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Article
Publication date: 4 October 2022

Akshay Patidar, Monica Sharma, Rajeev Agrawal and Kuldip Singh Sangwan

Creating visibility in the supply chain (SC) helps in making it resilient. Integrating the SC with Industry 4.0 key enabling technologies creates visibility and sustainability in…

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Abstract

Purpose

Creating visibility in the supply chain (SC) helps in making it resilient. Integrating the SC with Industry 4.0 key enabling technologies creates visibility and sustainability in SCs. It also fosters intelligent decision-making, thereby making a SC smart. However, how Industry 4.0 technologies affect key performance indicators (KPIs) of a resilient SC and may help achieve sustainability is rarely studied.

Design/methodology/approach

Sixteen KPIs were identified from the literature review and analyzed using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) using expert opinions. Further, a sensitivity analysis was conducted for the KPIs by varying the weightage of the criteria. Later, KPIs results were analyzed, and (1) how and which Industry 4.0 technology helps improve the KPI? (2) Resilience relationship with sustainability? were discussed.

Findings

The analyses show that the time-oriented (TO) is an essential criterion and organizational (OR) is the less important comparatively. Lead time, time to market and risk assessment frequency are the top KPIs that need a focus. Blockchain, Big Data and Cyber-physical systems enhance KPI's value and, in turn, foster economic, environmental and social sustainability of the SC and help in better decision making in terms of smart contracts, better forecasting and enhanced real-time information sharing.

Originality/value

Identification of the KPIs, the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies and the impact on sustainability; this kind of interplay is rarely evident in the literature. Understanding the findings of this research will help managers develop smart systems that may work intelligently to overcome risks associated and enhance sustainability. Academicians can use the findings and conduct future research that can overcome the limitations of this research.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 May 2021

Anbesh Jamwal, Rajeev Agrawal, Monica Sharma, Anil Kumar, Vikas Kumar and Jose Arturo Arturo Garza-Reyes

The role of data analytics is significantly important in manufacturing industries as it holds the key to address sustainability challenges and handle the large amount of data…

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Abstract

Purpose

The role of data analytics is significantly important in manufacturing industries as it holds the key to address sustainability challenges and handle the large amount of data generated from different types of manufacturing operations. The present study, therefore, aims to conduct a systematic and bibliometric-based review in the applications of machine learning (ML) techniques for sustainable manufacturing (SM).

Design/methodology/approach

In the present study, the authors use a bibliometric review approach that is focused on the statistical analysis of published scientific documents with an unbiased objective of the current status and future research potential of ML applications in sustainable manufacturing.

Findings

The present study highlights how manufacturing industries can benefit from ML techniques when applied to address SM issues. Based on the findings, a ML-SM framework is proposed. The framework will be helpful to researchers, policymakers and practitioners to provide guidelines on the successful management of SM practices.

Originality/value

A comprehensive and bibliometric review of opportunities for ML techniques in SM with a framework is still limited in the available literature. This study addresses the bibliometric analysis of ML applications in SM, which further adds to the originality.

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 35 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 December 2023

Santosh B. Rane, Gayatri J. Abhyankar, Milind Shrikant Kirkire and Rajeev Agrawal

This article aims at - exploring and prioritizing the barriers to adoption of digitization in supply chains (SCs), categorizing them into sustainability triple bottom line (STBL…

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims at - exploring and prioritizing the barriers to adoption of digitization in supply chains (SCs), categorizing them into sustainability triple bottom line (STBL) based upon their direct impact and suggesting digital technologies to address each barrier.

Design/methodology/approach

A five-phase methodology is used which consists of an exploration of 44 barriers to the adoption of digitization in SCs, analysis of 44 barriers for mean, standard deviation and Cronbach alpha based on questionnaire-based feedback of 25 experts, extraction of 10 most significant barriers through 05 experts, followed by categorization of the barriers into STBL referring to their direct impact on STBL, prioritization of ten barriers using Fuzzy Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution and recommendation of digital technologies to address each barrier.

Findings

While all the barriers considered in this study significantly impede the adoption of digitization in SCs, lack of top management commitment (B1) is found to be most crucial while lack of culture toward use of information and communication technology required for digitization (B3) has minimum impact. Large investment in digital infrastructure (B6), difficulty in integration of cyber physical systems (CPSs) on varied platforms (B8) and lack of experts having knowledge of digital technologies (B2) are equally important barriers requiring more attention while adopting digitization in SCs.

