An emergy-based evaluation of a reverse logistics network for steel recycling

Efficient implementation of recycling networks requires appropriate logistical structures for managing the reverse flow of materials from users to producers. The steel sheet distributor studied had established a protocol for scrap recovery with the steel plant and its customers. The company invested in producing containers, hiring a specialized labor force and in purchasing trucks for container transportation to implement the logistics network for recycling. That network interconnected the company with two kinds of customers: the ones returning scrap and the ones who preferred to continue business-as-usual. The logistical network was analyzed using emergy synthesis, and the data obtained were used to evaluate and compare the system's environmental costs and benefits from the perspective of the distributor and the steel plant operator. The use of emergy ternary diagrams provided a way to assess recycle strategies to compare the relative economic and environmental benefits of the logistical network implemented. The minimum quantity of scrap that the distributor must recover to improve environmental benefits was determined allowing decision on whether it is worth keeping the system running. The new assessment method proposed also may help policy-makers to create strategies to reward or incentive users of reverse logistics, and help to establish regulations, by decreasing taxes or stimulating innovation, for effectively implement the National Policy on Solid Waste. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Melhoria do nível de serviço no atendimento ao cliente por meio da estrutura direta de distribuição Transit Point

Increasingly competitive markets have driven the search for companies in many different ways to win and keep customers. The service level is basically the performance of companies in fulfilling the orders made, or how companies demonstrate to their clients efforts in their behalf. This work aims to solve the difficulties faced by a multinational company present in Brazil, in the distribution of its products in the category Ice Cream in order to improve the service level of their customers. Review the logistics network and concepts related to the distribution system of products is one of several ways to achieve this goal, as well as the use of IT and tools to assist in planning and programming of the physical distribution of products. In this study we used the concept of direct distribution system called Transit Point (TP). The TP provides at the same time, a strategy of rapid response, flexibility, low transportation costs and no inventory. A router - software capable of simulating the actual conditions experienced in the daily distribution - was used to assist in calculations. Results showed reductions of up to 47.5% in transportation costs and better conditions were provided in the distribution of products, positively impacting on service levels and in the maintenance of products quality, with a reduction of 1.6% of the total costs involve

Using the Analytic Network Process to evaluate the relation between Reverse Logistics and corporate performance in Brazilian companies

Reverse Logistics activities are practiced by most Brazilian companies. However, a relevant problem is to identify how different Reverse Logistics programs can affect corporate performance indicators. Analytic Network Process is one of the analytical tools, which can be used to handle a multi-criteria decision-making problem and it is the only one that can capture the interdependencies between the criteria under consideration. This method was adopted here to study the influence of Reverse Logistics practices in corporate performance. Preliminary results indicated that the method can be used, reaching a result compatible to the reality of the Brazilian companies.

A study of reverse logistics flow management in vehicle battery industries in the midwest of the state of São Paulo (Brazil)

Having the objective of minimizing costs and improving their image in the consumer and export market, car battery industries began to seek environmental alternatives geared towards sustainable development. Reverse logistics flow represents an unprecedented tool for the economic and operational development of company activities, as well as a differential in the search for competitive advantages through environmentally correct practices. The aim of this paper is to describe the reverse logistics chain adopted by automotive battery industries in the midwest of the state of São Paulo, proposing a reverse logistics framework for small manufacturers that creates actions aimed at not harming the environment. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preprocessing data for short-term load forecasting with a general regression neural network and a moving average filter

This paper proposes a filter based on a general regression neural network and a moving average filter, for preprocessing half-hourly load data for short-term multinodal load forecasting, discussed in another paper. Tests made with half-hourly load data from nine New Zealand electrical substations demonstrate that this filter is able to handle noise, missing data and abnormal data. © 2011 IEEE.