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The recent Industry 4.0 trend, followed by the technological advancement of collaborative robots, has urged many industries to shift towards new types of assembly lines with human-robot collaboration (HRC). This type of manufacturing line, in which human skill is supported by robot agility, demands an integrated balancing and scheduling of tasks and operators among the stations. This study attempts to deal with these joint problems in the straight and U-shaped assembly lines while considering different objectives, namely, the number of stations (Type-1), the cycle time (Type-2), and the cost of stations, operators, and robot energy consumption (Type-rw). The latter type often arises in the real world, where multiple types of humans and robots with different skills and energy levels can perform the assembly tasks collaboratively or in parallel at stations. Additionally, practical constraints, namely robot tool changes, zoning, and technological requirements, are considered in Type-rw. Accordingly, different mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) models for straight and U-shaped layouts are proposed with efficient lower and upper bounds for each objective. The computational results validate the efficiency of the proposed MILP model with bounded objectives while addressing an application case and different test problem sizes. In addition, the analysis of results shows that the U-shaped layout offers greater flexibility than the straight line, leading to more efficient solutions for JIT production, particularly in objective Type-2 followed by Type-rw and Type-1. Moreover, the U-shaped lines featuring a high HRC level can further enhance the achievement of desired objectives compared to the straight lines with no or limited HRC.

Assembly-line balancing is a significant issue in production systems. Employing industrial robots as the main production resource was a milestone in developing assembly lines, and emerging Industry 4.0 led industries to build collaborative assembly lines by combining robots and human operator skills. Recently, the majority of research on assembly line balancing has contributed to addressing aspects of utilizing robots in assembly lines and how they can increase line performance. Various models and methods are developed, considering different objectives and performance indicators. Despite the increasing number of studies in this area, a thorough literature review is lacking in identifying gaps, shedding light on research directions, and facilitating future development. This study systematically reviews assembly-line balancing studies targeted at assembly lines with industrial and collaborative robots. Studies are classified based on their objectives and reviewed for their solution method, line layout, and other essential specifications. A descriptive analysis is provided to assist researchers and practitioners in linking different properties of assembly lines to the objectives and applied methodologies. The results show that most studies developed models and solution methods that focused on simultaneously optimizing more than one objective. The review reveals that minimizing the cycle time is the most popular objective, and meta-heuristic algorithms are the dominant solution approaches. It is also observed that balancing assembly lines with collaborative robots has received more attention in the last five years with the emergence of Industry 4.0. The review also highlights gaps in the related literature and provides promising insights for future research.

Purpose: The study seeks to understand the possible opportunities that Industry 5.0 might offer for various aspects of inclusive sustainability. The study aims to discuss existing perspectives on the classification of Industry 5.0 technologies and their underlying role in materializing the sustainability values of this agenda. Design/methodology/approach: The study systematically reviewed Industry 5.0 literature based on the PRISMA protocol. The study further employed a detailed content-centric review of eligible documents and conducted evidence mapping to fulfill the research objectives. Findings: The advancement of Industry 5.0 is currently underway, with noteworthy initial contributions enriching its knowledge base. Although a unanimous definition remains lacking, diverse viewpoints emerge concerning the recognition of fundamental technologies and the potential for yielding sustainable outcomes. The expected contribution of Industry 5.0 to sustainability varies significantly depending on the context and the nature of underlying technologies. Practical implications: Industry 5.0 holds the potential for advancing sustainability at both the firm and supply chain levels. It is envisioned to contribute proportionately to the three sustainability dimensions. However, the current discourse primarily dwells in theoretical and conceptual domains, lacking empirical exploration of its practical implications. Originality/value: This study comprehensively explores diverse perspectives on Industry 5.0 technologies and their potential contributions to economic, environmental and social sustainability. Despite its promise, the practical evidence supporting the effectiveness of Industry 5.0 remains limited. Certain conditions are necessary to realize the benefits of Industry 5.0 fully, yet the mechanisms behind these conditions require further investigation. In this regard, the study suggests several potential areas for future research., CC BY 4.0 LEGAL CODE© 2024, Morteza Ghobakhloo, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Masood Fathi, Abderahman Rejeb, Behzad Foroughi and Davoud NikbinCorresponding author: Morteza Ghobakhloo, Division of Industrial Engineering and Management, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; email: morteza.ghobakhloo@angstrom.uu.se

