Reframing reverse logistics, reducing costs

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

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.

Partner selection for reverse logistics centres in green supply chains: a fuzzy artificial immune optimization approach

The design of reverse logistics networks has now emerged as a major issue for manufacturers, not only in developed countries where legislation and societal pressures are strong, but also in developing countries where the adoption of reverse logistics practices may offer a competitive advantage. This paper presents a new model for partner selection for reverse logistic centres in green supply chains. The model offers three advantages. Firstly, it enables economic, environment, and social factors to be considered simultaneously. Secondly, by integrating fuzzy set theory and artificial immune optimization technology, it enables both quantitative and qualitative criteria to be considered simultaneously throughout the whole decision-making process. Thirdly, it extends the flat criteria structure for partner selection evaluation for reverse logistics centres to the more suitable hierarchy structure. The applicability of the model is demonstrated by means of an empirical application based on data from a Chinese electronic equipment and instruments manufacturing company.

Modelo de recolección de residuos sólidos botellas plásticas y latas utilizando como aliado el sistema de transporte masivo en Bogotá

En las grandes ciudades, la disposición de residuos se ha convertido en un problema ambiental de magnitud mundial con impacto negativo por el manejo inadecuado de los residuos sólidos diarios. El propósito es utilizar el sistema de transporte publico de Bogotá (Transmilenio) como punto de recolección de botellas plásticas y latas, para crear un proyecto de responsabilidad ambiental el cual tendrá resultados positivos a nivel cultural, social, y a largo plazo, financieramente. A través del estudio de diferentes propuestas tanto locales como internacionales, fueron identificados los principales factores de éxito de estos proyectos los cuales se incluyeron para adecuar la presente propuesta para la ciudad de Bogotá teniendo en cuenta sus actuales condiciones. Después de identificar las características requeridas para Bogotá, se realizó un estudio demográfico para poder saber cuántos ciudadanos estarían dispuestos a participar. Como resultado, muchos pasajeros de Transmilenio esperan una retribución económica en el costo del pasaje del sistema. La prueba piloto se diseñó de acuerdo con la cantidad de envases recolectados, incluyendo el tipo de vehículos, como también la cantidad de personas y maquinas necesarias para el éxito del proyecto. Con la propuesta del proyecto completa, se realiza una evaluación financiera y económica para identificar los costos y gastos. La conclusión final de esta propuesta es que el modelo propuesto puede ser aplicado en Bogotá dadas sus características. Los beneficios sociales y ambientales también se destacan, como también el cambio cultural por parte de los ciudadanos hacia las prácticas ecológicas.

Logística reversa numa empresa de laminação de vidros: um estudo de caso

Este trabalho apresenta uma aplicação da Logística Reversa numa empresa multinacional que atua na área de laminação de vidros no Brasil. Na empresa estudada, a sucata gerada pelos seus clientes pode ser usada para realimentar o seu processo de produção. Inicialmente, são discutidos os principais aspectos relacionados ao tema, tais como, definição de Logística Reversa, ciclo de vida do produto, motivos e destinos do retorno, além dos fatores que influenciam a eficiência de um processo de Logística Reversa. A seguir, ilustradas pelo estudo de caso, são apresentadas e comentadas as etapas para uma implementação de um sistema de Logística Reversa ser bem sucedida. Finalmente, comentam-se as dificuldades, ganhos e vantagens competitivas obtidas por empresas que adotaram soluções da Logística Reversa, em particular na empresa em que o estudo de caso foi desenvolvido.

Modelo de Gerenciamento da Logística Reversa

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Green supply chain management: Mapping the territory

The objective of this paper is to identify the main definitions, related practices and to point out future directions in green supply chain management (GSCM). After a literature review and systematisation of the published articles in this field, it was possible to identify: a) the main research objectives of analysed papers; b) the research methods adopted; c) the predominantly analysed industrial sectors; d) the GSCM practices considered by the researchers. Results are presented in each of these analytical perspectives. The main findings are: 1) there are various classifications, nomenclatures and types of GSCM practices, but the most commonly used by studies in GSCM are cleaner production, product design, reverse logistic and green purchasing; 2) from the highlighted definitions, the tonic is to adapt operating activities and incorporate the supply chain management philosophy (integration/ collaboration) to environmental concerns (impact reduction) in relations between links in the chain. These results can be useful for those interested in environmental management as well as supply chain management, considering the growing interest in GSCM. We also propose a research agenda on this subject. This is one of the most recent literature review and systematisation on green supply chain management. © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Proposta de reestruturação do fluxo logístico reverso de embalagens hortifrutícolas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Business process reengineering: soluzioni ingegneristiche in ottica di re-layout, riorganizzazione del processo "service" ed attività di vendor rating in HSD S.p.A.

L'attività svolta in HSD S.p.A. si è concentrata sulle seguenti tematiche: progettazione di un nuovo layout con annessa pianificazione delle attività necessarie e valutazione economica dell'investimento, audit focalizzato ad individuare le criticità legate al processo di logistica inversa e proporne soluzioni migliorative ed infine implementazione di un sistema di controllo specifico e comparato dei fornitori.

