ASEAN towards a Global Halal Logistics through the Digitally-Enabled Community

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is leading the development of global halal trade and has the opportunity to become a leader in the global halal supply chain, especially in global halal logistics. Given the push towards digital transformation in creating a halal ecosystem and regarding the agenda of ASEAN towards a digitally-enabled economy, this study wants to examine whether ASEAN digitally-enabled community is correlated with ASEAN's chances of becoming a global halal logistics. Through a correlation test, it is found that there is a statistically significant relationship between ASEAN digitally-enabled community, as measured in internet subscribers/users per 100 persons and cellular/mobile phone per 100 persons, and the opportunity for ASEAN to become a global halal logistics, measured in ASEAN GDP, total air cargo, total trade in goods, and international air passenger traffic. This is probably the first study that preliminarily confirms digitally-enabled community is very important to strengthen ASEAN's opportunities to become the global halal logistics.

Reliability and effective use of electronic trap monitoring systems based on cellular networks

The deployment of cage traps rather than kill traps can greatly reduce non-target mortality in an invasive species control/eradication operation, but their use is normally constrained by the need for them to be checked frequently on animal welfare grounds. This paper examines the reliability of electronic monitoring devices that use cellular (mobile phone) networks to alert the operator when a trap door closes, and also discusses the management network that is needed to convert an alarm into a timely trap visit without fail. The two monitoring systems tested were 100% reliable in notifying the operator when a trap door closed, and their use reduced the burden of trap visits by 98% compared to the standard protocol of daily checks. As such, these systems can be of great value to campaigns operating large numbers of traps, especially when capture rates are low.

Analysis of the Performance of Cellular Mobile Networks for the Remote-Control Systems of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Summary of the Doctoral Thesis

The Thesis is concerned with assessing the suitability of LTE (4G) cellular networks for the remote control of low-flying UAVs. To solve this problem, an approach to the analysis of the delay values in cellular networks has been developed, which makes it possible to estimate the delays of individual cells and overall cellular network. Requirements for delays in the UAV control channel were developed, conclusions were drawn about the suitability of the LTE network as a communication solution for the UAV remote control. A method for calculating the effect of parallel redundancy is proposed, and an experimental assessment of the possibility of using two existing solutions for parallel redundancy in LTE networks is carried out. In addition, a compact technical solution for analyzing the level of base station signals was demonstrated.

An evaluation of Quasi-Moment-Method calibrated pathloss models for Benin City Nigeria

This paper introduces the Quasi-Moment-Method (QMM) as a novel radiowave propagation pathloss model calibration tool, and evaluates its performance, using field measurement data from different cellular mobile communication network sites in Benin City, Nigeria. The QMM recognizes the suitability of component parameters of existing basic models for the definition of ‘expansion’ and ‘testing functions’ in a Galerkin approach, and simulations were carried out with the use of a FORTRAN program developed by the authors, supported by matrix inversion in the MATLAB environment. Computational results reveal that in terms of both Root Mean Square (RMS) and Mean Prediction (MP) errors, QMM-calibrated models performed much better than an ‘optimum’ model reported for the NIFOR (Benin City), by a recent publication. As a matter of fact, the QMM-calibrated COST231 (rural area) model recorded reductions in RMS error of between 31.5% and 71% compared with corresponding metrics due to the aforementioned ‘optimum’ model. The simulation results also revealed that of the five basic models (COST231-rural area and suburban city, ECC33 (medium and large sized cities), and Ericsson models) utilized as candidates, the two ECC33 models, whose performances were consistently comparable, represented the best models for QMM-model calibration in the Benin City environments investigated.

Vehicle Monitoring System based On IOT, Using 4G/LTE

In our World of today, the quest to get rich at all cost without working for our money has led some of our youth into crimes such as robbery and kidnapping. As a result of this and by the sheer fact that vehicles are now very expensive to buy these days, there is a need for people to safeguard their vehicles against these hoodlums to avoid loss of their precious Assets to these rampaging criminals. Tracking is technology that is used by many companies and individuals to track a vehicle, an individual or an asset by using many ways like GPS that operates using satellites and ground-based stations or by using our approach which depends on the cellular mobile towers. Vehicle tracking system is a system that can be used in monitoring and locating a vehicle, avoid theft or recover a stolen vehicle, for monitoring of vehicle routes to ensure strict compliance to an already defined vehicle routes, monitor driver’s behavior, predict bus arrival as well as for fleet management. Internet of things has made it very possible to devices to inter communicate amongst themselves and exchange information, helping in acquiring and analyzing information faster that we used to know in the past and this has helped more especially in vehicle monitoring to ensure that vehicle owners feel safe about their investments without fearing about their loss. In this paper, we propose a vehicle monitoring system based on IOT technology, using 4G/LTE to get the get the coordinate, speed, and overall condition of the vehicle, process and send to a remote server to be analyzed and used in locating the vehicle and monitor its other configured parameters. This is realized using Raspberry pi, 4G/LTE, GPS, Accelerometer and other sensors with communicate amongst themselves to get the environmental parameters which is processed and sent to a remote server where it is analyzed and represented on a map to locate the vehicle and monitor the other set parameters. 4G/LTE provides fast internet connectivity with