Simulation-based learning (SBL) presents a wide variety of opportunities to practice complex computer and networking skills in higher education, employing various platforms to enhance educational outcomes. The integration of SBL tools in teaching computer networking courses is useful for both instructors and learners. Furthermore, the increasing importance of SBL in higher education highlights the necessity to further explore the factors that affect the adoption of SBL technologies, particularly in the field of computer networking courses. Despite these advantages, minimal effort has been made to examine the factors that impact instructors' intentions to use SBL tools for computers and networking courses. The main objective of this article is to examine the factors that affect instructors' intentions to utilize SBL tools in computer networking courses offered by higher education institutions. By employing interpretive structural modeling and Matriced' Impacts Croise's Multiplication Appliquee a UN Classement analysis, the article attempts to provide an in-depth understanding of the interdependencies and hierarchical associations among 12 identified factors. Results showed that system quality, self-efficacy, technological knowledge, and information quality have high driving power. This article offers valuable perspectives for higher education institutions and for upcoming empirical studies and aids in comprehending the advantages of using SBL tools in teaching and higher education.

The effective distribution of relief goods is critical in mitigating the impact of natural disasters and preserving human life. This study addresses a relief goods distribution problem, assuming the existence of multiple relief orders that must be delivered to various disaster-stricken regions from a network of warehouses using a fleet of diverse vehicles. The objective is to identify the most suitable warehouse for each relief order, allocate relief orders to vehicles, batch the orders in the designated vehicles, and devise routing plans to minimize the total delivery time. A mixed-integer linear programming model is formulated to tackle this problem. Owing to the problem's NP-hard nature, a metaheuristic algorithm, known as the Multiple League Championship Algorithm, is developed. Furthermore, two innovative variants of the MLCA , namely the League Base Multiple League Championship Algorithm (L- MLCA) and the Playoff Multiple League Championship Algorithm (P-MLCA), are introduced.Experimental results indicate that the P-MLCA outperforms the other two algorithms. The solutions derived from the P-MLCA are compared with the optimal solutions obtained by a commercial solver for small-scale problems. This comparative analysis demonstrates the promising performance of the P-MLCA in finding the optimal distribution of relief goods.

Preventing energy waste in residential and office buildings has emerged as a critical issue in both developed and developing countries over recent decades. The growing demand for oil and energy reserves has amplified the urgency of this concern. The deployment of building energy management systems (BEMSs) can lead to timely responses to changes in environmental conditions, the prevention of energy wastage, a reduction in CO2 emissions, and an increase in the longevity of building equipment. Despite the undeniable benefits of BEMSs, their market size remains small, creating challenges for providers in reaching potential customers. This research seeks to identify and prioritize the marketing strategies for BEMSs. A case study was conducted, employing the “Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats” analysis as a tool for identifying marketing strategies related to BEMSs. This method resulted in the identification of 18 distinct marketing strategies. These strategies were subsequently prioritized using a novel fuzzy multicriteria decision-making technique, VIkor-topSIS, considering six specific criteria. The findings of the study suggested a hierarchical influence of six criteria on the BEMS market, arranged in the following order of significance: effectiveness, cost, attainability, complexity, timing, and popularity. Furthermore, the top three marketing strategies for BEMSs were found to be internet advertising strategies, discounts to consumers, and online sales. The analysis of the results has also offered valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the studied BEMS provider, as well as the opportunities and threats present within the BEMS market.

The Healthcare Waste Disposal Method Selection (HCWDMS) is a complicated problem due to multiple and often contradictory criteria with different importance degrees. Thus, decision-makers are restored to multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods to prioritize and select the best HCW disposal methods. This study introduces an enhanced MCDM method to deal with the HCWDMS problem. To address the problem, a comprehensive list of criteria and HCW disposal methods are identified. All the criteria are categorized into four main criteria, and Fuzzy Analysis Hierarchy Process is used to determine the weights of considered criteria and sub-criteria. The study results show that environmental, economic, technical, and social criteria are the most important in selecting disposal methods, respectively. Moreover, the sub-criteria of 'Health Risk', 'Release with health effects', and 'Capital cost' have the highest importance, respectively. Additionally, the methods of 'Microwave', 'Sterilization by autoclave', and 'Reverse polymerization' have the highest priority, respectively.

