Andrej Lisec

Reverse logistics has become a competitive need for sustainability. Lack of resources to apply reverse logistics solutions has severely impacted many supply chains’ costs and customer service, making it impossible to meet the expectations of return processing. In those conditions, client demands for higher service quality are the main drivers of effective sustainability operations. This study aims to establish the sustainable reverse logistics service quality (SRLSQ) theoretical framework offered by reverse logistics services providers (RLSPs). The study conducts a systematic methodology protocol by examining reliable academic periodicals using PRISMA guidelines based on the research scope and identified 56 papers from 2011–2022, with the main research focus on SSQ and RLSQ dimensions to develop a research framework. By re-evaluating those factors using the SRLSQ framework and by including sustainability into the service quality approach, this study expanded the practicability of reverse logistic service quality and sustainable service quality. The results point to a knowledge gap when it comes to quantifying the impact of reverse logistics operation process through a triple bottom line approach on customer outcomes, relationship quality (RQ), and mediation of operation risk factor, which could be examined within various contexts in subsequent work.

Modern environmental and economic challenges in waste management require transition from linear to circular economic flow. In practice, this entails considerable challenges that include the change of material circle flux, the application of mathematical modelling and the use of life cycle thinking – also in the field of recovered wood (RW). To this end, the reverse logistics process model CATWOOD (CAscade Treatment of WOOD) with mechanistic modelling for detailed planning of the RW reverse flow with regular collection, innovative (cascade) sorting based on RW quality and environmentally sound recovery has been designed. As a decision support, the quantitative methods of life-cycle assessment (LCA) and societal life-cycle costing (SLCC) have been incorporated into the CATWOOD, which can choose among a few alternative scenarios. A case study has been performed in the Posavje region in Slovenia, which has discovered that reverse logistics scenarios for reuse are environmentally friendlier than those for recycling or energy recovery, but also more costly, mainly because of extensive manual labour needed and less heavy technology involved in sorting and recovery processes. Sensitivity analysis has exposed that modifying the values of the input parameters may change the final LCA and SLCC results in scenarios observed.

Po pandemiji COVID-19 svet ponovno pretresajo izredni dogodki, tokrat v povezavi z ukrajinsko krizo. Ta se odraža na različnih področjih naših življenj, še najbolj pa se v Sloveniji odraža v visokih cenah življenjskih potrebščin in energentov. Zaradi visokih cen le-teh, gnojil in pomanjkanja ter omejitve izvoza nekaterih dobrin so se cene hrane bistveno zvišale glede na raven pred ukrajinsko krizo. Čeprav zavržena količina hrane na prebivalca po podatkih Statističnega Urada Republike Slovenije (SURS) za leto 2020 še vedno dosega okoli 68 kg na prebivalca na leto, se potrošniki začenjamo zavedati pomena dostopa do kakovostne hrane. Slovenija je že tradicionalno orientirana v pridelavo lokalnih živil, zadnja kriza s pandemijo COVID-19 pa je pomen lokalne samooskrbe samo še poglobila. Potrošniki se zavedajo, da so, zaradi prisotnih pretresov in nestabilnosti na trgih, lokalno pridelana živila vedno pomembnejša. S pojavom spletnih tržnic, ki so se razmahnile v času pandemije COVID-19, pa smo naredili korak bližje k digitalizaciji v kmetijstvu. Prav tako nas je zanimalo, ali se potrošniki sedaj bolj odločajo za nakup lokalnih živil preko spletnih tržnic.V članku predstavljamo raziskavo, izvedeno v oktobru 2022, s katero smo želeli preveriti, kakšen je odnos do lokalno pridelane hrane v Sloveniji v času ukrajinske krize in ali so se, glede na predhodne raziskave glede na čas pandemije COVID-19, navade kaj spremenile.

16. mednarodna konferenca Logistika v kmetijstvu 2022: Konferenčni zbornik. 16. mednarodna konferenca Logistika v kmetijstvu, ki jo organizira Visoka šola za upravljanje podeželja Grm Novo mesto, Grm Novo mesto – center biotehnike in turizma, Fakulteta za logistiko Univerze v Mariboru, Občina Sevnica, Zadružna zveza Slovenije, Fakulteta za organizacijske študije v Novem mestu in Vimal Akademija. Konferenca se je odvijala v sodelovanju z Fakultete elektrotehnike i računarstva in Institutom ‘Mihajlo Pupin’, Univerze v Beogradu. Letošnja osrednja tema je ‘Digitalizacija logistike v kmetijstvu’. Konferenca je postala tradicionalna in posveča pozornost na različne poglede na logistiko v povezavi s kmetijstvom.

