In the changing competitive landscape and with growing environmental awareness, reverse logistics issues have become prominent in manufacturing organizations. As a result there is an increasing focus on green aspects of the supply chain to reduce environmental impacts and ensure environmental efficiency. This is largely driven by changes made in government rules and regulations with which organizations must comply in order to successfully operate in different regions of the world. Therefore, manufacturing organizations are striving hard to implement environmentally efficient supply chains while simultaneously maximizing their profit to compete in the market. To address the issue, this research studies a forward-reverse logistics model. This paper puts forward a model of a multi-period, multi-echelon, vehicle routing, forward-reverse logistics system. The network considered in the model assumes a fixed number of suppliers, facilities, distributors, customer zones, disassembly locations, re-distributors and second customer zones. The demand levels at customer zones are assumed to be deterministic. The objective of the paper is to maximize the total expected profit and also to obtain an efficient route for the vehicle corresponding to an optimal/ near optimal solution. The proposed model is resolved using Artificial Immune System (AIS) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithms. The findings show that for the considered model, AIS works better than the PSO. This information is important for a manufacturing organization engaged in reverse logistics programs and in running units efficiently. This paper also contributes to the limited literature on reverse logistics that considers costs and profit as well as vehicle route management.

Innovation is crucial for businesses to address key challenges anticipated by the changes in socioeconomic and environmental issues. Innovation capability is largely seen as a vital source for generating sustainable competitive advantage. The paper investigates the determinants of innovation capability, and their relationship with organisational performance in service organisation context. The study contributes to the limited knowledge on the innovation capabilities in developing countries by providing empirical evidence from the Jordanian banking sector.

Purpose - The academic literature and research lines exploring the effect of quality improvement methods on environmental performance still remain in early stages. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate, through a systematic review of the existing academic literature, the environmental (green) impact of using quality and operations improvement methods such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma. This includes the impact on energy saving and the usage of natural resources. Design/methodology/approach - This study follows a systematic literature review approach through which it analyses research papers published in top 16 operations and quality management journals. No specific time frame was established, but a set of keywords were used to shortlist the articles. A sample of 70 articles was finally shortlisted and analysed to provide a discussion on environmental concerns related to Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma. Findings - The comprehensive review of shortlisted articles indicates that both Lean and Six Sigma can be considered effective methods to support the conservation of resources, combat global warming and saving energy. Various scholars provide evidence of this and as such, organisations should not only consider these methods to manage quality and improve operational performance but also meet environmental regulations. A set of research questions that demands further investigation has also been proposed based on the findings of this research. Research limitations - This study is limited to a sample of 70 articles collected from top 16 operations and quality management journals. The search of journals is also limited to a set of key words (‘Lean’, ‘Green’, ‘Six Sigma’, ‘environment’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘sustainability’) used to shortlist the sample size. Practical implications - The study shows that organisations can consider the adoption of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma to meet environmental regulations, save costs and also meet quality management standards. This will contribute in helping organisations to formulate more effective and inclusive strategies which do not only consider the quality and operational dimensions but also the environmental dimension. Originality/value - Literature exploring the environmental/green impact of quality management methods commonly used in industry is limited. There is also a lack of studies aiming to investigate the green impact of Lean and Six Sigma in top operations and quality management journals. The study focusing on investigating the green impact of Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma methods altogether is also a research first of its kind.

Purpose - This study aims to address the management of reverse flows in the context of service supply chains. The study builds on the characteristics of services production reported in literature to: identify diverse types of reverse flows in services supply chains; discuss key issues associated to the management of reverse service flows; and suggest directions for research for developing the knowledge for management of reverse flows in service contexts. Design/Methodology/Approach - This study first provides an overview of the theoretical background which supports the identification and the characterization of the flows, and the reverse flows, involved in service production. A short summary of each paper accepted in this special issue is also provided to give readers an overview of the various issues around reverse exchanges in service supply chains that authors have attempted to address. Findings - In this study we identify distinct types of reverse flows in services production building on the analysis of the characteristics of service production and delivery reported in the literature. Our discussion highlights the fact that service supply chains can be quite diverse in the type of exchanges of inputs and outputs that take place between customers and providers, showing that often there can be substantial flows of items to return. In particular, and differently from manufacturing contexts, we highlight that in service supply chains providers might need to handle bi-directional reverse flows. Research limitations/implications - The lack of research on reverse service supply chains is to a great extent a consequence of dominant paradigms which often identify the absence of physical product flows as a key distinguishing feature of service supply chains, and therefore lead to the misbelief that in services there is nothing to return. This special issue therefore aims to clarify this misunderstanding through the limited selection of eight papers that address various issues around reverse exchanges in service supply chains. Originality/value - While theoretical and empirical research in supply chain is abundant, management of reverse exchanges in service supply chain is sparse. In this special issue we aim to provide a first contribution to understand how the characteristics of service production raise new issues for the management of reverse flows in service supply chains, and to foster the development of adequate management strategies.