Research limitations/implications

This study is mainly based on feedback from 25 seasoned experts; a wider cross section of experts will give more insight.

Practical implications

The outcomes are very significant for organizations looking to adopt digitization in their SCs. Simultaneous consideration to all the barriers becomes impractical hence prioritization of same will be useful for the SC managers to benchmark their preparedness and decide strategies for the adoption of digitization with due consideration toward the impact of barriers on STBL. The digital technologies recommended will further aid in planning the digital strategies to address each barrier.

Originality/value

A unique approach to explore, analyze, prioritize and categorize the barriers to adoption of digitization in SCs is used to provide a deeper understanding of factors deterring the same. It implies that a supportive top management along with systematic allocation of finances plays a crucial role. The importance of availability of digital experts for integrating CPSs on a single platform is also highlighted. The digital technologies recommended will further assist the organizations toward adoption of digitization in SCs with due consideration to STBL.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2023

Satyajit Mahato, Amit Rai Dixit, Rajeev Agrawal, Jiju Antony, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes and Anbesh Jamwal

This study investigates the quantitative aspect of the various strains of operational excellence (OE) and competitive-potential (CP) in the SME sector. It has five steps, i.e.…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the quantitative aspect of the various strains of operational excellence (OE) and competitive-potential (CP) in the SME sector. It has five steps, i.e., identifying the key performance constructs of OE and their hypothesized relationship pattern from literature, validating these constructs through factor analysis, formalizing their empirical relationships by structural-equation-modeling (SEM), path analysis of performance constructs with the empirical results, and lastly proposing a framework for OE deployment in SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for the deployment scores of operational excellence procedures (OEPs) were collected through a structured questionnaire survey. Nine hundred participants from a stratified random sample were approached for the survey, and 473 responses were received. Sample stratification was based on Gender, Education, Experience, Position, Department and Industry. Respondents had 5–30 years of experience managing manufacturing operations, holding the manager position and above.

Findings

The path analysis of the structural model provides unique insights into OE's practical aspects in SMEs (small and medium enterprises). For example, Contractual-conformance and Process-efficiency play pivotal roles as both have a significant positive impact on CP. Supplier efficacy, Consistency and Product-excellence do not improve CP unless mediated by Contractual-conformance or Process-efficiency.

Research limitations/implications

The study provides important implications for academia, policymakers and managers. The study identifies and validates the operational excellence key performance practices and proposes a framework for manufacturing organizations. SME managers can follow the framework to develop effective operational excellence strategies to help them achieve their organizational goals. Additionally, the study emphasizes the need for continuous culture in SMEs, which will help to support operational excellence deployment. Overall, the implications presented in the study will help SMEs to enhance their competitiveness and operational performance.

Originality/value

The study explores the empirical investigation of the operational excellence deployment in SMEs. The study uses a mixed method approach for research design, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, and uses SEM to test the proposed framework. Validation of OE's six key performance constructs and establishing their empirical relation is an attempt to advance the Operations excellence theory. Unlike large enterprises, SMEs demonstrate an incohesive response to the practices pertaining to Supplier efficacy, Consistency and Product-excellence. This unique response pattern requires special treatment, which is incorporated into the proposed framework.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2022

Pragati Sinha, Monica Sharma and Rajeev Agrawal

The objective of this paper is to synthesise the published literature on consumer awareness and acceptance of Sustainable Fashion (SF) and highlight that sustainability decisions…

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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to synthesise the published literature on consumer awareness and acceptance of Sustainable Fashion (SF) and highlight that sustainability decisions taken across procurement, designing, manufacturing and retailing must include the consumer perspective of SF.

Design/methodology/approach

Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on sustainable fashion combined with consumer behavior was conducted. The study approach involved descriptive analysis, content analysis and theoretical analysis in the first section. The later sections focus on sustainability practices across the apparel supply chain that can foster acceptance of sustainable fashion.

Findings

In this review paper, five solutions that are typically used for leveraging consumer awareness and acceptance towards sustainable fashion are identified from the latest research papers: (1) attention to micro-sensitive factors (2) shared responsibilities (3) repositioning sustainable fashion for larger audience (4) positioning conscious fashion and (5) unified approach. These solutions are proposed as most important for achieving success in sustainable production and sustainable consumption (SPSC) for the fashion industry. Further, suggestions for how to embed sustainability related business decisions across sourcing, designing, manufacturing, distribution and recollection and retailing are also provided.

