Logistics

Background: Global food supply chains increasingly require sustainable and transparent operations; however, empirical evidence linking sustainability practices to firm performance remains inconsistent. This study examines how sustainability practices are translated into measurable business performance outcomes through traceability implementation in Thailand’s export-oriented food-processing sector. Methods: Grounded in Stakeholder Theory, traceability implementation was conceptualized as an accountability-oriented operational mechanism enabling the systematic verification of sustainability-related activities. Data were collected from 362 export-oriented food-processing firms in Thailand and analyzed using covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results: The findings indicate that sustainability practices significantly influence both traceability implementation and business performance, while traceability implementation partially mediates the sustainability–performance relationship. The results further suggest that sustainability practices generate both direct and indirect performance benefits through structured monitoring, documentation, and verification routines. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that sustainability practices become more performance-relevant when institutionalized through traceable and verifiable operational processes. The findings highlight the importance of integrating traceability implementation into sustainability strategies to strengthen transparency, stakeholder confidence, and competitiveness within export-oriented food supply chain contexts.

Background: Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMSs) address the deficiencies of previous manufacturing systems with expandable capacity and capability to respond to dynamic demand. While research on RMSs has been ongoing for decades, comprehensive classifications and categorizations of RMS research and their supply chain implications are sparse. Methods: The PRISMA 2020 guidelines were used for a systematic literature review on the Scopus database covering peer-reviewed publications from 1990 to 2025, and 247 papers were analyzed based on a four-stream classification framework (research scope, industry sectors, type of research, and RMS characteristics) that was inductively derived. Furthermore, a three-level conceptual model connecting RMS characteristics with manufacturing capabilities and supply chain resilience was established. Results: RMS research, particularly post 2020, has seen significant growth. However, RMSs are mainly oriented to heavy industries, while process industries and supply chain implications have been understudied. The dominance of theoretical research over experimental/practical research points to a theory-practice gap. Modularity is the most frequent RMS characteristic, underpinning the others, while diagnosability, despite its operational importance, is the least studied one. Conclusions: RMSs have significant potential as a supply chain resilience enabler through their characteristics. Nevertheless, this relationship is mostly theoretical and untested in practice, requiring interdisciplinary and application-oriented research.

Background: Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies are increasingly proposed to strengthen traceability, governance, visibility, and coordination in mining and mineral supply chains, but mining-specific evidence remains fragmented. Methods: We conducted a systematic mapping review of peer-reviewed articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science to examine application contexts, functional roles, technical architectures, evidence types, and adoption constraints of blockchain-enabled systems in these settings. Results: The review shows that blockchain is used across five functional domains: traceability and provenance; governance and secure data control; operational monitoring and inspection; energy and market coordination; and sustainability and environmental surveillance. Permissioned and consortium-based architectures predominated and were commonly combined with sensors, external storage, identity mechanisms, and smart contracts. Evidence was strongest for technical feasibility under simulated, experimental, comparative, or bounded pilot conditions, whereas durable economic, social, and governance outcomes remained less substantiated. Conclusions: Blockchain is most credible in mining contexts when it supports controlled coordination, auditable recordkeeping, and process integrity. Its practical value depends on reliable physical-to-digital data capture, workable governance arrangements, interoperability, and validation under real institutional and operational conditions.

Background: Food waste at the consumption stage creates inefficiencies in food supply chains, with restaurants acting as downstream nodes where consumer behaviour affects operations. This study examines the behavioural drivers of plate waste in restaurants in Greece, within a Mediterranean context, and considers their implications for sustainable logistics. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 228 restaurant consumers in Greece. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Spearman’s rank-order correlation, and one-way ANOVA to examine associations between behavioural factors, restaurant type, socio-demographic characteristics, and self-reported food waste frequency. Results: Environmental awareness, intention to reduce food waste, and likelihood of taking leftovers home were negatively associated with self-reported food waste frequency. Perceiving food waste as a serious societal problem was not significantly associated with waste behaviour. Restaurant type had no significant effect, while socio-demographic effects were limited. Conclusions: Consumer-level behavioural factors explain restaurant food waste more consistently than structural restaurant characteristics. Behaviourally informed interventions, including portion flexibility and facilitated leftover retention, may improve both food waste reduction and restaurant efficiency.

Background: The global transition to low-carbon energy systems has intensified the need for circular approaches in energy supply chains, yet studies on second-life EV battery ecosystems in emerging economies remain fragmented between barrier prioritization and efficiency assessment. Methods: This study addresses this gap by integrating the Best–Worst Method (BWM) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to connect subjective expert-based prioritization with objective efficiency benchmarking. Using expert panel inputs and scenario-based circular energy configurations representing emerging economy conditions, the results indicate that technical barriers (28.4%) and economic barriers (24.9%) dominate the priority structure, with battery performance uncertainty and high initial investment as the most critical constraints. Results: DEA results show that configurations with formal reverse logistics and certification mechanisms achieve frontier efficiency (θ = 1.000), whereas fragmented informal configurations exhibit the lowest efficiency (θ = 0.712). High-tech configurations with weak regulation demonstrate that technological investment alone is insufficient without institutional development. Conclusions: The novelty lies in developing a context-sensitive BWM–DEA framework that embeds barrier priorities into efficiency evaluation, an approach rarely explored in prior circular supply chain research. The study provides a holistic decision-support tool for policymakers and industry stakeholders seeking to accelerate circular energy transitions in emerging economies.