This study aims at reducing energy consumption in supply chain networks by providing optimal integrated production and transportation scheduling. The considered supply chain consists of one main manufacturing center, multiple production units (i.e., suppliers), and multiple heterogeneous vehicles as the transportation fleet. To schedule this complex supply chain network in an energy-efficient way, several decisions should be made concerning the assignment of orders to suppliers and determining their production sequence, splitting orders, assigning orders to vehicles, and assigning delivery priority to orders. To cope with the problem, a mixed-integer linear programming model is presented. Due to the complexity of the problem, a novel development of the genetic algorithm named the Multiple Reference Group Genetic Algorithm (MRGGA) is also proposed. Four objectives are considered to be optimized to meet both suitability and energy-efficiency aspects in the supply chain network. These optimization objectives are to minimize the total orders' delivery times to the manufacturing center, fuel consumption by the vehicles, energy consumption at supplies, and maximize orders' quality. To analyze the performance of the proposed algorithm, a real case and a set of generated instances are solved. The results obtained by the proposed algorithm are compared with an existing genetic algorithm in the literature. Moreover, the results are also compared with the optimal solutions obtained from the mathematical model for small-size problems. The results of the comparisons show the efficiency of the proposed MRGGA in finding energy-efficient solutions for the considered supply chain network.

This study aims to introduce a method to integrate and coordinate departments' activities to enhance the service quality of organizations using Quality Function Deployment (QFD). To this purpose, the classical two-dimensional House Of Quality (HOQ) matrix is changed to a three-dimensional form (3D-HOQ). The 3D-HOQ is applied to the marketing and Human Resources (HR) departments of a bank to determine customers' and employees' demands, respectively. The 3D-HOQ is also employed to provide a unique list of technical requirements to satisfy the identified demands. Obtaining a unique list of technical requirements with the cooperation of both departments reduces the inconsistency between departments, saves cost and time by preventing reworks and parallel works, and increases the organization's efficiency. Moreover, 3D-HOQ is combined with the SERVQUAL technique and fuzzy theory to determine the weight of obtained technical requirements. The study is conducted in four main steps: 1) identifying the customers' and employees' demands; 2) identifying the technical requirements for simultaneous satisfaction of both customers' and employees' demands; 3) determining the relationships between the technical requirements and the identified demands; and 4) prioritizing technical requirements. Applying the 3D-HOQ resulted in identifying 30 customers' demands, 30 employees' demands, and 50 technical requirements. The study results show that "using new banking technologies" has the highest weight among the customers' demands, and "job security" has been found to have the highest weight among employees' demands. Moreover, "Intraorganizational processes automation" has been identified as the technical requirement with the highest weight.

This study aims to develop appropriate models for income distribution in Iran using the econophysics approach for the 2006-2018 period. For this purpose, the three improved distributions of the Pareto, Lognormal, and Gibbs-Boltzmann distributions are analyzed with the data extracted from the target household income expansion plan of the statistical centers in Iran. The research results indicate that the income distribution in Iran does not follow the Pareto and Lognormal distributions in most of the study years but follows the generalized Gibbs-Boltzmann distribution function in all study years. According to the results, the generalized Gibbs-Boltzmann distribution also properly fits the actual data distribution and could clearly explain the income distribution in Iran. The generalized Gibbs-Boltzmann distribution also fits the actual income data better than both Pareto and Lognormal distributions.

This paper studies the assembly line balancing problem with collaborative robots in light of recent efforts to implement collaborative robots in industrial production systems under random processing time. A stochastic version with uncertain human processing time is considered for the first time. The issue is defined by the potential for simultaneous human and robot task execution at the same workpiece, either in parallel or in collaboration. We provide stochastic mixed-integer programming based on Monte Carlo sampling approach for the balancing and scheduling of collaborative robot assembly lines for this novel issue type. In order to minimise the line cost including fixed workstation operating costs and resource costs caused by exceeding cycle time, the model determines both the placement of collaborative robots at stations and the distribution of work among humans and robots.