Practical implications

Through this research, a clear view emerges of the progression of publication and where future research should be directed to popularise sustainable fashion among consumers. Research findings and proposed solutions will be valuable inputs for brand managers, marketers and retailers as they conceive new plans and make decisions about addressing sustainability challenges in textile and apparel manufacturing firms.

Originality/value

This is a first of its kind of study on sustainable fashion that highlights the importance of understanding consumer behaviour in influencing sustainability decisions required across sourcing, designing, manufacturing and retailing to achieve substantial economic advantages in the fashion industry. End-to-end supply chain processes (i.e. procurement, design, manufacturing, marketing and retailing) are considered to identify several factors that influence consumer behavior in favor of sustainable fashion throughout the supply chain.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2022

Toshit Jain, Jinesh Kumar Jain, Rajeev Agrawal and Shubha Johri

Environmental impact and changes are becoming essential in textile and yarn industries, where reliable measurement of parameters related to processing harmful substances needs to…

Abstract

Purpose

Environmental impact and changes are becoming essential in textile and yarn industries, where reliable measurement of parameters related to processing harmful substances needs to be examined. Such findings can be cumulated using smart assessment like life cycle analysis. The ecological impact category, supply chain, and climate-changing factors were considered for the necessary assessment.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applies the Life Cycle Assessment technique in the textile and yarn industry to estimate critical environmental potentials. The critical input for the fabric and yarn industry was put in the GaBi software model to estimate various environmental potentials.

Findings

Global warming potential, electricity, and raw cotton consumption in the fabric and yarn industry were critical concerns where attention should be focused on minimizing environmental potentials from cradle to gate assessment.

Research limitations/implications

This qualitative study is made via the industry case-wise inputs and outputs, which can vary with demographic conditions. Some machine and human constraints have not been implemented in modelling life cycle model for smart simulation. Smart simulation helps in linking different parameters and simulates their combined effects on the product life cycle.

Practical implications

This modelling approach will help access pollution constituents in different supply chain production processes and optimize them simultaneously.

Originality/value

The raw data used in this analysis are collected from an Indian small scale textile industry. In the textile fabrication industry, earlier assessments were carried out in cotton generation, impact of PET, cradle to grave assessment of textile products and garment processing only. In this research the smart model is drawn to consider each input parameter of yarn and textile fabric to determine the criticality of each input in this assessment. This article mainly talks about life cycle and circular supply assessment applied to first time for both cotton to yarn processing and yarn to fabric industry for necessary estimation of environment potentials.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2012

Rajeev Agrawal, L.N. Pattanaik and S. Kumar

The purpose of this paper is to solve a flexible job shop scheduling problem where alternate machines are available to process the same job. The study considers the Flexible Job…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to solve a flexible job shop scheduling problem where alternate machines are available to process the same job. The study considers the Flexible Job Shop Problem (FJSP) having n jobs and more than three machines for scheduling.

Design/methodology/approach

FJSP for n jobs and more than three machines is non polynomial (NP) hard in nature and hence a multi‐objective genetic algorithm (GA) based approach is presented for solving the scheduling problem. The two objective functions formulated are minimizations of the make‐span time and total machining time. The algorithm uses a unique method of generating initial populations and application of genetic operators.

Findings

The application of GA to the multi‐objective scheduling problem has given optimum solutions for allocation of jobs to the machines to achieve nearly equal utilisation of machine resources. Further, the make span as well as total machining time is also minimized.

Research limitations/implications

The model can be extended to include more machines and constraints such as machine breakdown, inspection etc., to make it more realistic.

Originality/value

The paper presents a successful implementation of a meta‐heuristic approach to solve a NP‐hard problem of FJSP scheduling and can be useful to researchers and practitioners in the domain of production planning.

