Dimitrios Vlachos

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki | AUTH · Department of Industrial Management

The increasing use of mobile robots in diverse working environments (e.g., manufacturing, logistics, agriculture) for supporting and executing material handling and labor-intensive operations necessitates path planning techniques. Path planning algorithms shall calculate the optimal route and navigate a mobile robot to ensure optimal performance in...

The inclusion of IoT technologies in smart cities and the industrial domain has drastically influenced the life cycle of processes. The gradual reduction in sensor costs and the ubiquitous connectivity provided by open source, un/licensed networks have sky-rocketed the digital transformation of businesses. Specifically, the distribution of products...

Towards a sustainable and resilient digital cold supply chain, environment sensing technologies and Big data analytics combined with Artificial Intelligence can extract critical information and provide a systematic framework for product optimization and safety enhancement. Our research focuses on a descriptive analysis framework of a real-world dai...

Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the Cypriot economy and a key pillar of the country’s economic development. Particular the hotel industry creates labor demand that exceeds labor supply where the number of local staff is not sufficient to meet the market needs. Moreover, the phenomenon of the hotel labor market is that the high worke...

Mobile industrial robotic vehicles are using cutting edge technologies and have been widely accepted as a means of sustainability in the last decade. Recent navigation approaches are commonly divided into two categories (i) Laser-Based and (ii) Visual-Based. Many researchers proposed navigation systems for laser-based SLAM but their efforts both in...

Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the Cypriot economy and a key pillar of the country's economic development. Particular the hotel industry creates labour demand that exceeds labour supply where the number of local staff is not sufficient to meet the market needs. Moreover, the phenomenon of the hotel labour market is that the high wo...

As agriculture and industry exploit more than 90% of the global freshwater resources, water overuse and degradation have emerged as critical socio-environmental challenges for both nations and corporations. In this context, the water footprint concept was introduced in order to quantify the freshwater consumption and pollution of a territory or acr...

Self-driving passenger cars are already on public roads to support the vision of a sustainable city. The research community and academia should further support the human-machine symbiosis of autonomous vehicles, manually driven vehicles, and even pedestrians. At the time being, most vehicles operate at level 2 of the Society of Engineers (SAE) auto...

This research identifies and assesses the added value of Circular Economy (CE) to the industrialized production of canned peaches in Greece through the valorisation of the peach kernel, as current supply chain (SC) configurations often overlook it. To this end, this study maps the SC, records manufacturing processing inputs and outputs, and reviews...

We develop and employ a socially responsible inventory model that determines an optimal order quantity and an optimal time instance of donation, taking into account, expectations on the net stock levels at the end of the order cycles. The optimized results of the policy are compared to those derived from the implementation of two currently applied...

Over 96 million people in the EU are considered «at risk of poverty or social exclusion» that are closely connected to the risk of hunger and malnutrition. Simultaneously, mismanagement of food distribution leads to a situation where 35% of perishable food is unnecessarily discarded at the retail level. It is estimated that the implementation of re...

Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging technology in the Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 contexts with an important role in man–machine symbiosis scenarios. Practitioners, although already acquainted with AR technology, are reluctant to adopt AR applications in industrial operations. This stems from the fact that a direct connection that is important...

The increasing exposure of global supply chains to severe disruptions such as the ones related to the COVID-19 pandemic, clearly demonstrated the need for novel data-driven risk management paradigms that monetise data from internal and external stakeholders to support supply chain security, resilience, and sustainability. We first motivate the chal...

The environmental issues and the projected world population increase have brought into light many different terms and concepts. For over 20 years, sustainability attracts the main focus of most researchers; however, recently the concept of circular economy (CE) is considered to be its successor. CE is based on a closed loop supply chain, where wast...

Drones are a breakthrough technology in warehouse inventory management as they enable real-time, fast and accurate inventory listing while minimising operational costs to supply chain stakeholders. In terms of sustainability, drones at the social constituent minimise the risk of human injuries at the facility, at the environmental constituent use r...

Considering that more than 100 million EU citizens face the risk of poverty or social exclusion, while at the same time 35% of perishable food in the EU is unnecessarily discarded at supermarkets, the redistribution of the perishable food surpluses could provide an economically feasible solution towards the confrontation of poverty and the minimiza...

Although the greening of the marine sector started over a decade ago, the emissions produced from ships and port operating equipment have been only recently perceived as issues to be addressed. On this basis, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) decided to enact stricter sulphur limits on the fuel oil used by ships in Sulphur Oxide (SOx) E...