Road transportation has become an important factor in international trade and the management of supply chains. However, this form of product logistics has generally been considered inefficient. Traditionally, practical inefficiencies of road transportation have been addressed through mathematical modelling, operations research-based methods and simulation. This paper presents an alternative systematic approach to improve road transport operations based on lean thinking and the reduction of the seven transportation extended wastes. To do this, the paper reviews the extant literature in the area of lean road transportation, providing a structured research definition of the application of lean thinking in road transport operations and hence guidance on the limited research conducted in this field. The systematic lean transportation method is then presented and empirically tested through a case study in a Mexican firm. The results obtained from the case study indicate that the proposed systematic lean method is an effective alternative for the improvement of road transport operations, with the number of distribution routes and distance travelled being reduced by 27 and 32%, respectively. The proposed method can be used by organisations as a guide to help them improve their road transport operations. In addition, the paper’s aim is to contribute by stimulating scholars to further study the application of lean thinking and waste reduction in road transport operations.

There is little research documenting the use of clean technologies (CT) in Agribusiness in Mexico. In this regard, the objective of this article is to provide an in-depth literature review that can cover this gap and help decision-makers and investors to identify opportunity areas in the industry. It also provides a good theoretical background for researchers and practitioners to further investigate applications of clean technologies in this sector or other potential ones. To conduct this research, an in-depth analysis of the literature on clean technologies and their use by agribusiness in Mexico was carried out. The databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, and Springer were used to identify the relevant international journals in the field and their research-contributions. The main results show that there is a need for financial investments on clean technologies CT that can help optimizing processes and products on the sector. The results also showed that CT is mainly used to minimize energy consumption, to optimize planting and harvesting, to enhance irrigation and water use, and to maintain the soil fertility. Despite these wide applications, the authors found that the penetration of CT is still low and policy-strategies are required with effective financial investments in the sector.

Increasing competitive environments and markets have forced manufacturing organisations to continuously seek improvements in their production processes as an alternative to reduce operational costs. In this context, the ability to measure performance is a key factor in the success of any improvement initiative. Two of the most important and used metrics of performance in manufacturing are productivity and quality. This book establishes the relationship between two highly used measures of productivity and quality, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and Process Capability (PC). In addition, the book also proposes Overall Resource Effectiveness (ORE) as an improved measure of equipment and process effectiveness. The book provides a useful perspective and guide to understand the interaction of different elements of performance in manufacturing processes. This may help managers to take better decisions about how to run and improve their manufacturing operations more effectively and efficiently. Therefore, this book should be especially useful to academics and practitioners in the field of operations and production management.

This article aims at examining the mediating role played by Organizational Learning (OL) capabilities at different contextualization levels on the association between Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies and operational performance. For that, we gathered information from 135 firms that have initiated their digital transformation towards the fourth industrial revolution era. Data was analyzed by means of multivariate data techniques. Our results show that learning capabilities at an organization level positively mediate the impact of I4.0 for achieving higher operational performance levels. However, OL at a team and individual level may not present a significant effect on such mediation. As I4.0 is claimed to facilitate a faster and more efficient identification and solution of manufacturing problems, our research provides empirical evidence to indicate that companies that systematically foster learning and knowledge sharing at an organization level can obtain greater benefits from I4.0 technologies adoption.

Performing well in developing production industry is an important factor for companies to survive and sustain a competitive edge in the current turbulent business environment. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of learning orientation on innovation performance with the mediating role of operations strategy (cost, quality, flexibility, and delivery). Environmental uncertainty plays a moderator role in this model. Using a questionnaire to measure variables, data were collected from 243 UK production companies. Structural Equations Modelling used for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The results support 9 out of thirteen research hypotheses. Learning orientation influences innovation performance and two dimensions of operations strategy (delivery and quality) mediates this relationship. Also, environmental uncertainty positively moderates the relationship between quality and flexibility strategies with innovation performance.

The prediction of the production of food is a very important topic that is attracting more the attention of researchers, scholars and professionals in the field of business and management since it is currently an issue at a global level considering the shortage of food and the exponential increase of the population. Similarly, the development of forecasting models about production are commonly used by different researchers and scholars to create predictions of the production systems, including good, as they normally provide valuable information for both making business decisions and reducing costs. For this reason, the main objective of this empirical research is the proposal of a forecast production model by applying a case study for a family agro-industrial enterprise from Aguascalientes (Mexico) through the implementation of a computer system that improves significantly their planning and commercial system of agro-industrial products (i.e. broccoli).