International Journal of Industrial Engineering & Production Research
Year:2024 | Volume:35 | Issue:1|Papers Count:13

The construction industry is one of the high-demand industries related to business and projects. Robust materials management that is subject to inventory management is the highest factor to enhance the Supply chain management (SCM) performance that will indicate the project's success within the complexity of the project. This research aims to measure the performance of Supply Chain Management at PT Cahaya Amal Taqwa as a new housing developer who focuses on subsidized housing that faces a project delay because they have less data documentation and analysis from previous projects. The issue is most newcomer construction projects never analyze and measure their supply chain management (SCM) which leads them to confusion about the project improvement. The research uses the Supply Chain Operational Reference (SCOR) method to know how much inventory management impacts supply chain management performance and how it overcomes the issues.   Most studies only measure the SCM performance and show which aspects need to be developed without any scheme of solution offered. This research presents the scheme of improvement for the inventory model and provides forecasting for the whole SCM performance after the implementation of a new model of inventory management. The findings confirm that inventory management significantly impacts the whole supply chain management performance in the construction industry. The development of a solution system brought comprehensive results by classifying KPIs for inventory management and an interdependence network was created to define the new model of inventory system for the solution. This research proves that improving an aspect will impact significantly the whole SCM performance instead of improving KPIs one by one.

Cashew nuts, a plantation commodity from Indonesia, come with a high economic value. Cashew nut processing enterprises are crucial in elevating the value added, broadening the work field, and enhancing labor absorption. This research provides an analysis of the performance and marketing strategy of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of cashew nut processing in Muna. It was a case study using explorative, descriptive, and qualitative methods and involved an informant, i.e., the owner of CV Hukasari Semesta. Results demonstrated that CV Hukasari Semesta contributed to the household economic sector, especially in espousing the cashew nut supply chain, which consisted of cashew nut farmers as the key material suppliers, village collecting traders, transport workers, transportation entrepreneurs, processing workers, and store employees. In operating the cashew nut processing business, parties concerned applied strategies for staple ingredient procurement, processing process, management, packaging, capital procurement, more labor recruitment, processing technology procurement, product innovation by varying product packaging and flavors, market network expansion by distributing products to supermarkets and retailers, and market segmentation. Additionally, among the marketing strategies to escalate cashew nut processing MSMEs in Muna were improving product innovation by developing more attractive product packaging based on national standards, carrying out well-planned branding, developing digital-based product information and marketing systems, honing processing and marketing labor skills, increasing processing industrial tool technology, and bolstering business capital.

Green human resources management (GHRM) represents the process of generalizing and incorporating various environmental practices in the field of HR policy and is considered one of the most important elements of supporting sustainable development. Therefore, companies today must flexibly determine pro-environmental HR practices and the extent of their impact on sustainable development. This study aimed to determine GHRM practices for Jordanian service companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange to promote sustainable development. The study data was collected using the analytical and descriptive methodology. A random sample was selected including 383 administrative employees in 139 Jordanian service companies. Data were collected using an electronic questionnaire and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The statistical results showed that there is a strong positive relationship to the impact of GHRM in promoting sustainable development for Jordanian service companies. Based on the results, the study recommended the necessity of service companies adopting the concept of GHRM and its impact on sustainable development. It also recommended that the organization should actively work to promote constructive transformation within societal institutions and spread knowledge and awareness related to the impact of GHRM on sustainable development and thus call for its advancement.

This study aims to explore gender differences in occupational stress sources, coping strategies, and emotional well-being among academic staff in Saudi public universities. The leading theory of transactional stress and coping implies the impact of stress and coping strategies on the health and well-being of people. The study surveyed 475 academic staff, 340 females and 137 males employed in Saudi public universities. They were invited to participate in the study by responding to the questionnaire. The study's significant findings reveal distinct variations in occupational stress levels between male and female academic staff. Additionally, it highlights gender-based differences in coping strategies employed by academic staff. Furthermore, the study identifies a prevalent issue of suboptimal levels of emotional well-being among academic staff at public universities in Saudi Arabia. These findings underscore the importance of addressing gender-specific stressors and promoting strategies for enhancing emotional well-being within the academic environment. The presented results consider relevant research, and the practical implications indicate that when Saudi-based universities implement policies and support systems for their staff members, they should consider the gender-based differences emphasized in this study. This could involve providing targeted support programs and policies to address the specific stressors that male and female academics face. Also, encouraging open communication, promoting work-life balance, and fostering a culture of well-being can contribute to creating a more inclusive and supportive academic environment for all faculty members.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a valuable tool not only for analyzing the environmental impact of a product but also for assisting in early-stage product development before incurring scaling-up costs. When validating a new process or project, it may be constrained to align with existing regulations or standards. Therefore, combining LCA with other applicable standards is essential to demonstrate the project's feasibility. In this regard, the water quality index (WQI) and Water Exploitation Index (WEI) provide additional information that reflects the overall water quality at a specific location and time. The objective of this study is to utilize the LCA framework in conjunction with the Malaysia WQI and WEI to protect the water quantity and water quality of the river. A negative change in the WQI score indicates that the current effluent from the process is degrading the river's classification, rendering it undesirable and necessitating a reduction in concentration. The findings demonstrate that the method for determining effluent requirements for a water treatment system is straightforward and replicable. Such an approach could be employed, for example, in an environmental impact analysis of a project to verify its viability.