The role of sustainability in the function of a company and more specifically a food company is pivotal for its financial performance. The environmental issues as well as the potential economic gains from the implementation of its principles ask for the use of multiple instruments that have been developed to green supply chains. Moreover, social is...

European sheep and goat farming faces diverse challenges at global or local scales and constitutes an important sector for many countries, playing important sociocultural, economic and environmental roles. A closer examination of the overall sustainability of the sector is necessary to assess the performance of different farm types in various geogr...

Variability of demand along with issues of seasonality and supply chain disruptions may lead to significant variations between the planned and required capacities of warehouse facilities. This further leads to the rise of on-demand capacity allocation issues, with supply chain stakeholders seeking to outsource their excess capacity requirements to...

Industry 4.0 leads to changes in the way companies work and organize themselves, the use of innovations entails the transformation of traditional supply chains (SC) and logistics placing digital information at the core. Digital transformation has been defined as the use of new digital technologies as to enhance business processes. It has become a k...

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies on the configuration opportunities of supply chains (SCs) within the digital manufacturing era. To this effect, we first conduct a critical taxonomy of existing research efforts and then propose an integrated decision-making process for the design and managem...

The aim of modern food supply chain (FSC) management is to provide products from farm to fork in the right condition, in a timely manner and at the optimal costs considering all the aspects of sustainability. Particularly in case of food products, provenance and authenticity, safety issues, food quality and cost indicators are of great importance s...

Autonomous systems are a promising alternative for safely executing precision farming activities in a 24/7 perspective. In this context Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs) are used in custom agricultural fields, with sophisticated sensors and data fusion techniques for real-time mapping and navigation. The aim of this study is to present a simulation s...

Drones are considered as a breakthrough technology in warehouse inventory management as they enable fast and accurate inventory listing while minimizing operational costs and providing real-time information to supply chain stakeholders. In terms of sustainability, the value of drones is evident at: (i) the social constituent by minimizing the risk...

Dynamic market conditions and volatile demand lead to the development of innovative software tools and robust algorithms for optimizing daily activities and supporting supply chain practitioners and academics. The study focuses on Food Supply Chains and highlights their impact on economic performance in strategic, tactical and operational echelons....

Freshwater sustainability has been emerging as a critical corporate social responsibility issue for leading businesses worldwide. An increasing number of companies disclose and evaluate their water footprint, embracing an end-to-end supply chain perspective. In this work, we first propose a strategic system dynamics model for capturing the long-ter...

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore water-related risks and challenges, as well as water management opportunities, in the modern globalised production landscape from an end-to-end supply chain perspective. As environmentally sensitive consumers press for water-friendly products, freshwater resources' preservation has emerged as a major chal...

The principal objective of this research is to provide a framework that captures the main software architecture elements for developing highly customized simulation tools that support the effective integration of Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles (IAVs) in sustainable supply networks, as an emerging field in the operations management agenda. To that...

We propose an analytical modeling methodology for quantifying the impact of slow steaming on the carrier’s voyage cost and on the shipper’s total landed logistics costs. The developed methodology can be employed by a carrier and a shipper in their contract negotiations, in order for the two parties to determine how they could divide between them th...

The principal objective of this research is to provide a framework that captures the main software architecture elements for developing highly customised simulation tools that support the effective integration of Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles (IAVs) in sustainable supply networks, as an emerging field in the operations management agenda. To that...

Digital manufacturing promotes the use of innovative technologies in the global market landscape and provides effective and efficient Supply Chain Management Systems. The purpose of this research is to contribute to the automation of an industrial warehouse by elaborating a novel software simulation tool for solving a classical NP-hard optimization...

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the automation of an industrial warehouse (intra-logistics) providing an innovative real-time programming and control platform in conjunction with implemented algorithms that enable real-time mapping with the use of Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles (IAVs). IAVs are a promising solution for the effecti...

Responding to the intensified shareholders’ pressure for economic growth, stringent health regulatory schemes and increased consumers’ environmental awareness Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution provide opportunities for developing effective industrial applications that efficiently tackle the triple-helix sustainability challen...

Autonomous systems are a promising alternative for effectively executing agricultural field management strategies. Unmanned Ground Vehicles perform farming activities on custom agricultural fields, using real-time navigation. The aim of this study is to provide a software tool for optimizing accuracy and efficiency in precision farming activities,...

The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution enables the integration of advanced automation techniques to the intra-logistic agricultural activities. Sensors and actuators seamlessly communicate in order to accomplish complex everyday tasks. From a logistics perspective, Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) pave the way to sustainable agriculture; working 2...

