Supply chain disruptions pose significant economic stability and growth challenges, impacting industries globally. This study aims to systematically review the literature on the use of simulation tools in managing supply chain disruptions, focusing on the historical evolution, prevalent simulation methods, specific challenges addressed, and research gaps. A systematic literature review was conducted using the PRISMA method. An initial pool of 236 articles was identified, from which 213 publications were rigorously reviewed. This study analyzed these articles to map the academic landscape, identify key clusters, and explore the integration of digital advancements in enhancing supply chain resilience. The review identified the chronological development of research in this field, highlighting significant contributions and influential authors. It was found that various simulation methods, including discrete-event simulation, agent-based modeling, and system dynamics, are employed to address different aspects of supply chain disruptions. Two primary research frontiers emerged from the analysis: the strategic reconfiguration of supply chain networks to mitigate ripple effects and the swift implementation of countermeasures to contain disruptions. The findings suggest a need for future research focusing on dynamic analysis and control theory applications to understand and manage supply chain disruptions better. This study also notes the increasing interest and need to use digital technologies (digital twins, artificial intelligence, etc.) in future research. It underscores the necessity for continued research to develop resilient and sustainable supply chain infrastructures aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The identified research gaps offer a roadmap for future scholarly exploration and practical implementation.

The tension between city logistics and its impact on sustainable urban development is evident. Often, local environmental decisions overlook the effects on urban freight logistics, lacking consideration for stakeholders. To address this, utilizing multi-criteria analysis becomes relevant for informed urban planning and management decision making. In this context, this paper conducts a systematic literature review from 2012 to 2022, focused on implementing the multi-criteria analysis methodology to evaluate alternatives for solutions in urban freight logistics. The PRISMA tool was used in the review to select publications and categorize the information obtained to address the research questions. Results display the most prominent authors and publications, authors’ country affiliations, annual publication frequency, research objectives, used frameworks, involved actors, defined evaluation criteria, types of alternatives for solutions considered, and MCDM methods applied. The main finding is that the most commonly used MCDM methods were AHP hybrid followed by MAMCA. In addition, no clear correlation between the pursued objectives and the MCDM methods employed by the researchers is identified. It is important to note that all publications with the highest number of citations use fuzzy methods in their analyses.

Since the 1990s, the low number of students choosing to study science and technology in higher education has been on the societal agenda and many initiatives have been launched to promote awareness regarding career options. The initiatives particularly focus on increasing enrolment in the engineering programmes. This article describes and compares eight European initiatives that have been established and operated by universities (and in some cases through collaboration with other actors in society). Each initiative is summarised in a short essay that discusses motivation, organisation, pedagogical approach, and activities. The initiatives are characterised by comparing the driving forces behind their creation, how the initiative activities relate to the activities at the university, size based on the number of participants and cost per participant and pedagogical framework. There seem to be two main tracks for building outreach activities, one where outreach activities are based on the university's normal activities, and one where outreach activities are designed specifically for the visiting students.

Purpose: With this work, we intend to promote research on the application of Operations Management tools in order to assist with decision-making in health crisis situations. During the first six weeks of the COVID-19 crisis in Spain, we have contacted a large number of hospital and health department managers in the Valencian Community and other regions of Spain. The result is that very few, at least when contact was made and at the time of writing this article, had consulted staff members in the Operations Management area for advice on this situation, and they are quite reluctant to do so. This is in spite of the fact that some medical sources also consider this crisis to be one of resources, not merely a medical crisis. Our opinion is that Operations Management can make a useful and valuable contribution to anticipate and improve the management of scarce resources, even in times of crisis. If those responsible for public health or heads of hospitals do not see this usefulness, then there is a huge gap between research and practice in Operations Management and what is transmitted to the healthcare sector. Our aim is to help reduce this gap.Design/methodology/approach: In the first part of the article, we will justify that this crisis, besides being a medical crisis, is also a crisis in terms of resources. We will briefly review some of the Operations Management tools that we believe are appropriate for managing this crisis. We will focus on those that we will illustrate in the second part of the article as a practical example of the action research protocol (only the action planning phase), in which we are currently involved.Findings: Due to the peculiarities of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is reasonable to think that the evolution and duration of each outbreak, and the way it is dealt with, will be different in each hospital and/or each health department. Anticipating the number of patients who will require care and forecasting the consumption of resources over time is complex, due to the long and variable incubation times and the uncontrolled evolution of the treatments needed by each patient. Furthermore, since the evolution of new patient admissions is not homogeneous, the forecasting of requirements is difficult. Providing real-time support and detecting with a certain degree of anticipation the potential levels of demand for health care will enable hospitals to define what stages of the contingency plan to apply and how to (re)assign the available resources in the most efficient way possible.Research limitations/implications: Hardly any current data are available, not only publicly, but also through public health ministries and managers; those that are available are not very reliable and come from studies with non-representative samples. For this reason, all forecasts must be taken with a note of caution, and in particular, designing review mechanisms every time a new set of updated reliable data becomes available (something that occurs on a weekly basis).Originality/value: In this work, we will show an example of a proposal for the practical application of Operations Management tools. Our proposal may be useful to hospital managers and public administrators in the healthcare sector (regional ministries or their equivalents). Each health department, hospital or hospital group will generate the aggregate data that facilitate the calculation of needs as input parameters for the model (available and occupied beds, daily admissions, mean lengths of stay in each healing phase and the percent of patients who evolve from one stage to another in the progression of the disease/healing process) and will be able to analyze how the system responds and evaluate different strategies or mitigating actions. These tools have been shown to be useful and reliable in manufacturing and service contexts that show a strong seasonal demand (both occasional and recurring) requiring a great deal of resources. We believe these situations are analogous to those faced by hospitals and the healthcare system in an epidemic like COVID-19. With them, we could facilitate the aggregate planning of resources for hospital administrators in order to provide them operational support during the COVID-19 contingency plan. However, the array of useful tools for this crisis is not limited to those that we will illustrate. Our intent is to encourage the Operations Management academic community to demonstrate how they contribute to the service of society in this COVID-19 epidemic, providing knowledge that can be extrapolated to other similar situations in the future that we may be unfortunate enough to experience.