Electric motorcycles (EM) are promising solutions for eco-friendly vehicles, but there are some dilemmas caused by the fossil-based energy used for charging and the limited charging infrastructure. This article proposes solving these dilemmas by designing a Solar-Powered Mobile Battery Swap Charging Station (MBSCS) for EM infrastructure. MBSCS will integrate solar power plants as a sustainable energy source and using battery swap system to accommodate EM. Design thinking methodology is used to develop the initial design of MBSCS and technical indicator assessment through focus group discussions with expert panelists. Simulations are conducted using PVSyst software to evaluate various system variants defined according to the selected components. The results of this study provide the MBSCS initial design, technical indicators to assess the MBSCS system, simulation results, and optimal system variant configuration. The findings of this study will mainly contribute to a solution for EM challenges and offer an environmentally friendly charging infrastructure. This study is expected to serve as an alternative solution for future mobile charging stations designed to answer the limited charging infrastructure as well as to demonstrate the potential use of portable solar power plant to overcome dependence on fossil-based energy.

Due to the many applications of the travelling salesman problem, solving this problem has been considered by many researchers. One of the subsets of the travelling salesman problem is the metric travelling salesman problem in which a triangular inequality is observed. This is a crucial problem in combinatorial optimization as it is used as a standard problem as a basis for proving complexity or providing solutions to other problems in this class. The solution is used usually in logistics, manufacturing and other areas for cost minimization. Since this is an NP-hard problem, heuristic and meta-heuristic algorithms seek near-optimal solutions in polynomial time as numerical solutions. For this purpose, in this paper, a heuristic algorithm based on the minimum spanning tree is presented to solve this problem. Then, by generating 20 instances, the efficiency of the proposed algorithm was compared with one of the most famous algorithms for solving the travelling salesman problem, namely the nearest neighbour algorithm and the ant colony optimization algorithm. The results show that the proposed algorithm has good convergence to the optimal solution. In general, the proposed algorithm has a balance between runtime and the solution found compared to the other two algorithms. So the nearest neighbour algorithm has a very good runtime to reach the solution but did not have the necessary convergence to the optimal solution, and vice versa, the ant colony algorithm converges very well to the optimal solution, but, its runtime solution is very longer than the proposed algorithm.

Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) algorithm, which is a new metaheuristic algorithm that has shown promising results in comparison to other optimization methods. The surprise pounce is a cooperative behavior and chasing style exhibited by Harris' Hawks in nature. To address the limitations of HHO, specifically its susceptibility to local optima and lack of population diversity, a modified version called Modified Harris Hawks Optimization (MHHO) is proposed for solving global optimization problems. A mutation-selection approach is utilized in the proposed Modified Harris Hawks Optimization (MHHO) algorithm. Through systematic experiments conducted on 23 benchmark functions, the results have demonstrated that the MHHO algorithm offers a more reliable solution compared to other established algorithms. The MHHO algorithm exhibits superior performance to the basic HHO, as evidenced by its superior average values and standard deviations. Additionally, it achieves the smallest average values among other algorithms while also improving the convergence speed. The experiments demonstrate competitive results compared to other meta-heuristic algorithms, which provide evidence that MHHO outperforms others in terms of optimization performance.

This article analyses what determines remittance inflows into Malaysia. Using Autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) approach, the study used time-series data for the period 1987-2018. The study the validated theory that says remittance inflows ought to be encouraged through determinants such as real wages, inflation, financial development, exchange rate among others. Variables like exchange rate, inflation, gross domestic product growth, financial development and real wages significantly determine the remittance received into Malaysia. Precisely, inflation and real wages significantly impacted and positively encouraged remittance inflows into Malaysia from abroad. On the other hand, remittance inflows reacted negatively to gross domestic products growth, exchange rate and financial development. Furthermore, the significance of the determinants differs. Precisely, real wages happen to be additionally responsive in comparison to inflation and the reason is that its elasticity is greater. In addition, both inflation and real wages have great impact in Malaysia. This study recommends that the determinants of migrants’ remittances in the country should be given attention which will strongly aid in employing remittances for the reduction of poverty, rising investment at the national level and therefore, aid in boosting growth and enhancing sustainable development to Malaysia.

