This paper classifies a case study on railway clusters allowing analysis of competitiveness performance criteria including the innovation capability of industries via different models. Data are collected from the Turkish railway industrial cluster; where 130 companies are located. Porters' industries Life Cycle Evolution, Diamond, Five Forces Models and SWOT Analysis are applied to explore which criteria influence at most on the cluster companies' competitiveness performances and innovation capability based on operational conditions. Porter's Life Cycle analysis showed that the cluster is between introduction and growth phase. This phase has typical characteristics such as high investment demand on R&D, lack of qualified staff which could be compared to the performance criteria evaluated from the other three models. Another aim was to research the consistency and difference between the applied different dimension scaled models. Delivery time of the suppliers, qualified staff, capital range of the companies and physical enlargement area of the production plants were found to be the most important criteria in operational view of the competitiveness. Another result is that the applied tools are producing similar and consistent results independently from their dimension scales.

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In a globalizing world, economic parameters are in line with the competitiveness of countries in every field. The foreign trade activities of the countries are at the top of these parameters. Foreign trade activities are provided through the entry points of foreign countries. These entry points should be supplied with a certain discipline. This is only possible with logistics centers. Therefore, logistics center location selection is very important. Although there are many parameters in the logistics center location selection, transportation networks are the most important parameters to be emphasized. The effect of transportation networks in the logistics center location selection, which is the subject of this study, has been evaluated specifically for the Kemalpaşa logistics center, which is being established within the borders of İzmir province. In this study, the literature review on transportation modes for logistics centers was taken into consideration and transportation networks for Kemalpaşa logistics center were examined and future provisions were introduced.

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Highlights• This paper focuses on selecting the optimum location for a logistics center to be established.• An integrated logistics model is proposed for the efficient and useful logistics center.• The results of the proposed logistics model are similar for the industrial and logistics sectors.

Waste polymers are widely used in asphalt modification, especially, in order to reduce their detrimental effect on the environment. This study discusses the usability of waste expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam in asphalt modification. In this respect, the EPS foam, which produces waste in both production and use stages, was mixed with bitumen by weight at the ratios of 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%, and dry modification method was employed. The penetration, ductility, softening point, flash point, and specific gravity values of virgin bitumen were compared with waste EPS foam modified bitumen. The comparison was made by both graphical and statistical methods. A strong correlation between the physical properties of modified asphalt and the ratio of EPS foam was observed. A drop was observed in penetration and ductility values. Besides, it was found by statistical analyses that 2% of the increase in the additive ratio is not sufficient to make a significant difference in the physical properties of bitumen, therefore, the increase should be at least 4%. Overall, it is concluded that EPS foam additive can be used in bitumen modification for hot regions where low penetration is required.

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