As the agricultural and industrial sectors account for 92% of the global water use, freshwater overexploitation has emerged as a crucial socioenvironmental issue for leading corporations. To this end, the water footprint (WF) concept has been introduced to quantify freshwater consumption and pollution across a product’s life cycle. As scientific ef...

Internationalization of markets and climate change introduce multifaceted challenges for modern supply chain (SC) management in the today's digitalisation era. On the other hand, Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) systems have reached an age of maturity that allows for their utilization towards tackling dynamic market conditions and aligning SC managem...

Internationalization of markets and climate change introduce multifaceted challenges for modern supply chain (SC) management in the today's digitalisation era. On the other hand, Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) systems have reached an age of maturity that allows for their utilization towards tackling dynamic market conditions and aligning SC managem...

Water scarcity (WS), which leads to multiple environmental, social and economic ramifications, has emerged as an indisputable concern for both public and private stakeholders. In this context, the water footprint (WF) concept has been introduced for assessing freshwater consumption and pollution at national, corporate or product level. In the agrif...

Το διαδίκτυο των αντικειμένων (Internet Of Things - IoTs) αναπτύσσεται ραγδαία μέσω της ανάπτυξης εξειδικευμένων υπηρεσιών, νέου εξοπλισμού και λογισμικού. Πρόσφορο έδαφος για την επέκταση του ΙοΤs παρέχει η ευρεία αποδοχή των δικτύων κοινωνικής δικτύωσης που επέτρεψε την εξοικείωση με τη χρήση των δεδομένων και της πληροφορίας, οι ολοένα αυξανόμεν...

Responding to the intensified shareholders’ pressure for economic growth, stringent health regulatory schemes and increased consumers’ environmental awareness Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution provide opportunities for developing effective industrial applications that efficiently tackle the triple-helix sustainability challen...

The economic modifications along with the rapid demographic growth of the last century have led to the increased significance of effective supply chain management strategies for ensuring food security and safety. Due to the fact that 50% of food produced annually is perishable, the growing and geographically dispersed consumers' demand can only be...

Freshwater overexploitation and scarcity have led to extensive shifts in demand patterns for water-friendly products. As several agricultural and industrial activities are closely intertwined with water consumption, the availability of sufficient freshwater resources constitutes a significant precondition for covering global consumer needs. In this...

Freshwater overexploitation and scarcity have led to extensive shifts in demand patterns for water-friendly products. As several agricultural and industrial activities are closely intertwined with water consumption, the availability of sufficient freshwater resources constitutes a significant precondition for covering global consumer needs. In this...

We develop a simulation-based optimization methodology for the joint design and planning of globalized supply chains (SCs) under minimization objectives for cost and CO2 emissions. The assumptions required for the analytical optimization of such SCs include deterministic lead times, no-backorder occurrences at central distribution facilities, and p...

Companies aspire to further increase the automation of their processes in the supply chain. The reasons for this strategic decision vary. First of all, companies aim to reduce their operational cost, thus increasing their profit margin. When the reduction of cost is achieved they gain a competitive advantage. Furthermore, another very important com...

(In Greek) Τα τελευταία χρόνια, όλο και περισσότερες επιχειρήσεις στρέφονται στην, όσο το δυνατόν, μεγαλύτερη αυτοματοποίηση στο πλαίσιο της εφοδιαστικής αλυσίδας. Οι λόγοι για την επιχειρηματική αυτή επιλογή ποικίλουν. Κατ’ αρχάς, οι επιχειρήσεις προσπαθούν να μειώσουν το κόστος λειτουργίας τους, έτσι ώστε τα περιθώρια κέρδους τους να αυξηθούν και...

Agri-food supply chain risk management (SCRM) plays a key role in retaining future development within a sustainability context. This chapter presents a set of selected advanced alternative methodologies for modeling real-world SCRM problems of the agri-food sector. The chapter first provides the general risk management framework for a commercial su...

In order to develop competitive and sustainable agrifood supply chains (AFSCs), there are a few critical issues that have to be recognized such as the unique attributes of AFSCs that differentiate them from other SC networks. This chapter provides an in-depth examination of AFSCs and the related decision-making across the involved operations. Speci...

The increasing global energy demand coupled with the threat of climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions has generated the vital need to develop sustainable energy resources. Among other renewable energy policies, the integration of waste biomass within the contextual framework of existing energy systems has emerged as a viable strategy. In th...