Although the existence of swimming pools is very important for people who need to exercise or just have fun with their families, there are still few studies conducted to explore how to analyze the strategic planning of swimming pool companies in order to grow and develop. For this reason, this research will carry out strategic planning for the company Oasis Pool. The research stage consists of analyzing the internal and external strategies of the Oasis Pool company using the AHP SWOT method. In the second stage, a structural analysis of Oasis Pool's corporate strategy is carried out using the interpretative structural modeling (ISM) method. The results showed that the most appropriate strategy in the development of Oasis Pool's business is a growth strategy. This strategy can be implemented by maximizing fast response services and always maintaining spare parts availability to increase customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the key element of the strategy that will determine the success of Oasis Pool's corporate strategic planning is to maintain fast response to improve service quality. In order to maintain Oasis Pool's business to grow and develop and win the market competition, it is necessary to do the following things such as: design a good work system, active management to make improvements and innovations and keep up with technological developments. The main contribution of this article is to assist swimming pool managers such as Oasis Pool in carrying out effective strategic planning using AHP - SWOT and ISM methods.

The automobile workshop queue system has been optimized using various approaches, such as queuing theory, simulation, and probability. The utilization of response surface methodology (RSM) for optimizing automobile workshop queue systems is not yet established. The utilization of RSM with direct observation enables the detection of patterns of correlations between variables and responses, which are then represented through mathematical equations. The optimization process involves numerous factors that impact queue performance, which can be categorized into two parts. The number of servers, number of phases, number of workers, worker experience, and layout are classified in inner design. This study examines the relationship between two components of the outer design, specifically the arrival rate and the interarrival time. The responses analyzed are queue cost, service time, average customer waiting time, and number of customers. The findings indicate that queue costs are not reliable for establishing the optimum value due to the significant impact of the cost structure on the structure of the optimal location. This study discovered that the number of leaving customers is related to queue costs and is relevant in selecting the optimal point. This study also formulates mathematical equations for predicting the optimal point. This study emphasizes the necessity for further investigation to uncover alternative mathematical equations that can precisely predict the optimal conditions for various types of services.

In the ever-evolving realm of finance, investors have a myriad of strategies at their disposal to effectively and cleverly allocate their wealth in the expansive financial market. Among these strategies, portfolio optimization emerges as a prominent approach used by individuals seeking to mitigate the inherent risks that accompany investments. Portfolio optimization entails the selection of the optimal combination of securities and their proportions to achieve lower risk and higher return. To delve deeper into the decision-making process of investors and assess the impact of psychology on their choices, behavioral finance biases can be introduced into the portfolio optimization model. One such bias is regret, which refers to the feeling of remorse that can induce hesitation in making significant decisions and avoiding actions that may lead to unfavorable investment outcomes. It is not uncommon for investors to hold onto losing investments for extended periods, reluctant to acknowledge mistakes and accept losses due to this behavioral tendency. Interestingly, in their quest to sidestep regret, investors may inadvertently overlook potential opportunities. This research article aims to undertake an in-depth examination of 41 publications from the past two decades, providing a comprehensive review of the models and applications proposed for the regret approach in portfolio optimization. The study categorizes these methods into accurate and approximate models, scrutinizing their respective timeframes and exploring additional constraints that are considered. Utilizing this article will provide investors with insights into the latest research advancements in the realm of regret, familiarize them with influential authors in the field, and offer a glimpse into the future direction of this area of study.  The extensive review findings indicate a growth in the adoption of the regret approach in the past few years and its advancements in portfolio optimization.

The construction supply chain is presently the focus of considerable interest among numerous project-related businesses. Strong project management is essential for the effective completion of a project, since restricted budgets and time constraints are considered for each project. The research uses multi-objective linear programming to create a mathematical model of the building supply chain. The primary aims of the present investigation are to limit the expenses associated with logistics and to diminish the release of greenhouse gases caused by transportation. Given the reality of managing several projects concurrently, the model provided comprises a network of projects. Following the completion of each project, an inspection is arranged to assess its level of success. Estimating the costs of a project relies on several variables. In reality, there are always uncertainties highlighted in several studies about the uncertainty of cost and time parameters. This research incorporates many characteristics concurrently to simulate real-world settings and address the issue of uncertainty. The expression of uncertainty for all costs, activity length, inspection, supplier capacity, and resource demand are represented by triangular fuzzy numbers. Ultimately, the precision of the model's performance has been verified using a numerical illustration.