Article
Publication date: 29 June 2020

Anil Kumar Agrawal, Mahendra Pratap, Subhash Chandra Sati and Rajeev Kumar Upadhyay

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the design of a hybrid tether using probabilistic approach considering inherent random variation in the stress developed and the strength…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the design of a hybrid tether using probabilistic approach considering inherent random variation in the stress developed and the strength it has. The variation in strength is mostly because of variation in diameter of the tether and the properties of the material along the length of the tether. As a result, classical design approach for the tether may not serve the purpose. For this purpose, a reliability-based design of hybrid tether is discussed in this paper.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review was carried out on the design of tether and its operational reliability. It has been shown that the classical design approach does not serve the purpose, as the strategic operation has to be reliable enough, often requiring a measure of reliability required. A reliability-based approach has been presented to achieve the optimum design of a hybrid tether.

Findings

The optimization problem was carried out for different values of the safety factor to investigate the effect on the optimal design of tether. An analysis is carried out to show that one should not target a very high value of reliability or factor of safety, as it causes the self-weight of the tether to increase tremendously and its cost significantly.

Research limitations/implications

The present work has been carried out considering the limited data and can further be extended to determine more accurate reliability measures by considering more number of sample test data. The measured data is collected from limited required trials for demo; do not represent the exact population data.

Originality/value

Lab strength test and flight trials were conducted to acquire data for the present analysis. In field use, it was noticed that the tether degraded from top portion attached toward the balloon end because of maximum exposure and repeated usage.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 92 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 October 2008

Aachu Agrawal, Rajeev Gupta, Kanika Varma and Beena Mathur

Trans fatty acids (TFA) are deleterious to health and can lead to multiple diseases. The purpose of this paper is to study their content in Indian sweets and snacks (fast foods).

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Abstract

Purpose

Trans fatty acids (TFA) are deleterious to health and can lead to multiple diseases. The purpose of this paper is to study their content in Indian sweets and snacks (fast foods).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper used the food composition and analysis tables of the Indian National Institute of Nutrition to determine fatty acid composition of common nutrients. Separate tables provide nutrient composition of various Indian sweets and snacks including methods of preparation and amount of ingredients used. The paper calculated detailed nutritive value of these fast foods with focus on fatty acid composition using these tables. The nutritive values of more than 200 Indian sweets and snacks were determined and are presented.

Findings

The study shows that Indian sweets and snacks are very energy‐dense with calorie content varying from 136 to 494 kcal/100 g in sweets and 148‐603 kcal/100 g in snacks. TFA content of sweets varies from 0.3 to 17.7 g/100 g and snacks from 0.1 to 19.8 g/100 g. This translates into 1.9‐53.0 fat energy per cent in sweets and 1.8‐52.0 fat energy per cent in snacks.

Research limitations/implications

The study consists of analysis of secondary data obtained from raw ingredients. Many chemical changes occur during cooking and were not estimated.

Originality/value

High dietary intake of TFA leads to cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and many chronic diseases. This is possibly the largest attempt to determine TFA content of commonly used fast‐foods in India and shows that some of the traditional Indian sweets and snacks have high levels.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 38 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 March 2020

Pankaj Singh and Gaurav Agrawal

Agriculture insurance is the panacea for the farming community. Many policy interventions were implemented for stimulating agriculture insurance access to farmers in India…

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Abstract

Purpose

Agriculture insurance is the panacea for the farming community. Many policy interventions were implemented for stimulating agriculture insurance access to farmers in India. However, access to agriculture insurance constantly remained one of the major challenges to Indian policy planners. The goal of the present paper is to explore current policy interventions in the area of agriculture insurance in India.

Design/methodology/approach

The present paper reviews and analyzes the evidence literature through a content analysis method on development and performance analysis perspective of existing agriculture insurance schemes in India.

Findings

Agriculture insurance is a significant risk management policy, but this is not easily reachable to the majority of farmers in India. The government of India introduces a novel agriculture scheme every decade, but every crop insurance scheme was inconsistent and ineffective owing to operational defects. Agriculture insurance in India is still developing in terms of coverage, scope, and exposure, but farmers' dissatisfaction about agriculture insurance turned out to be a negative word of mouth. Insurance illiteracy and farmers' preference for agriculture relief payments are the main reasons for limited access to agriculture insurance. The current crop insurance schemes are improperly operated because of implementation issues at the state level.

Research limitations/implications

This paper will be useful for researchers and academicians to analyze the past and present status of crop insurance in India.

Originality/value

The paper is the unique work of the authors as it has attempted to present India's journey with agriculture insurance. An effort is made in the present study to provide a comprehensive and holistic developmental and performance analysis perspective of agriculture insurance in India.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 47 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

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