An interdisciplinary framework formanagingsustainable agrifood supply chains Supply Chain Management for Sustainable Food Networks provides an up-to-date and interdisciplinary framework for designing and operating sustainable supply chains for agri-food products. Focus is given to decision-making procedures and methodologies enabling policy-makers,...

Nowadays, the availability of sufficient freshwater resources is a major precondition for covering the increased demand for food and energy due to the growing world population. To that effect, the concept of water footprint (WF) has been introduced at a national, a corporate and a product level. On the one hand, farming and food processing operatio...

Policymakers and regulators in the area of energy management worldwide, face the challenge of stimulating investments in renewable energy systems in order to develop more diversified energy mixtures of fuels, to ensure uninterrupted energy supply and to further address climate impact concerns. In this context, the diffusion of ecoinnovative biomass...

The assessment, monitoring and management of the carbon footprint of global supply chain networks has emerged as a top priority for governmental authorities, consumers and business executives. In this context, several international regulatory interventions have already been proposed and are gradually being implemented. In addition, as consumers bec...

Rising water scarcity (WS) has emerged as an indisputable threat for both society and corporations, leading to multiple environmental, social and economic ramifications. In particular, freshwater is a pivotal constituent in the agrifood industry since the agricultural activities consume 70% of the global freshwater resources. In this context, the s...

Nowadays, global supply chain networks are characterized by high complexity and uncertainty. To that end, the risk of an unforeseen disruption in any of the system’s nodes, such as a production site, a distribution center or a retailer store, is increased. A failure in a supply chain operation, indicatively due to bad weather conditions, equipment...

During the last decade, as the overexploitation and scarcity of the global natural water resources have led to a plethora of negative environmental, social and economic impacts, the preservation of freshwater resources has emerged as a major challenge for governmental authorities, businesses and consumers. To that effect, the concept of water footp...

The implementation of “single window” IT systems in port management is a widely accepted practice that is being met with an ever-increasing popularity worldwide. This work is motivated by the results of an Adriatic Port Community (APC) project, in which Igoumenitsa Port Authority, along with two other ports, designed and developed a number of modul...

Powerful socioeconomic factors have been transforming dramatically traditional supply chains into complex multi-national, multi-echelon supply networks of conflicting interests on the part of the engaged stakeholders. Today’s globalised supply chains are more vulnerable than ever to disruptions and delays; hence, increased resilience against variou...

Globalisation and technological evolution associated with critical socioeconomics changes altered the traditional supply chain (SC) nature, and the corresponding risk forms. Therefore, modern SCs are vulnerable to risks, and their effects (delays and disruptions of product, money, and information flows). Whilst the nature of the overall supply disr...

We quantify the impact of jointly optimizing strategic network design and tactical inventory planning on the cost and CO2 emissions of multi-echelon logistics networks. The obtained insights indicate that longer optimized replenishment cycles reduce a node’s transportation cost and CO2 emissions but increase its inventory costs. Moreover, under a f...

Purpose – Proactive planning strategies for “slow-onset” disruptions that affect humanitarian supply chains (SC) developed to address chronic pressing societal problems, can have a significant impact on boosting the operational and financial performance of these chains. The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodology that quantifies the impac...

The assessment of the environmental impacts of global supply chain networks has emerged as a key issue for governments, businesses and consumers. In this paper, the assessment of the carbon footprint of the rockwool supply chain is addressed through a real-world case study motivated by the Greek industry of insulating materials. The results indicat...

In this research we first discuss the role of Small Farms (SFs) in enhancing food security focusing-making, which embraces sustainability and food security aspects. A System Dynamics methodology is employed that captures the effect of regulatory interventions on the diffusion of

Agrifood sector is one of the most important economic and political areas within the European Union, with key implications for sustainability such as the fulfillment of human needs, the support of employment and economic growth, and its impact on the natural environment. Growing environmental, social and ethical concerns and increased awareness of...

In this manuscript we propose a methodological framework for evaluating the cost and CO2 emissions trade-offs of implementing periodic review inventory planning policies at each node of a frequently encountered in practise multi-echelon logistics network design instance. The proposed methodology determines optimal order delivery frequencies and sto...

Tackling the environmental impact of global supply chain networks has emerged as a key priority for governments and corporations. To that effect, regulatory interventions, such as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, have been proposed and are gradually being implemented. In addition, as consumers become more environmentally sensitive, corp...

The EU's commitment to reduce the environmental impact of supply chain operations was initiated through the white paper proposal of 2001. Since then, several regulatory interventions have been proposed for costing the CO2 emissions produced from supply chain operations. These costs should be taken under serious consideration by supply chain stakeho...