Rice production is associated with vast quantities of straw, which have historically been eliminated through the practice of burning fields in the open. However, the burning of agricultural leftovers, particularly rice straw in Egypt (about 4.4 million tons per year), results in what is called locally as Black Cloud, reverse process and utilization for rice straw a major challenge due to technical, social, institutional, and socioeconomic constraints, what was once a valuable resource is now being burned as a waste. Rice Straw could be used properly to create bioethanol, mushrooms, pulp, biofuels, paper, fertilizers, and animal feed, as well as conservation for agriculture. This article examines the composition of rice straw and husks, the procedures involved in the manufacturing of valued products, and the different applications for these materials. These include agricultural additives, energy generation, environmental adsorbents, building materials, and a variety of products.

Circularity of bulky waste: a case study of krško in Slovenia

This paper presents an inventory control problem in a private pharmaceutical distribution company from the Republic of Serbia. The company realizes that distribution within nine neighbouring countries and inventory control in the pharmaceutical supply chain is centralized. In order to constitute a conceptual model of the problem, we propose the modern control theory concept. The conceptual model is based on the specific practical assumptions and constraints of the supply chain. Thereafter, a dynamic discrete mathematical model of inventory control is formulated to reflect elements of the system and their relations. The model considers multiple pharmaceutical products, variable lead time, realized stochastics and deterministic demand, and different ordering policies (Lot for Lot and Fixed Order Quantity). Deterministic demand is represented as a sales forecast for each product per month, while stochastic demand is generated as a random variation of sales forecast in a range of ±20%. Two objective functions are defined as the maximization of the difference between planned average inventory level and realized average inventory level, and the minimization of stock-out situations. We develop a procedure for the determination of reorder points and the number of deliveries to achieve proposed objective functions. The model overcomes shortages of theoretically-based distribution requirements planning models and offers solutions to the limitations in inventory control practice. Real-life data, collected over two years, are used for the validation of the proposed model and the solution procedure. Numerical examples illustrate the model application and behaviour.

Logistics in Agriculture. The book deals with logistics in agriculture, which includes chapters on logistics related to agriculture, history in this field, food production, self-sufficiency in connection with the distribution of locally produced food, mechanization, transport of food in controlled temperature conditions, crop labeling, agricultural waste and a view of agriculture in the future, including the use of drones. Učbenik obravnava logistiko v kmetijstvu, kjer so zajeta poglavja o logistiki v povezavi s kmetijstvom, zgodovina na tem področju, pridelava hrane, samooskrba v povezavi z distribucijo lokalno pridelane hrane, mehanizacija, prevoz živil v kontroliranih temperaturnih pogojih, označevanje pridelkov, odpadki v kmetijstvu in pogled kmetijstva v prihodnosti, vključno z uporabo dronov.

Učbenik obravnava poštno logistiko, kjer so navedeni temelji pojmi o pošti in logistiki. Skozi zgodovinski pregled pošte se ustavimo pri poštnem prometu in posameznih fazah. Poseben poudarek je namenjen paketom in pismom. Na koncu so podani izzivi pošte na področju razvoja v prihodnosti, trajnostni razvoj, tudi z uporabo dronov.

V Sloveniji se, tako kot drugod po svetu, soočamo s širjenjem virusa SARS-CoV-2, ki je vplival na različna področja naših življenj. Eno izmed področij, ki je bilo prizadeto so tudi oskrbovalne verige živil in zaupanje potrošnikov v oskrbo z živili. V Sloveniji so potrošniki že pred pandemijo v veliki meri kupovali lokalno pridelana živila, so pa raziskave, ki so bile izvedene pred našo, kljub temu zaznale povečanje zaupanja slovenskih potrošnikov do lokalno pridelane hrane zaradi pandemije in njenih posledic. V članku predstavljamo raziskavo, izvedeno meseca oktobra 2021, s katero smo želeli preveriti kakšen je odnos do lokalno pridelane hrane v Sloveniji v času pandemije. Na podlagi pregleda raziskav ostalih avtorjev in naše lastne raziskave, lahko potrdimo, da je pandemija okrepila zaupanje potrošnikov v lokalno pridelana živila.