Abstract

Abstract
To enhance the economic viability and address the labour shortage in the forestry industry, alternative solutions using robotization and automation are emerging. However, due to technological barriers and lack of solid business models, successful commercialization in the forestry sector is yet to be challenging. As an initial market analysis for developing a business model for new forestry machineries, this study was conducted to reveal clusters of EU countries to seek the potential market opportunities outside of Portugal. To identify similar market conditions and restrictions, EU countries were clustered using a hierarchical clustering algorithm and selection of variables while considering the geographic, economic, and social conditions of each country. Preliminary results showed that Austria and Poland had similar social capital and geographic conditions.

Abstract
Supplier selection has received substantial consideration in the literature since it is considered one of the key levers contributing to a firm's success. Selecting the right suppliers for different product items requires an appropriate problem framing and a suitable approach. Despite the vast literature on this topic, there is not a comprehensive framework underlying the supplier selection process that addresses those concerns. This paper formalizes a framework that provides guidance on how supplier selection should be formulated and approached for different types of items segmented in Kraljic's portfolio matrix and production policies. The framework derives from a thorough literature review, which explores the main dimensions in supplier selection, including sourcing strategy, decision scope and environment, selection criteria, and solution approaches. 326 papers, published from 2000 to 2021, were reviewed for said purpose. The results indicate that supplier selection regarding items with a high purchasing importance should lead to holistic selection criteria. In addition, items comprising a high complexity of supply and production activities should require integrated selection and different sources of uncertainty associated with decision scope and environment, respectively, to solve it, as well as hybrid approaches. There are still many research opportunities in the supplier selection area, particularly in the integrated selection problems and hybrid solution methods, as well as in the risk mitigation, sustainability goals, and new technology adoption.

Abstract
In this paper, we explore the value of considering simultaneous pickups and deliveries inmulti-product inventory-routing problems both with deterministic and uncertain demand. Wepropose a multi-commodity, develop an exact branch-and-cut algorithm with patching heuristicsto efficiently tackle this problem, and provide insightful analyses based on optimal plans. Thesimplicity of the proposed approach is an important aspect, as it facilitates its usage in practice,opposed to complicated stochastic or probabilistic methods. The computational experimentssuggest that in the deterministic demand setting, pickups are mainly used to balance initialinventories, achieving an average total cost reduction of 1.1%, while transshipping 2.4% oftotal demand. Under uncertain demand, pickups are used extensively, achieving cost savings of up to 6.5% in specific settings. Overall, our sensitivity analysis shows that high inventory costsand high degrees of demand uncertainty drive the usage of pickups, which, counter-intuitively, are not desirable in every case

Abstract
The Minimum Life on Receipt (MLOR) is a widely used rule that imposes the minimum remaining age a food product must be delivered by the producer to the retailer. In practice, this rule is set by retailers and it is fixed, around 2/3 of the age of products regardless their shelf life. In this work, we study single and two echelon make-to-stock production-inventory problems for fixed-lifetime perishables. Mixed-integer linear optimization models are developed considering the MLOR rule both as decision variable and fixed parameter. When the MLOR rule is a variable, it is considered either a sole decision of the producer or a collaborative decision between retailer and producer. The goal of this work is to compare the supply chain performance considering this innovative setting of optimal MLOR (as a variable) against the traditional setting of fixed MLOR rule. The computational results suggest that allowing flexible MLOR rules according to the shelf life of products and the operational requirements of the producer benefit both entities in the supply chain. In particular, reducing the MLOR requirement in up to 12% does not interfere substantially with the average freshness of products arriving to the retailer, but reduces extensively surplus/waste generation at the producer while keeping a small amount of waste at the retailer.

Abstract
This work proposes an architecture to treat georeferenced data from the OpenStreetMap to plan routes. The methodology considers the following steps: collecting data, incorporating data into a data manager, importing data into a data model, executing routing algorithms, and visualizing routes. Our proposal incorporates the following features characterizing each street segment: safety & security, comfort, accessibility, air quality, time, and distance. Routes can be calculated considering any specified weighting system of these features. The outcome of the application of this architecture allows to calculate and visualize routes from georeferenced data, which can support researchers in the study of multi-criteria routes. Furthermore, this framework enhances the OSM data model adding a multi-criteria dimension for route planning.