Eleftherios Iakovou - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Eleftherios Iakovou

Lengthy and highly variable customs’ clearance processes and service times at ports of entry, alo... more Lengthy and highly variable customs’ clearance processes and service times at ports of entry, along with the associated emissions generated from transporting cargo from far away production sites can severely erode the efficiency of offshoring within global supply chain networks. Nearshoring, namely the practice of allocating manufacturing capacity next to demand points, is a corporate countermeasure to such issues. This paper proposes a novel, total landed cost decision-making methodology for the identification of the optimal mixture of nearshore/offshore production capacity allocation and the optimal port of entry taking into account free trade and sustainability-related issues for global supply chain networks. Various “whatif” analyses of interest to practitioners (C-level executives, corporate planners, and regulators) are conducted, and interesting managerial insights are discussed.

As the growing amount of waste created by the construction industry poses severe environmental ch... more As the growing amount of waste created by the construction industry poses severe environmental challenges, environmentally conscious construction processes have emerged as an issue of increasing importance for both the industry and society at large. The proper management of the construction and demolition waste, which constitutes the major solid waste stream in the European Union (apart from mining and farm waste) appears to be of great merit. Reverse logistics and waste management offer the appropriate contextual framework within which the problem can be tackled comprehensively. Towards this effect, a conceptual framework is presented on the current status and legislation in the field of construction and demolition waste management, as well as on the optimal deconstruction and demolition practices of the endof-life buildings with the goals of materials’ recycling and waste minimization. In addition, a novel integrated decision-making model for the entire construction and demolition...

The increasing exposure of global supply chains to severe disruptions such as the ones related to... more The increasing exposure of global supply chains to severe disruptions such as the ones related to the COVID-19 pandemic, clearly demonstrated the need for novel data-driven risk management paradigms that monetise data from internal and external stakeholders to support supply chain security, resilience, and sustainability. We first motivate the challenges that supply chains are facing under the new realities. We then provide a critical taxonomy of the relevant literature and identify gaps which include: (i) the impact of security on supply chain operations;(ii) cost effective resiliency strategies and practices;and (iii) the social and labour dimensions of sustainability. We then propose a new generalised framework that encompasses all the identified challenges, gaps in literature and in practice, and opportunities in supply chain management research. The proposed framework is validated through a real-world case study of the organic food supply chain. This validation further highligh...

59 Chapter 3 Risk and Security Management for Logistics Service Providers: Trends, Challenges, an... more 59 Chapter 3 Risk and Security Management for Logistics Service Providers: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Eleftherios Iakovou, Dimitrios Vlachos, and Anastasios Xanthopoulos Abstract Managing risk and disruptions has emerged as an issue of critical importance for ...

Cost and time efficient port operations are vital nowadays due to the increasing port competition... more Cost and time efficient port operations are vital nowadays due to the increasing port competition worldwide. In many cases, efficiency may overcome strategic positioning, i.e. a shipping line may prefer to call at a port which is able to handle efficiently a large mother vessel, and take advantage of economies of scale, even if it is not situated near to the main international shipping routes. In the era of continuously increasing containerized cargo traffic, yard space management of a container terminal (CT) is of critical importance. Yard congestion constitutes one of the major problems that CTs face today and has a negative impact on their efficiency. Inadequate space in a CT yard increases a ships turnaround time and thus the amount of sunk cost that a shipping line will have to bare. Increased operating costs, reduce attractiveness and thus competitiveness. Under this context the goal of this paper is to develop a decision support tool, applying queuing theory, that will assist...

In most Western countries, democratic procedures face many problems in terms of implementation an... more In most Western countries, democratic procedures face many problems in terms of implementation and reliability. It is said that the representative democracy is not able to identify, face, and represent efficiently the citizen/voter’s needs and problems. A direct result of this situation, is the enlargement of the democratic deficit, the political apathy, the political jostle of clusters and the disbelief of people and citizens to the governments. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and its implementation to the modern democratic procedures seems to represent a new method that will accomplish the enlargement of the democratic participation and the strengthening of the democratic institutions-procedures. This work identifies the current challenges and also the problems that derive from the implementation of the electronic democratic governing, by emphasizing on electronic vote as the basic characteristic of electronic democracy.

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review

We propose an analytical modeling methodology for quantifying the impact of slow steaming on the ... more We propose an analytical modeling methodology for quantifying the impact of slow steaming on the carrier's voyage cost and on the shipper's total landed logistics costs. The developed methodology can be employed by a carrier and a shipper in their contract negotiations, in order for the two parties to determine how they could divide between them the savings resulted from slow steaming. We demonstrate that the impact of slow steaming and speed adjustment policies on the shippers' total landed logistics costs tend to increase as the vessel travels towards the end of its voyage.

