The Digitalization of Logistics: What is the Role of Social Networks?
MAGAZINE №3 (98) June 2020
AUTHORS BORISOVA L.A., KOSTYUKEVICH Y.I.
CATEGORY Analysis in logistics and SCM Analytics and reviews E-commerce corporate logistics
ABSTRACT
Currently, logistics, like other sectors of the economy, is undergoing intensive implementation of digital technologies. Smart and network technologies are an integral part of many companies' supply chains. One of these technologies is social networks which have become a powerful media tool that is actively used not only for personal information exchange, but also for commercial purposes by various companies, including logistics ones. Western researchers have long conducted studies on the use of popular social networks (Twitter, etc.) by logistic companies. This paper provides a brief collection of practices of using social networks by leading foreign logistic companies; in addition, it examines the use of the social network «Vkontakte », focued mainly on Russian-speaking users, in Russian logistics practice. For this purpose, the authors developed specialized software used to analyze more than 33,000 posts published since 2014 by various participants of the logistics market in terms of their level and specialization. The results showed that while major players in the Russian logistics market, such as JSC Russian Railways, TransContainer, and Transneft, use social networks primarily to create a favorable image of the company, smaller ones use them very actively to promote their services and recruit employees, mainly freight forwarders. In addition, the developed approach was applied to analyze the reflection of new trends in the transport industry using the example of the dynamics of joint mention of the topic of transport and the topic of a new coronavirus infection in news reports.
Keywords: logistics services social networks digital technologies digitalization Industry 40
Recycling of clothes in sustainable supply chains
MAGAZINE №6 (95) December 2019
AUTHORS Lakhno Y.V.
CATEGORY Industrial companies’ corporate logistics Supply chains reliability and sustainability Return flows management (reverse logistics) Modern concepts and technologies in logistics and SCM
ABSTRACT
A significant increase in clothing production, following the optimization of the largest brands supply chains, has led to modern consumers considering the cheapest items of clothing almost disposable. Clothing production, especially from synthetic fibers, leaves a significant environmental footprint, and as a result of the accumulation of things in landfills, environmental pollution has increased markedly. In recent years, in order to remain valuable to consumers, corporations managing the largest fashion supply chains have become more environmentally, socially and business friendly. The growing population and the ingrained need for new fashion items make it necessary to further study the issues of sustainable development of clothing supply chains.
The article is devoted to the study of best practices in the field of clothing recycling management that allow minimizing the negative impact on the environment.
The following issues were researched: to consider measures taken in various countries to reduce clothing dumps, to identify the composition of partners involved in operations for collecting, sorting and processing material flows in the supply chains of fashion clothing; to analyze the experience of major global corporations in involving buyers in clothing processing; to identify problems and prospects for the development of the practice of processing clothing flows in the supply chains.
The following results of Russian and foreign researchers were used as theoretical and methodological basis of the study: first, the diversity of participants in the fashion industry, as well as the increasing scale of the problem of landfills and waste, indicate the need to use a systematic approach to problem-solving; second, modern supply chains do not develop without being transparent, which is provided by digital technologies; third, to ensure sustainable development, companies create closed supply chains, which involves re-designing supply chains and improving the efficiency of return flow management.
The empirical base of the study was made up of the experience of companies included in the Gartner rating of the 25 largest supply chains in 2019, materials from clothing manufacturers ' associations and international analytical companies.
The paper differentiates partners involved in the processing of clothing, identifies areas of use of new technologies that contribute to the processing of second-hand items. Based on the analysis, measures that allow developing the practice of closed supply chains in the fashion industry were identified. The paper concludes that recycling is still an expensive and complex process in the organization, leading to companies finding solutions for the reuse of clothing, giving it a fashionable appearance; ecological design is given more significance when the technology of clothes processing is laid down at the stage of creating clothes.
Keywords: supply chain management closedloop supply chain management recycling reverse logistics reverse material flow Industry 40