Recent years have seen a dynamic growth of ecommerce. This links to technological developments, an increase in the number of people who have access to and actively use the Internet, and the use of mobile devices. The aim of the paper is to present the results of a questionnaire survey of the factors behind the development of e-commerce services. Besides, the paper defines the interdependence between the frequency of internet shopping and the logistic aspects of e-commerce. A hierarchy is also established of the degree of satisfaction as regards the quality criteria of e-commerce services. The analysis covers data from a questionnaire survey of 100 customers using ecommerce in Poland. The respondents were customers using e-commerce services aged between 20 and 24. The questionnaire was based on a five-point Likert-type scale of between 1 and 5. The survey was qualitative and nationwide. The analysis was done using the Statistica 10 software. The Pearson correlation was chosen from amongst the methods available to determine the impact between the surveyed variables. Firms that provide e-commerce services aim to fulfil the ever increasing needs and expectations of their customers. They attach a lot of importance to the quality of customer service which is demonstrated by the high scores awarded by the respondents.
The principal objective of the research was to determine the influence exerted by the implementation of standard quality management systems on the improvement of selected logistics processes in small and medium-sized enterprises, which operate in the textile industry. Empirical research was carried out by the authors in the year 2017 on a group of small and medium-sized enterprises that operate in the textile industry in Poland and Slovakia. The research involved 33 organizations (20 Polish, and 13 Slovak ones). The research process and the analysis of the acquired results made it possible to address the research questions posed and to state, among others, that standardized quality management systems exert a relatively large influence on perfecting selected subsystems and logistic processes in the researched organizations.
An attempt to assess customer satisfaction with the service quality is a common research topic pursued by many scholars. By analysing the existing research in the area of logistics services evaluation, including refrigerated transport, it should be noted that the issues concerned are presented in a selective manner. The aim of this paper is to present the results of conducted surveys regarding the importance of the logistics services attributes influencing customer satisfaction in the field of road refrigerated transport. In order to respect the qualitative nature of collected information, a ordered weighted averaging technique (OWA) was applied. In turn, the rationale of the RR approach can also be applied in order to estimate the performance of the logistics service attributes as evaluated by the customers. The findings obtained from the interviews regarding the expectations and the evaluation of the quality level were used to perform analyses based on the so-called fifth vulnerability, developed by the Parasuraman team and included in the SERVQUAL method. The research concerned an analysis of the key criteria for the evaluation of the quality of logistics services in the examined area. The research was based on a questionnaire designed for purchasers of logistics services. The respondents were companies using refrigerated transport.
Alternative fuels (refuse-derived fuels—RDF) have been a substitute for fossil fuels in cement production for many years. RDF are produced from various materials characterized by high calorific value. Due to the possibility of self-ignition in the pile of stored alternative fuel, treatments are carried out to help protect entrepreneurs against material losses and employees against loss of health or life. The objective of the research was to assess the impact of alternative fuel biodrying on the ability to self-heat this material. Three variants of materials (alternative fuel produced on the basis of mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) and on the basis of bulky waste (mainly varnished wood and textiles) and residues from selective collection waste (mainly plastics and tires) were adopted for the analysis. The novelty of the proposed solution consists in processing the analyzed materials inside the innovative ecological waste apparatus bioreactor (EWA), which results in increased process efficiency and shortening its duration. The passive thermography technique was used to assess the impact of alternative fuel biodrying on the decrease in the self-heating ability of RDF. As a result of the conducted analyses, it was clear that the biodrying process inhibited the self-heating of alternative fuel. The temperature of the stored fuel reached over 60 °C before the biodrying process. However, after the biodrying process, the maximum temperatures in each of the variants were about 30 °C, which indicates a decrease in the activity of microorganisms and the lack of self-ignition risk. The maximum temperatures obtained (>71 °C), the time to reach them (≈4 h), and the duration of the thermophilic phase (≈65 h) are much shorter than in the studies of other authors, where the duration of the thermophilic phase was over 80 h.
1 January 2017 in International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics
By analysing the existing research in the area of logistics services evaluation, including refrigerated transport, it should be noted that the issues concerned are presented in a selective manner. The aim of the paper is to estimate the performance of logistics services attributes in the field of refrigerated transport. In order to respect the qualitative nature of collected information, an ordered weighted averaging (OWA) technique was applied (i.e., rank reciprocal - RR). The findings obtained from the interviews regarding the expectations and the evaluation of the quality level were used to perform a series of analyses based on the so-called fifth vulnerability, developed by the Parasuraman team (SERVQUAL method). The presented research focuses on the analysis of the key criteria for the evaluation of logistics services quality in the examined area. The research was based on a questionnaire designed for purchasers of logistics services. The respondents were companies using refrigerated transport.
1 January 2018 in International Journal of Applied Management Science
The article concerns the problems of comprehensive service for refrigerated cargo performed at maritime container terminals. It aims to determine the services range forming the comprehensive service of refrigerated containers in seaports and to examine the opinion of container terminals on customer satisfaction with the complexity of handling refrigerated containers. An approach to assess the customer satisfaction with the complexity of handling refrigerated containers has been proposed. The results of the survey conducted at five Polish maritime container terminals have been analysed. The research revealed that according to the seaports opinion the comprehensive service is important for their customers. The high-level customer satisfaction and shorter service time are the main benefits of service. The importance rating for services groups within comprehensive service of analysed cargo has been analysed. It was stated that seaports need to strengthen the implementation of logistic services group for refrigerated containers under their comprehensive service.