During the spread of the epidemic, the home delivery service (HDS) has been quickly introduced by retailers which helps customers avoid the risk of viral infection while shopping at offline stores. However, the operation cost of HDS is a huge investment for O2O retailers. How to minimize the operating costs of HDS is an urgent issue for the industry. To solve this problem, we outline those management decisions of HDS that have an impact on operating costs, including dynamic vehicle routing, driver sizing and scheduling, and propose an integrated optimization model by comprehensively considering these management decisions. Moreover, the dynamic feature of online orders and the heterogeneous workforces are also considered in this model. To solve this model, an efficient adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) and branch-and-cut algorithms are developed. In the case study, we collected real data from a leading O2O retailer in China to assess the effectiveness of our proposed model and algorithms. Experimental results show that our approach can effectively reduce the operating costs of HDS. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis is conducted to reveal the changing patterns in operating costs, and some valuable management insights are provided for O2O retailers. The theoretical and numerical results would shed light on the management of HDS for O2O retailers.

This paper considers the closed-loop supply chain design problem by examining financial criteria and uncertainty in the parameters. A robust multiobjective optimization methodology is proposed by considering financial measures such as maximizing the net present value (NPV) and minimizing the financial risk (FR). The proposed methodology integrates various multiobjective optimization elements based on epsilon constraints and robustness measurements through the FePIA (named after the four steps of the procedure: Feature–Perturbation–Impact–Analysis) methodology. Similarly, an analysis of the parameter variability using scenarios was considered. The proposed method's efficiency was tested with real information from a multinational company operating in Colombia. The results show the effectiveness of the methodology in addressing real problems associated with supply chain design.

In the present work, we report an efficient synthesis and antioxidant activity evaluation of some 4-arylimino-thiazolidin-2-ones. The structures of target substances were confirmed through ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. The antioxidant activity of the synthesized compounds was measured in vitro by the method of scavenging effect on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals. Notably, antioxidant activity was identified for the first time among 4-arylimino-thiazolidin-2-ones.

Methodology is reported for the synthesis of a six-membered heterocyclic ring involving cyclocondensation reaction through sulfur-sulfur bond formation. This method of synthesis allows for developing a new class of dithiadiazines. A series of bis-[6-tetra-O-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranosylimino-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,2,4,5-dithiadiazin-4-yl] alkanes have been synthesized by using a reagent, tetra-O-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranosylimino chloromethane sulfenyl chloride and bis-(4-amino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl) alkanes. These newly formulated N-glycosylated molecules could serve as a potential biological entity.

The past decade has witnessed significant progress in synthesizing structurally diverse and biologically relevant pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole derivatives through the integration of green methodologies. A straightforward and environmentally friendly one-step method has been developed to synthesize divergent pyranopyrazoles in good yields with the aid of zinc acetate as a Lewis acid catalyst in toluene as solvent under reflux conditions.

Airline planning involves various issues that, in a general, can be grouped as network planning, schedule design and fleet planning, aircraft planning, and crew scheduling decisions. This study mainly aims to optimize the Crew Scheduling (CS) decisions considering the operational constraints related to Aircraft Maintenance Routing (AMR) regulations. Since, after fuel, crew costs are vital for airlines, and aircraft maintenance constraints are important operationally, the integrated Crew Scheduling and Aircraft Maintenance Routing (CS-AMR) problem is an important issue for the airlines. The present research addresses this problem using the Revenue Management (RM) approach under some disruption scenarios in the initial schedule. The proposed approach enables airlines to make more efficient decisions during disruptions to prevent flight delay/cancellation costs and recaptures an acceptable part of the spilled demand caused by disruption through the fleet stand-by capacity. This approach considers a set of disruptions in the flight schedule under different probable scenarios and provides the optimal decisions. Accordingly, airlines have two decision-making stages: Here-and-Now (HN) decisions related to the initial schedule for crew, aircraft routing and stand-by capacity to face probable disruptions and Wait-and-See (WS) decisions that determine what the executive plan of each crew and aircraft should be under each scenario, and how to use different options for flight cancellation and substitution. To this end, a novel Two-Stage Robust Scenario-based Optimization (TSRSO) model is proposed that considers the HN and WS decisions simultaneously. A numerical example is solved, and its results verify the applicability and evaluate the performance of the proposed TSRSO model. Regarding the complexity of the proposed MILP model categorized as NP-hard problems, we develop a computationally efficient solution method to solve large-scale problem instances. A single-agent local search metaheuristic algorithm, Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS), is applied to solve the CS-AMR problem efficiently. According to the result obtained by applying the proposed revenue management approach for the CS-AMR problem, airlines can drive a robust solution under disruption scenarios that not only minimizes the total delay/cancellation costs but also increases the profit by recapturing the spilled demand.