Real-Time Air-to-Ground Data Communication Technology of Aeroengine Health Management System with Adaptive Rate in the Whole Airspace

To overcome the problem of data transmission of the aeroengine health management system, a multilink communication system combining ultrahigh-frequency communication link, 4G cellular mobile communication link, and BeiDou satellite communication link was proposed. This system can realize the functions such as data receiving and sending, data encryption, and resuming transfer from the break point based on multiple links. When the flight altitude is not high, the communication distance is short, so the UHF digital transmission radio communication link is adopted, which is highly efficient and stable. When the communication distance is long, the 4G cellular mobile communication link can ensure both the communication distance and the communication rate. In the area where 4G signal cannot be covered in extreme terrain environment, BeiDou satellite communication link is used for data transmission. Besides, in order to ensure the communication rate of the link, a multilink adaptive switching technology was also developed. The test verified that the system can perform adaptive switching among multiple links, realize air-ground data communication in the whole airspace, and achieve a good communication rate, which has significative value of engineering application.

Development of a multi-item Operational Excellence scale: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis

PurposeConsidering the relevance of operational excellence as a business strategy, organizations are striving to improve themselves by adopting best practices and universally accepted principles through the process of continuous improvement, and these principles should be embedded in the culture of an organization. Organizations pursue to align themselves by continuously improving their processes by adopting scientifically proven techniques and cultural transformation throughout the organization. However, there is a lack of scientific instruments for the assessment of operational excellence. The objective of this study is to develop a scale for the assessment of practices of operational excellence principles in the organizations. Further reliability and validity of the developed scale are measured by testing the relationship between Human Resource Practices (HRP) and Operational Excellence (OE).Design/methodology/approachThis study comprises quantitative design through exploratory and confirmatory studies and also includes qualitative analysis to develop a scale for the assessment of Operational Excellence (OE). Interviews from industry experts have been conducted to identify the major components for which organizations are striving for OE. Previous literature and excellence models, especially principles of the Shingo Operational Excellence Model (SOEM), have been reviewed and considered to finalize the scale items. Data were collected in two stages from both Telecommunication subsectors (Cellular Mobile Operators and Fixed Local Loop Operators) of Pakistan through the cross-sectional survey. In the first stage, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the sample of 611 respondents from both Cellular Mobile and Fixed Local Loop operators of Pakistan. In the second stage, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the sample of 423 respondents from the Fixed local loop operators. EFA was conducted by using SPSS version 23 to finalize the OE scale, and for confirmatory factor analysis, PLS-SEM using Smart PLS was used to confirm the reliability and validity of the OE Scale.FindingsThe results of EFA reveal that OE is a multidimensional construct with three dimensions and 23 items. The dimensions of the developed OE Scale explored in this study are cultural enablers (CE), continuous process improvement (CPI) and enterprise alignment (EA). The confirmatory factor analysis of OE confirmed the scale dimensionality, reliability and validity along with the hypothesis testing to measure the impact of antecedent variable HRP on OE.Research limitations/implicationsOrganizations pursue to improve and align their operational processes but usually unable to confirm the implementation of their desired objectives. Based on the developed OE scale, managers may assess the implementation of OE principles in their organizations. This research has been conducted in the telecommunication sector of Pakistan only, and the developed instrument needs to be further tested in other organizations.Practical implicationsThe instrument developed in this study will help both researchers and practitioners to assess the principles of operational excellence in their organizations and enable them to design the strategies for improving organizational performance.Social implicationsThe results of this study will create awareness about the principles of operational excellence. The developed OE instrument will assist in identifying the gaps in organizational norms and values from the perspective of paying respect to every individual inside and outside the organization. OE instrument will be further helpful in the identification and assurance of health, safety, protection of the environment and community issues.Originality/valueThis study provides a reliable and validated scale for the scientific area of operation management and helps managers with the assessment of operational excellence in their organizations. This newly developed scale is also valid to test and use in different studies and industries by researchers and practitioners.