Impact of Trapezoidal Demand and Deteriorating Preventing Technology in an Inventory Model in Interval Uncertainty under Backlogging Situation

The demand for a product is one of the important components of inventory management. In most cases, it is not constant; it may vary from time to time depending upon several factors which cannot be ignored. For any seasonal product, it is observed that at the beginning of the season, demand escalates over time, then it is stable and after that, it decreases. This type of demand is known as the trapezoidal type. Also, due to the uncertainty of customers’ behavior, inventory parameters are not always fixed. Combining these two concepts together, an inventory model is formulated for decaying items in an interval environment. Preservative technology is incorporated to preserve the product from deterioration. The corresponding mathematical formulation is derived in such a way that the profit of the inventory system is maximized. Consequently, the corresponding optimization problem is converted into an interval optimization problem. To solve the same, different variants of quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) techniques are employed to determine the duration of stock-in time and preservation technology cost. To illustrate and also to validate the model, three numerical examples are considered and solved. Then the computational results are compared. Thereafter, to study the impact of different parameters of the proposed model on the best found (optimal or very close to optimal) solution, sensitivity analysis are performed graphically.

Operational decisions and game analysis in the agricultural supply chain: invest or not?

PurposeWith the rapid growth of the economy, people have increasingly higher living standards, and although people simply pursued material wealth in the past, they now pay more attention to material quality and safety and environmental protection. This paper discusses the lack of motivation for investing in fresh-keeping technology for agricultural products by individual members of an agricultural supply chain composed of a supplier and a retailer by means of mathematical models and data simulations and discuss the optimal price-invest strategies under different sales models.Design/methodology/approachFirst, based on the model of no investment by both sides (NN), this paper considers three models: supplier only (MN), retailer only (NR) and cooperative investment (MR). Then, the authors analyze the influence of consumer price sensitivity and freshness sensitivity on the investment motivation of agricultural products under four models. Subsequently, the paper makes a sensitivity analysis of the optimal strategies under several models, and makes a game analysis of the suppliers and retailers of agricultural products. Finally, we conduct an empirical analysis through specific values.FindingsThe results show that (a) when the two sides cooperate, the amount of investment is largest, the freshness of the agricultural products is highest, and the sales volume is greatest; however, when both sides do not invest, the freshness of agricultural products and sales volume are lowest. (b) The price and freshness sensitivity of the consumer have an impact on investment decisions. Greater freshness sensitivity corresponds to a higher investment, higher agricultural product price, greater sales volume, and greater supply chain member income and overall income; however, greater price sensitivity corresponds to a lower investment, lower agricultural product price, lower sales volume, fewer supply chain members and lower overall income. (c) The investment game between the supplier and retailer is not only related to the sensitivity to price and freshness but also to the coordination coefficients of interest. At the same time, the market position of agricultural products should be considered when making decisions. The market share of agricultural products will affect the final game equilibrium and then affect the final benefit of the supply chain and individual members.Practical implicationsThese results provide managerial insights for enterprises preparing to invest in agricultural products preservation technology.Originality/valueAt present, the main problem is that member enterprises of agricultural supply chains operate based on their own benefits and are resistant to investing alone to improve the freshness of agricultural products. Instead, they would prefer that other members invest so that they may reap the benefits at no cost. Therefore, the enterprises in each node of the agricultural product supply chain are not motivated enough to invest, and competition and game states are observed among them, and such behavior is definitely not conducive to improving the freshness of agricultural products. However, the current research on agricultural products is more about price, quality and greenness, etc., and there are few studies on agricultural investment. Through the establishment of the model, this paper is expected to provide theoretical suggestions for the supply chain enterprises that plan to invest in agricultural products preservation technology.

