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Perishable food supply chains (PFSCs) are characterized with rising food quality and safety concerns, alarming food wastages and losses, and poor economic sustainability.Owing to the perishable nature of products and limited shelf life, management of sustainability in PFSCs is critical. Many studies on sustainability in PFSCs have considered developed countries; however, developing countries, have not gathered the required research attention in this domain. In this paper, a decision-theory based framework is adopted, where a prescriptive decision analysis methodology is used to generate preferences among the challenges to sustainability in PFSC. An integrated Interpretive Structural Modelling-Analytic Network Process (ISM-ANP) decision framework is formulated to identify and model key challenges to sustainability in PFSCs, keeping a developing economy like India under consideration. The contextual relationships amongst the extracted challenges are analysed using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methodology. The relationships identified from ISM are used as inputs in the Analytic Network Process (ANP) methodology, to generate the priority weights of the challenges. The findings of the integrated methodology show "Lack of horizontal integration of farmers", "poor pre-harvest management", "lack of government regulation and support" to be the most critical challenges for sustainability in PFSCs. The results show that organizations must work on aggregation of farm produce and integration of farmers with the market. Development of infrastructures and cold chain facilities at the farm level are necessary to mitigate these challenges to reduce wastages in PFSC. The study facilitates managers and planners to understand and enable sustainable practices in PFSCs.

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PurposeFood supply chains (FSCs) are fast becoming more and more complex. Sustainability is a necessary strategy in FSCs to meet the environmental, economic and societal requirements. Industry 4.0 (I4.0) applications for a circular economy (CE) will play a significant role in sustainable food supply chains (SFSCs). I4.0 applications can be used in for traceability, tracking, inspection and quality monitoring, environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, farm input optimization, process automation, etc. to improve circularity and sustainability of FSCs. However, the factors integrating I4.0 and CE adoption in SFSC are not yet very well understood. Furthermore, despite such high potential I4.0 adoption is also met with several barriers. The present study identifies and analyzes twelve barriers for the adoption of I4.0 in SFSC from an CE context.Design/methodology/approachA cause-effect analysis and prominence ranking of the barriers are done using Rough-DEMATEL technique. DEMATEL is a widely used technique that is applied for a structured analysis of a complex problems. The rough variant of DEMATEL helps include the uncertainty and vagueness of decision maker related to the I4.0 technologies.Findings“Technological immaturity,” “High investment,” “Lack of awareness and customer acceptance” and “technological limitations and lack of eco-innovation” are identified as the most prominent barriers for adoption of I4.0 in SFSC.Originality/valueSuccessful mitigation of these barriers will improve the sustainability of FSCs through accelerated adoption of I4.0 solutions. The findings of the study will help managers, practitioners and planners to understand and successfully mitigate these barriers.

PurposeAdditive manufacturing (AM) is expected to significantly transform the operations in manufacturing sector. It is also proposed to have optimistic applications in the medical supply chains (SC). However, its adoption in medical sector is faced with a range of barriers. Motivated by the need to establish an AM-based medical SC in a developing economy, the present paper analyses the potential barriers that would hinder the adoption of AM in medical SC.Design/methodology/approachBased on an extensive literature review and expert discussions, 12 significant barriers have been identified, which are analysed using an integrated interpretive structural modelling–analytical network process (ISM–ANP) methodology. An interrelationship between these barriers using ISM has been analysed to determine the driving-dependence power of these barriers using MICMAC (Matrice d' Impacts Croises-Multiplication Applique' e a' Classement) analysis. The barriers are then ranked using the ANP approach.FindingsIt has been focussed that the non-availability of a variety of materials, lack of education and training to designers and workers and production technology limitation are the most critical barriers. The results suggest that the managers should give greater significance to the technological and organizational barriers.Originality/valueAn approach to overcome these barriers can help the managers and organizations to develop successful AM-based SCs. The study is the first to identify and analyse the barriers for successful adoption of AM in medical SC context.

Purpose This paper aims to assist managers and food supply chain practitioners in efficiently implementing lean and green (LG) practices for sustainability. Examining barriers to LG practices, as well as prioritizing mitigation strategies in the food supply chain, are all part of this work. Design/methodology/approach Using a combination of literature review and expert team inputs, this paper investigated the LG barriers and their solutions under PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal) framework. To prioritize them, this work used the fuzzy best worst method (fuzzy BWM) with the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (FTOPSIS). Findings From the fuzzy BWM, the economic barriers were identified as the most significant. From the FTOPSIS approach, top management expertise and commitment to adopting LG practices were identified as the best solution for overcoming the barriers. Practical implications This paper discusses the barriers and solutions for successfully implementing LG techniques from the real-time food supply chain. The practitioners and food chain managers welcomed the methodology for its use in prioritizing the barriers to LG practices. Conclusions drawn from this work were found to be realistic. Originality/value The original contribution of this study is to present the model framework for barriers and solutions of LG practices in the dairy supply chain using the hybrid MCDM technique.

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Technology has changed the spectrum of service oriented organizations to impress, assess and quench the quests of information seekers. To harness the dynamic technological changes, it is inevitable for libraries to use social media tools for marketing their library and information science products and services. Accordingly by accepting and adopting these new means, the information hubs can outreach and tap those potential or casual information seekers who due to reluctance or any other good reason are still not approaching and using the wide array of library products and services.