Gestão de embalagens vazias de agrotóxicos - logística reversa em pequenos municípios brasileiros: o caso do município de Bom Repouso, MG

O Brasil assumiu e mantém desde 2008 o primeiro lugar mundial em consumo de agrotóxicos e, tendo em vista este uso intensivo, é possível estimar a grande quantidade de embalagens vazias de agrotóxicos (EVAs) geradas todos os anos no país. Com a promulgação da Lei 9974 de 2000, a criação do Instituto Nacional de Processamento de Embalagens Vazias (inpEV) em 2001 e a implantação da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos (PNRS) em 2010, a destinação adequada das EVAs por meio da logística reversa passou a ocorrer de maneira mais eficiente, chegando a um percentual de 94% de devolução em 2014 segundo dados do INPEV. No entanto, este processo foi originalmente concebido para atender grandes áreas rurais, com economias de escala que o favorecem, e portanto não está adequado à realidade de pequenas comunidades rurais, geralmente com infraestrutura precária e mais isoladas. Sendo assim, ainda é comum nos municípios de pequeno porte que essas embalagens sejam queimadas, armazenadas em locais não adequados ou simplesmente abandonadas no campo. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a gestão de EVAs em pequenos municípios agrícolas brasileiros, com foco no processo de logística reversa, a partir de um estudo de caso. Este foi realizado em Bom Repouso, MG, município de 10500 habitantes, caracterizado pela produção de morango e batata, com mão de obra familiar e uso intensivo de agrotóxicos. As seguintes etapas de pesquisa foram desenvolvidas: entrevistas semiestruturadas com os atores da cadeia de logística reversa de EVAs; levantamento documental; análise comparativa entre a quantidade de embalagens vendidas e a quantidade total de embalagens devolvidas entre os anos de 2012-2013 e 2013-2014, bem como um levantamento dos agrotóxicos mais comercializados no município. Verificou-se que, no período 2012-2013, a quantidade de embalagens vendidas foi cerca de 30 vezes maior que a de embalagens devolvidas, e para o período entre 2013-2014 a mesma relação foi da ordem de 26 vezes. Além disso, a massa total de embalagens devolvidas corresponde a apenas 3,3% da massa de vendidas no período 2012-2013, e 3,8% para 2013-2014. Ou seja, aproximadamente 96% das embalagens comercializadas em ambos os períodos não foram devolvidas à central de Pouso Alegre. Além disso, há produtos extremamente tóxicos para a saúde e para o meio ambiente entre os 20 mais vendidos no município. Não estão estabelecidas políticas públicas municipais voltadas à gestão desses resíduos, como pode ser verificado através das entrevistas e do levantamento documental. Dificuldades relacionadas ao armazenamento das EVAs até o momento da devolução e seu transporte até a Central de Recolhimento foram apontadas pelos entrevistados como principais motivos para não cumprir suas responsabilidades e, consequente, descartar inadequadamente esses resíduos.

Long-Lasting Protection of Activity of Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors and Protease Inhibitors (PIs) by Boosted PI Containing Regimens.

BACKGROUND: The accumulation of mutations after long-lasting exposure to a failing combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is problematic and severely reduces the options for further successful treatments. METHODS: We studied patients from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study who failed cART with nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and either a ritonavir-boosted PI (PI/r) or a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). The loss of genotypic activity <3, 3-6, >6 months after virological failure was analyzed with Stanford algorithm. Risk factors associated with early emergence of drug resistance mutations (<6 months after failure) were identified with multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Ninety-nine genotypic resistance tests from PI/r-treated and 129 from NNRTI-treated patients were analyzed. The risk of losing the activity of ≥1 NRTIs was lower among PI/r- compared to NNRTI-treated individuals <3, 3-6, and >6 months after failure: 8.8% vs. 38.2% (p = 0.009), 7.1% vs. 46.9% (p<0.001) and 18.9% vs. 60.9% (p<0.001). The percentages of patients who have lost PI/r activity were 2.9%, 3.6% and 5.4% <3, 3-6, >6 months after failure compared to 41.2%, 49.0% and 63.0% of those who have lost NNRTI activity (all p<0.001). The risk to accumulate an early NRTI mutation was strongly associated with NNRTI-containing cART (adjusted odds ratio: 13.3 (95% CI: 4.1-42.8), p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The loss of activity of PIs and NRTIs was low among patients treated with PI/r, even after long-lasting exposure to a failing cART. Thus, more options remain for second-line therapy. This finding is potentially of high relevance, in particular for settings with poor or lacking virological monitoring.