Through the implementation of a simple, environment friendly one-pot multicomponent reaction with 1 mmol of methyl acetoacetate, 2 mmol of different substituted aromatic aldehydes, and 2 mmol of different substituted aromatic anilines in the presence of triethylammonium hydrogen sulfate [Et3NH][HSO4] bronsted acid as an ionic liquid catalyst and Ethanol: water as a green solvent at 60°C temperature. We have developed an affordable and dynamic procedure for the synthesis of novel, medicinally essential tetrahydropyridine derivatives. One-pot multicomponent synthesis is an energetic topic in heterocyclic chemistry due to its vital advantages of simple reaction process, high atom economy, low cost, less amount of waste generation, and simple workup procedures, which make this process economically productive for industrial applications. The final compounds were confirmed via FTIR, ¹H-NMR, and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy and were in contrast with their reported methods.

This paper studies the marketplace channel introduction of contract manufacturers and the response of the platform with an option to introduce a private brand. We develop a game-theoretical model to examine a three-tier e-commerce supply chain including a contract manufacturer (CM), an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a platform and derive the equilibrium results. We find that the marketplace channel introduction of the CM and the platform's private brand introduction influence each other. More specifically, marketplace channel encroachment may discourage the platform from introducing a private brand, and this preference is reinforced as the referral fee increases. Interestingly, the introduction of the platform's private brand increases the likelihood of contract manufacturer encroachment, which is mediated by the difference between the two private brands of the CM and platform--as the difference increases, the CM prefers to enter the marketplace channel. Furthermore, only contract manufacturer encroachment (or private brand introduction for the platform) can always benefit the whole supply chain, but the supply chain may be hurt when the platform and the CM perform their strategies simultaneously. In the extension section, in addition to demonstrating the validity of our main results when the CM and the OEM act as a single entity, we also find that the first-mover advantage of the platform may reduce the possibility of the contract manufacturer encroachment.

Production scheduling is a crucial task in the manufacturing process. In this way, the managers must decide the job's production schedule. However, this task is not simple, often requiring complex software tools and specialized algorithms to find the optimal solution. In this work, a multi-objective optimization model was developed to explore production scheduling performance measures to help managers in decision-making related to job attribution under three simulations of parallel machine scenarios. Five important production scheduling performance measures were considered (makespan, tardiness and earliness times, number of tardy and early jobs), and combined into three objective functions. To solve the scheduling problem, three multi-objective evolutionary algorithms are considered (Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization, Multi-objective Grey Wolf Algorithm, and Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II), and the set of optimum solutions named Pareto Front, provided by each one is compared in terms of dominance, generating a new Pareto Front, denoted as Final Pareto Front. Furthermore, this Final Pareto Front is analyzed through an automatic bio-inspired clustering algorithm based on the Genetic Algorithm. The results demonstrated that the proposed approach efficiently solves the scheduling problem considered. In addition, the proposed methodology provided more robust solutions by combining different bio-inspired multi-objective techniques. Furthermore, the cluster analysis proved fundamental for a better understanding of the results and support for choosing the final optimum solution.

The present work intends to optimize a hybrid delayed differentiation multiproduct economic production quantity-EPQ model with the scrap and end-products multi-shipment policy. Since the requirements of multi-goods have a standard part in common, our fabrication planning adopts a two-phase delayed differentiation strategy to make the standard components first and produce the finished multi-goods in the second phase. Implementing a partial subcontracting option (with the additional expense) for the standard parts helps us to expedite the required uptime in the first phase. A screening process identifies the faulty items that need to be removed to ensure the in-house production quality. A multi-shipment plan delivers the finished lot of end-products to clients in fixed time intervals. This study optimizes the overall operating expenses of this intra-supply chain system, including fabrication, delivery, and client stock holding, through our proposed modeling, formulation, and optimization procedure. In addition, this study gives a numerical demonstration of the obtained results’ applicability and usefulness to managerial decision-making.