Effects of Edible Coating and Modified Atmosphere Technology on the Physiology and Quality of Mangoes after Low-Temperature Transportation at 13 °C in Vibration Mitigation Packaging

The mango is an important tropical fruit in the world, but it is easily perishable after harvest. In order to investigate the effect of the compound preservation technology on the physiology and quality of mangoes during transportation and storage, mangoes were treated with different packaging and preservation methods. All mangoes were subjected to simulated transportation by a vibration table for 24 h (180 r/min, 13 °C), and stored at 13 °C. The changes in the color, physicochemical characteristics, quality, and antioxidant-related enzymes of the mangoes were measured. The results show that the shelf life of inflatable bag packing (CK) was only 24 d, while the other treatments could be 30 d. The inflatable bag packing with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) treatment (HPM) had the lowest yellowing degree (12.5%), disease index (34.4%), and mass loss (2.95%), at 30 d. Compared with the CK, the compound treatment containing MAP prolonged the peak respiration of the mangoes by 6 d and suppressed the increase in the total soluble solids and relative conductivity. Meanwhile, the HPM could effectively maintain moisture content, firmness, titratable acid, vitamin C, and the peroxidase and superoxide dismutase content, indicating that the treatment could maintain the better quality and antioxidation ability of mangoes. In summary, the MAP compound treatment better maintained the commercial characteristics of the mangoes, followed by the edible coating compound treatment. The results provide a theoretical reference for mango cushioning packaging and postharvest storage technology.

The Development of Video on Pickled Fruit Production for Flipped Classroom

Undergraduate students are categorized as Generation Z. They prefer learning using video rather than the book. Demonstration videos are suitable for productive courses because they show step by step of product making. This study aimed to 1) develop a video of pickled fruit production for the Food Preservation Technology course, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY), Indonesia and 2) determine the video's feasibility. This study was a research and development (R&D) performed by ten steps, namely information collecting, planning, developing initial products, preliminary field testing, main product revision, main field testing, operational product revision, operational field testing, final product revision, as well as dissemination and implementation. Data analysis was performed descriptively. The video feasibility analysis was conducted by one material expert, one media expert, two teachers, two peer reviewers, four students in one-on-one testing, and 36 students in classroom testing. Based on the feasibility test, the video was declared very feasible as learning media. Text, images, animations, and effects appeared in several parts of the video, making it easier for the students to understand the content. This video can be embedded in the learning management system (LMS) such as Google Classroom, Moodle, and others to facilitate mobile learning, and implemented in a flipped classroom design. Pre-test and post-test were then performed on 29 students in operational field testing. The post-test was significantly higher than the pre-test (p<0.05), so the video was able to improve the students' cognitive skills.

Potential of Fermentation and Vacuum Packaging Followed by Chilling to Preserve Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens)

Black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) are currently reared at an industrial scale, mainly as a feed ingredient. The logistic chain not only involves the production of larvae, but also stabilisation, storage, and transport. The aim of this work was to study fermentation and vacuum packaging of larvae as potential preservation technologies. For fermentation, blanched larvae were pulverised into a paste, and a starter culture, NaCl, and glucose were added. The mixture was fermented for 7 days at 35 °C and then stored for 14 days at 4 °C and pH and microbial counts were monitored. Vacuum packaging was applied to living, blanched and frozen larvae. After packaging, they were stored for 6–10 days at several temperatures and gas composition, survival (living larvae) and microbial counts (killed larvae) were recorded. Fermentation allows storage of pulverised larvae, but points to consider are a rapid pH reduction and the presence of bacterial endospores. Vacuum packaging did not bring added value over cooling alone. This was the case for all types of larvae investigated. Vacuum packaging is not considered as a valuable preservation technology to pursue for storage and transport of black soldier fly larvae.

Sustainable Preservation Strategies with Deterioration Management and Environment Sensitive Demand

Sustainable operations are concerned with the eco-friendly system to postulate intergenerational equity on social, economical, and environmental responsibility. This paper addresses the deterioration with a preservation strategy without compromising the environmental performance of the product. Also, the loss due to deterioration is managed completely with the idea of salvage trade. Furthermore, the upcoming demand is assumed to be “price and environment-sensitive”. This model maximizes the seller’s total profit by optimizing the unit selling price and minimizing the investment to maintain the environmental performance of the product and preservation technology at the same time. A numerical example and related graphs are illustrated to validate the model.