Viral suppression rates in salvage treatment with raltegravir improved with the administration of genotypic partially active or inactive nucleoside/tide reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

BACKGROUND: Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) are often administered in salvage therapy even if genotypic resistance tests (GRTs) indicate high-level resistance, but little is known about the benefit of these additional NRTIs. METHODS: The effect of <2 compared with 2 NRTIs on viral suppression (HIV-1 RNA < 50 copies/mL) at week 24 was studied in salvage patients receiving raltegravir. Intent-to-treat and per-protocol analyses were performed; last observation carried forward imputation was used to deal with missing information. Logistic regressions were weighted to create a pseudopopulation in which the probability of receiving <2 and 2 NRTIs was unrelated to baseline factors predicting treatment response. RESULTS: One-hundred thirty patients were included, of whom 58.5% (n = 76) received <2 NRTIs. NRTIs were often replaced by other drug classes. Patients with 2 NRTIs received less additional drug classes compared with patients with <2 NRTIs [median (IQR): 1 (1-2) compared with 2 (1-2), P Wilcoxon < 0.001]. The activity of non-NRTI treatment components was lower in the 2 NRTIs group compared with the <2 NRTIs group [median (IQR) genotypic sensitivity score: 2 (1.5-2.5) compared with 2.5 (2-3), P Wilcoxon < 0.001]. The administration of <2 NRTIs was associated with a worse viral suppression rate at week 24. The odds ratios were 0.34 (95% confidence interval: 0.13 to 0.89, P = 0.027) and 0.19 (95% confidence interval: 0.05 to 0.79, P = 0.023) when performing the last observation carried forward and the per-protocol approach, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that partially active or inactive NRTIs contribute to treatment response, and thus the use of 2 NRTIs in salvage regimens that include raltegravir seems warranted.

Atherosclerosis in aged mice over-expressing the reverse cholesterol transport genes

We determined whether over-expression of one of the three genes involved in reverse cholesterol transport, apolipoprotein (apo) AI, lecithin-cholesterol acyl transferase (LCAT) and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), or of their combinations influenced the development of diet-induced atherosclerosis. Eight genotypic groups of mice were studied (AI, LCAT, CETP, LCAT/AI, CETP/AI, LCAT/CETP, LCAT/AI/CETP, and non-transgenic) after four months on an atherogenic diet. The extent of atherosclerosis was assessed by morphometric analysis of lipid-stained areas in the aortic roots. The relative influence (R²) of genotype, sex, total cholesterol, and its main sub-fraction levels on atherosclerotic lesion size was determined by multiple linear regression analysis. Whereas apo AI (R² = 0.22, P < 0.001) and CETP (R² = 0.13, P < 0.01) expression reduced lesion size, the LCAT (R² = 0.16, P < 0.005) and LCAT/AI (R² = 0.13, P < 0.003) genotypes had the opposite effect. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk of developing atherosclerotic lesions greater than the 50th percentile was 4.3-fold lower for the apo AI transgenic mice than for non-transgenic mice, and was 3.0-fold lower for male than for female mice. These results show that apo AI overexpression decreased the risk of developing large atherosclerotic lesions but was not sufficient to reduce the atherogenic effect of LCAT when both transgenes were co-expressed. On the other hand, CETP expression was sufficient to eliminate the deleterious effect of LCAT and LCAT/AI overexpression. Therefore, increasing each step of the reverse cholesterol transport per se does not necessarily imply protection against atherosclerosis while CETP expression can change specific athero genic scenarios.

New Equation for Prediction of Reverse Remodeling after Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Objectives: To integrate data from two-dimensional echocardiography (2D ECHO), three-dimensional echocardiography (3D ECHO), and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) for prediction of left ventricular (LV) reverse remodeling (LVRR) after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). It was also compared the evaluation of cardiac dyssynchrony by TDI and 3D ECHO. Methods: Twenty-four consecutive patients with heart failure, sinus rhythm, QRS = 120 msec, functional class III or IV and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) = 0.35 underwent CRT. 2D ECHO, 3D ECHO with systolic dyssynchrony index (SDI) analysis, and TDI were performed before, 3 and 6 months after CRT. Cardiac dyssynchrony analyses by TDI and SDI were compared with the Pearson's correlation test. Before CRT, a univariate analysis of baseline characteristics was performed for the construction of a logistic regression model to identify the best predictors of LVRR. Results: After 3 months of CRT, there was a moderate correlation between TDI and SDI (r = 0.52). At other time points, there was no strong correlation. Nine of twenty-four (38%) patients presented with LVRR 6 months after CRT. After logistic regression analysis, SDI (SDI > 11%) was the only independent factor in the prediction of LVRR 6 months of CRT (sensitivity = 0.89 and specificity = 0.73). After construction of receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves, an equation was established to predict LVRR: LVRR =-0.4LVDD (mm) + 0.5LVEF (%) + 1.1SDI (%), with responders presenting values >0 (sensitivity = 0.67 and specificity = 0.87). Conclusions: In this study, there was no strong correlation between TDI and SDI. An equation is proposed for the prediction of LVRR after CRT. Although larger trials are needed to validate these findings, this equation may be useful to candidates for CRT. (Echocardiography 2012;29:678-687)