchers and businessmen. The purpose of this paper is to study what factors are considered to be the most important when choosing partners/suppliers in a green supply chain, with reference to the Taiwanese hand tool industry, as this industry plays a major role in the Taiwanese economy. Design/methodology/approach – Inheriting from previous researches, the literature about green supplier selection that appeared in international journals from 1997 to 2009 was reviewed. Then, the integrating fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) approach is proposed to select the most important criteria for green supplier selection in the Taiwanese hand tool industry. Findings – Ultimately, a list of criteria, along with their priority levels, is presented, not only to support Taiwanese hand-tool companies when selecting suppliers, but also to help the suppliers of these companies to improve their performance in order to meet customers' (hand-tool companies) requirements. Originality/value – The approach used in this paper to select green suppliers can be applied to other industrial or geographical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sets out to bridge resource perspective on material selection with stakeholder and institutional theory considerations to provide a more comprehensive understanding of life-cycle thinking on material selection decisions in the automotive industry. The objective is to shed light on how regulatory, normative and mimetic institutional pressures, affect sustainability decisions when switching or substituting materials or manufacturing processes in the automotive industry. Within a hybrid life cycle analysis framework, the environmental hotspots across the supply chains of two empirical management examples of Aluminium and CFRP LCA models are presented, quantified and ranked. Further justifications are provided on why and how regulatory, normative-peer and peer-normative pressures affect life cycle decisions. Findings reveal early, mid-process and late-stage life cycle hotspots, both in the material selection and the manufacturing process for both components. This decision support framework can be used to diverge from high energy-intensive manufacturing process and conventional raw materials, and provide forward-looking automotive manufacturers with opportunity to make asset-specific investments in lightweight, fuel-efficient vehicles, and sustainable manufacturing operations. This study presents a new framework that hybridises institutional theory and life cycle thinking to enable a standard routine and decision assessment of sustainability. This study provides a novel theoretical perspective on life cycle assessment by highlighting how the framing rules in a given institution mirror the trajectory of institutional pressures from regulatory (organised laws) through normative (organised behaviour) to mimetic (copied behaviour). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low-carbon policy attracts the interests of businesses, consumers, and policy makers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a carbon labelling scheme could be integrated into operational decision-making for manufacturers and retailers. Three game theoretic models of a supply chain with one manufacturer and one retailer are built to investigate a manufacturer and retailer’s pricing and investment decision for products with different initial carbon footprints considering consumer environmental awareness. Through a systematic comparison and numerical analysis, the results show that a carbon labelling scheme can significantly reduce the overall carbon emission supply chain and have an initially negative impact on the manufacturer and retailer’s profits. However, in the medium–long run, manufacturers and retailers could yet achieve profitability through continuously investing in low-carbon technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different types of direct-placement dental materials are used for the restoration of structure, function and aesthetics of teeth. The aim of this research investigation is to determine, through a comparative cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment, the environmental impacts of three direct-placement dental restorative materials (DRMs) and their associated packaging. Three direct-placement dental materials; dental amalgam, resin-based composite (RBC) and glass polyalkenoate cements (GIC) are assessed using primary data from a manufacturer (SDI Limited, Australia). The functional unit consisted of 'one dental restoration' of each restorative system under investigation: 1.14 g of dental amalgam; 0.25 g of RBC (plus the adhesive = 0.10 g); and 0.54 g of GIC. The system boundary per restoration included the raw materials and their associated packaging materials for each DRM together with the processing steps for both the materials and packaging. The environmental impacts were assessed using an Egalitarian approach under the ReCiPe method using Umberto software and the Ecoinvent database. Nine different impact categories were used to compare the environmental performance of these materials. Dental amalgam had the highest impact across most of the categories, but RBC had the highest Global Warming Potential. The highest sources of the environmental impacts for each restorative material were: Amalgam, derived from material use; RBC, derived from energy use in processing material and packaging material; GIC, derived from material and energy use for packaging. Less intensive energy sources or more sustainable packaging materials can potentially reduce the impacts associated with RBC and GIC thus making them suitable alternatives to dental amalgam. [Display omitted] • The environmental impact of three dental restorative materials was assessed empirically. • Nine life-cycle impact assessment categories were investigated with the ReCiPe method. • Dental amalgam had the highest and glass ionomers the lowest impact across most categories. • Changes in energy mix and packaging materials can potentially reduce the impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]