Journal of Cleaner Production

Internationalization of markets and climate change introduce multifaceted challenges for modern s... more Internationalization of markets and climate change introduce multifaceted challenges for modern supply chain (SC) management in the today's digitalisation era. On the other hand, Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) systems have reached an age of maturity that allows for their utilization towards tackling dynamic market conditions and aligning SC management focus with sustainability considerations. However, extant research only myopically tackles the sustainability potential of AGVs, focusing more on addressing network optimization problems and less on developing integrated and systematic methodological approaches for promoting economic, environmental and social sustainability. To that end, the present study provides a critical taxonomy of key decisions for facilitating the adoption of AGV systems into SC design and

Assessments and Methodologies, 2016

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Journal of Simulation, 2016

Bechtsis, D., Tsolakis, N., Vlachos, D., Iakovou, E., 2016. Internationalization of markets and c... more Bechtsis, D., Tsolakis, N., Vlachos, D., Iakovou, E., 2016. Internationalization of markets and climate change introduce multifaceted challenges for modern supply chain (SC) management in the today's digitalisation era. On the other hand, Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) systems have reached an age of maturity that allows for their utilization towards tackling dynamic market conditions and aligning SC management focus with sustainability considerations. However, extant research only myopically tackles the sustainability potential of AGVs, focusing more on addressing network optimization problems and less on developing integrated and systematic methodological approaches for promoting economic, environmental and social sustainability. To that end, the present study provides a critical taxonomy of key decisions for facilitating the adoption of AGV systems into SC design and planning, as these are mapped on the relevant strategic, tactical and operational levels of the natural hierarc...

Bochtis/Supply Chain Management for Sustainable Food Networks, 2016

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, Mar 20, 2015

ABSTRACT Powerful socioeconomic factors have been transforming dramatically supply chain networks... more ABSTRACT Powerful socioeconomic factors have been transforming dramatically supply chain networks, boosting the pursuit for resilience against disruptions, conflicts of interests and economic policies. As companies have to deal with disruptions that their outcome can have significant financial ramifications, both the academic world and industry keep now security and uninterrupted product flow from suppliers to end-users under close scrutiny. In this work, we study one of the dimensions of sustainable supply chains, that of supply chain risk management. To this end we provide definitions, methods, procedures, regulatory interventions aiming in reducing vulnerability and improving resilience as well as related business cases.

Journal of Food Engineering, Oct 1, 2005

The need for holistic modeling efforts that capture the extended supply chain enterprise at a str... more The need for holistic modeling efforts that capture the extended supply chain enterprise at a strategic level has been clearly recognized first by industry and recently by academia. Strategic decision-makers need comprehensive models to guide them in efficient decision-making that increases the profitability of the entire chain. The determination of optimal network configuration, inventory management policies, supply contracts, distribution strategies, supply chain integration, outsourcing and procurement strategies, product design, and information technology are prime examples of strategic decision-making that affect the long-term profitability of the entire supply chain. In this work, we adopt the system dynamics methodology as a modeling and analysis tool to tackle strategic issues for food supply chains. We present guidelines for the methodology and present its development for the strategic modeling of single and multi-echelon supply chains. Consequently, we analyze in depth a key issue of strategic supply chain management, that of long-term capacity planning. Specifically, we examine capacity planning policies for a food supply chain with transient flows due to market parameters/constraints. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of the developed methodology on a multi-echelon network of a major Greek fast food chain.

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 2287108x 2015 1014621, Apr 1, 2015

ABSTRACT Powerful socioeconomic factors have been transforming dramatically traditional supply ch... more ABSTRACT Powerful socioeconomic factors have been transforming dramatically traditional supply chains into complex multi-national, multi-echelon supply networks of conflicting interests on the part of the engaged stakeholders. Today’s globalised supply chains are more vulnerable than ever to disruptions and delays; hence, increased resilience against various types of risks that threaten an organisation’s operational continuity is required. This paper explores emergency sourcing (ES), a common risk mitigation strategy, in the context of a discrete part manufacturer. Alternative ES strategies are examined through a quantitative tool based on discrete-event simulation. The proposed methodology determines the optimal capacity level to be reserved from the emergency supplier of each discrete part taking into account all inventory-related costs including the premium cost to be paid for emergency capacity reservation. Thus, it is possible to decide on: (a) the feasibility of emergency sourcing, i.e. the maximum premium cost to be paid to an emergency supplier in order to ensure the long-run feasibility of the applied ES strategy given the contracted capacity level, or (b) the optimal levels of the contracted emergency capacity for a given premium cost. The proposed quantitative simulation-based methodology could be employed by decision-makers when deciding on the potential implementation of an ES risk mitigation strategy. Moreover, the key findings of the research document the critical effect that disruptions impose on the economic and operational performance of a manufacturer’s supply chain, as well as the beneficial role of emergency dual sourcing in mitigating risk impacts and safeguarding operational continuity.

Sustainable development, along with technological and economical trends have led to the developme... more Sustainable development, along with technological and economical trends have led to the development of efficient "closed-loop supply chains". In this context, "ecological motivation" is a strategic issue of increased importance for the profitability of reverse supply chains due to companies' concerns about their "green image" and environmental legislation. In this paper we examine the impact of the ecological motivation on the long term behavior of a simple system that can be encountered on a variety of real-world cases, namely that of a single producer and a single product chain with recycling activities. Ecological motivation manifests through a variety of issues that are investigated, including the take-back obligations, lower limits of recycling imposed by legislation, green consumerism and design for environment (DfE). We develop a novel modeling approach that captures these issues comprehensively by exploiting the principles of the system dynamics (SD) theory. The dynamic model provides a simulation tool, which can be used for the conduct of various "what-if" analyses, by evaluating the impact of various regulatory measures and green consumerism on system performance. Finally, we discuss the potential value of the proposed modeling procedure in managing real world cases.