Improvement of Resource Utilisation Through Forecasting, Planning, and Information Flow

Demand forecasting and production planning are challenging issues when working to supply perishable goods to fulfil supermarket requirements as opposed to dry goods that can be manufactured and have a fixed storage life. The focus of this report is on the improvement of resource utilisation through better forecasting, planning, and information flow. There is a fluctuation for labour demand within the processing function; controlling the number of staff daily is vital to the efficient running of production and waste reduction. It is the belief for the management that left unchecked the production planners can tend to overorder staff as a contingency.

Optimization of international road transportation of cargoes in the management of enterprises of agricultural sector and road transport enterprises

To enhance the efficiency of management of enterprises in the agricultural sector, it is necessary to improve logistic processes of delivery of livestock and crop production in the implementation of international road transportation. Delivery of cargo "just in time" is very important, so transportation time planning is relevant and allows reducing costs. The process of planning the delivery of perishable goods was described. The spread of the required time is presented for transportation with a varied degree of stochasticity. It was found that the specifics of customs clearance affect the availability of a certain minimum time required for such a procedure. The time of customs clearance of cargo and delay time affect the deadline for cargo registration in international road transportation. The widest spread of time is observed by the procedure of customs clearance of cargoes that takes from 12 to 25 hours, and the probability of customs clearance is only 0.435. Accordingly, this affects a decrease in indicators of "just in time" delivery. The functional dependence of the probability of transit time not exceeding the planned time was compared, depending on the data of the specified route. Based on probabilistic analysis, the possibility of unplanned deviations from the estimated terms of each stage was taken into account and the optimal set of time intervals, which allow obtaining the optimal probability of "just in time" delivery, was proposed. The total cargo delivery time does not change. The recommendations on formulating the requirements for road transport enterprises were given. Namely, to strengthen the requirements for the time of cargo transit. These requirements include the average speed of motion, the choice of appropriate transport, planning the route in terms of the speed mode of highways, etc.

Separation of Perishable Inventories in Offline Retailing Through Transshipment

Transshipment in retailing is a practice where one outlet ships its excess inventory to another outlet with inventory shortages. By balancing inventories, transshipment can reduce waste and increase fill rate at the same time. In “Separation of Perishable Inventories in Offline Retailing Through Transshipment,” Li, Yu, and Du explore the idea of transshipping perishable goods with a fixed finite lifetime in offline grocery retailing. In the offline retailing of perishable goods, customers typically choose the newest items first, which can lead to substantial waste. They show that, in this context, transshipment plays two roles. One is inventory balancing, which is well known in the literature. The other is inventory separation, which is new to the literature. That is, transshipment allows a retailer to put newer inventory in one outlet and older inventory in the other. This makes it easier to sell older inventory and reduces waste as a result.

Methodology of Research on the Demand for Development of Transport Infrastructure and Rolling Stock for Perishable Goods Transportation

In the context of globalisation of economic relationships, intensification of transportation and technological solutions, the methodology of research and development of transport infrastructure requires improvement and adaptation to dynamically changing conditions of the transportation market.The objective of the work is to formalise and to develop a methodology for studying transport infrastructure, including specialised isothermal rolling stock. The initial data on cargo turnover were processed by the methods of mathematical statistics, and the technical parameters of innovative isothermal rolling stock were substantiated using the methods of T. Saaty analytic hierarchy process, expert assessment, and update engineering design process.The article provides an analysis of the cargo turnover of perishable goods transported by railway refrigerated transport in Russia in terms of volumes, types of rolling stock, and origin. The main origin-destination cargo flows are presented by types of transportation (domestic, transit, export, import transport operations). It has been determined that key factors in development of isothermal rolling stock for transportation of perishable goods in the transport system of the country refer to transportation of meat, fish, beer, soft drinks, juices in the segment of domestic transportation. The analysis shows that there are no structural and quantitative shifts in terms of types of transportation and types of cargo.The strategy for development of vehicles for transportation of perishable goods and the methodology are presented in a block diagram, in sections: «statement of the research problem», «decision-making stages», «decision implementation methods and algorithms». It is shown that the problem includes not only development of stationary railway infrastructure and of stages in development of isothermal rolling stock, but also the need to solve organisational, technical, technological, regulatory, and legal problems, as well as tariff regulation.The issues of methodology for designing an innovative isothermal rolling stock are considered referring to possible prospects for its development and areas of operation, as well as to a set of engineering and technological solutions. The study of linear dimensions and useful section of the loading space of various types of isothermal bodies shows the advantage of wagons and swap bodies in comparison with large-capacity refrigerated containers.It is proposed to design a prototype of innovative isothermal rolling stock on the basis of a universal isothermal swap body, configured with various types of refrigerating equipment with specified technical parameters that best meet the requirements of the modern transportation market. The areas of possible use of various types of isothermal rolling stock are analysed considering long-term forecasts for development of agricultural, fishing and processing industries.

IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF DELIVERY OF PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL CARGO IN INTERCITY TRANSPORTATION

The article analyzes the current state of the theory and practice of solving the issues related to the delivery of perishable goods by road. The author has determined that in order to improve the efficiency of cargo delivery, one of the promising directions is the development and application of transport delivery schemes, which take into account the change in consumer characteristics of perishable goods during transportation. Product losses during transportation must be taken into account when solving such problems as justifying the expediency of specialized rolling stock, choosing the method of transportation without transshipment, as well as when choosing the most rational delivery schemes. Losses of cargo are usually accounted for by the value of the actual losses and the value of the cargo. The article proposes the use of three schemes for the delivery of perishable cargo. The schemes differ in the way cargo is collected and the way goods are loaded into trucks. Also different are the types of vehicles that can be used in the delivery of goods under different schemes. The first scheme consists of the harvesting of peaches between the rows of the orchard by small tractors. The advantage of this scheme is the possibility of using heavy-duty vehicles with the achievement of maximum use of the capacity factor. Flatbed trucks are used for transportation. As a result of the accumulation of cargo at the point of loading, downtime is reduced by reducing the waiting time of cargo delivery. The second scheme is the need for in-line loading of vehicles in the fields of enterprises. Prefabricated routes for trucks and direct loading in the field are used. Application of the second scheme excludes the possibility of using heavy transport, because the movement will be made on unpaved roads. The need for in-line loading also eliminates the use of loading and unloading mechanisms. The third delivery scheme is similar to the first, but it is proposed to use specialized vehicles with a refrigerated chamber for transportation. As criterion of assessment of expediency of use of the offered schemes total expenses for cargo delivery are accepted taking into account possible losses from cargo damage, on the offered criterion it is expedient to estimate influence of such parameters, as volume of the cargo presented for transportation and length of the route.

Characterization of the shopping preferences and needs of low-income consumers living in food deserts

PurposeLack of access to supermarkets and fresh produce continues to be a problem for low income consumers in many countries. The purpose of this research was to identify the shopping preferences and needs of such consumers in the Eastern U.S. Additionally, the research sought to determine the interest and preferences of low income consumers in a mobile grocery intervention which would provide neighborhoods with a consistent, convenient shopping experience.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methods approach included conducting focus groups in low-income neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. and a quantitative survey (n = 202) administered via Survey Monkey to low-income consumers. Thematic analysis was conducted on focus group data and surveys were administered and analyzed to assess applicability of themes identified to consumers over a larger geographic area.FindingsResults indicated that consumers in food desert neighborhoods reported an interest in purchasing a wide range of food staples, household goods, and personal items from any shopping intervention. Participants indicated a need for a more convenient overall shopping experience for a range of foods and goods in addition to fresh food choices. Findings indicate that mobile interventions to increase food access may benefit from expanding products available through the intervention beyond fresh produce and perishable goods.Originality/valueThis research explored purchasing preferences with low income consumers living in food deserts. It identifies products and goods they would prefer to see in an intervention to increase food access and is unique in that it explores the wants and preferences of consumers living in food deserts.

Effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the livelihood of street vendors in Maharashtra, India

Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, the lockdown was implemented as the main preventive measure to contain the spread of the virus across the world. India also went under one of the most stringent nationwide lockdowns which affected the workers of the informal sector the most. This study aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 and lockdown on the livelihood of street vendors in the Maharashtra state, one of the severely affected states, of India.Methods: Telephonic in-depth interviews were conducted from 16th May to 1st June 2020 with 20 street vendors who sold perishable goods for their livelihood. Interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was used in analysing the data.Results: There were a total of twelve food vendors and eight fruits and vegetable vendors in the study sample. The mean age of food vendors recorded was 36.91 years, the average years of working recorded were 12.25, the mean education level was 7.83, and the average household size recorded was 5.25 (Table 1). Out of the total food vendors, 10 were male and two were females. The majority of the food vendors belong to the Vidarbha region, followed by Khandesh and Western Maharashtra.Conclusions: Findings of the study show that lockdown affected street vendors multidimensionally. Street vendors had to stop working and many had to change their profession to selling fruits and vegetables within a limited time zone with greater livelihood challenges and financial hardships.

The Case Study of International Transport by the Freight Forwarder in France

The article presents an analysis of the freight forwarder and carrier costs on transport in chosen country of Western Europe. Costs of transport point out to several existing problems in this part of Europe. The case study is given that deals about chosen transport in France. The article contains a review of transport routes during 2019, which were performed by an international forwarding company. These sessions were carried out in problematic areas in France. These are the transport of refrigerated and frozen perishable goods. The shipments are realized between logistics centres in France. The high problem is with carriers, with qualifications of their drivers, the number of drivers and seasonality of the goods. The article describes these problems as dependences of the forwarder´s costs on individual transport routes. The article deals about more solutions, which could be used in this part of Europe.

MODELLING OF THE ROUTE NETWORK FOR PERISHABLE CARGO DELIVERY IN THE REGIONAL TRAFFIC ON THE BASIS OF PETRI NETS

The article is devoted to the features of the organization and technology of delivery of perishable goods in small batches by road in regional traffic. It has been established that when planning this type of cargo delivery, it becomes necessary to determine such routes bypassing specified points, at which the time of delivery of perishable goods to points of sale will be minimal. Thus, as a criterion that determines the rationality of building a route network for the delivery of perishable goods in regional traffic, has been defined the time of cargo’s delivery in small batches in regional traffic. The route network for the delivery of perishable goods with a minimum delivery time is considered rational. To analyze the execution time of each delivery phase and take into account the time and quantitative parameters that affect the delivery process, the study built a model which is based on the theory of Petri nets. The parameters of the model were established on the basis of the reporting data of the private enterprise "Samoilenko A.I.". The model took into account time parameters and quantitative factors affecting the process of delivery of perishable goods in regional traffic. An experiment was carried out using the developed model. The obtained value of the integral error of the data discrepancy throughout the system allows us to assume that the constructed model adequately reproduces the process of delivery of perishable goods in small batches by road in regional traffic. Taking into account the results of delivery process’ modeling, using the method of a short connecting network, a rational route network was built in the study, which consists of six routes. The effect was determined as a time difference for the delivery system along the network of rational route network and along the existing network, which amounted to 131 minutes.