Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review of humanitarian logistics (HL) that aims to identify trends and suggest some directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper develops a research framework for literature review through qualitative and quantitative content analysis. First, previous literature reviews in HL are updated and detailed. Then, seven classification criteria are added to earlier ones in order to advance the literature analysis. Findings – The conclusions identify some literature gaps and research opportunities. The main conclusions are the need for more studies into the disaster recovery phase and the need for closer relationships between academia and humanitarian organizations to increase the number of applied research. Research limitations/implications – The literature is limited to academic peer-reviewed journals because of their academic relevance, accessibility, and ease of searching. Practical implications – Help potential researchers to set up a research agenda for future work. Social implications – Reinforce earlier calls to increase truly applied research and improve social impact of the field. Originality/value – In total, 228 papers that were published in the HL area are reviewed, giving rise to the most extensive literature review in this area. New dimensions for literature review in HL are proposed, which give some new insights into potential research directions.

PurposeThis paper seeks to identify collaboration elements and evaluate their intensity in the Brazilian supermarket retail chain, especially the manufacturer‐retailer channel.Design/methodology/approachA structured questionnaire was elaborated and applied to 125 representatives from suppliers of large supermarket chains. Statistical methods including multivariate analysis were employed. Variables were grouped and composed into five indicators (joint actions, information sharing, interpersonal integration, gains and cost sharing, and strategic integration) to assess the degree of collaboration.FindingsThe analyses showed that the interviewees considered interpersonal integration to be of greater importance to collaboration intensity than the other integration factors, such as gain or cost sharing or even strategic integration.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted solely from the point of view of the industries that supply the large retail networks. The interviews were not conducted in pairs; that is, there was no application of one questionnaire to the retail network and another to the partner industry.Practical implicationsCompanies should invest in conducting periodic meetings with their partners to increase collaboration intensity, and should carry out technical visits to learn about their partners' logistic reality and thus make better operational decisions.Originality/valueThe paper reveals which indicators produce greater collaboration intensity, and thus those that are more relevant to more efficient logistics management.

Este trabalho estuda a influência da atual estrutura de alíquotas internas e interestaduais do Imposto sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços sobre o projeto de localização de centros de distribuição para indústrias de bens de consumo não duráveis, do tipo encontrado no comércio de auto-serviço. Foi montado um problema padrão, onde quatro indústrias têm sua distribuição conjunta coordenada por um único operador logístico para obtenção de economias de escala. A solução para o problema foi obtida através de um modelo de Programação Linear Inteira Mista, cujos parâmetros de demandas e custos foram estimados utilizando-se valores reais do mercado (base segundo semestre de 2000). Conclui-se que a atual estrutura desse tributo afeta grandemente os custos logísticos e a decisão de localizar instalações logísticas. Portanto, é fundamental integrar o planejamento tributário à disciplina logística, sob pena de se desenvolver sistemas de distribuição subotimizados.

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COPERSUCAR Ltda (the acronym for the Sugarcane and Ethanol Producers' Cooperative in Sa˜o Paulo state) is a Brazilian cooperative of sugarcane producers and the largest sugar and ethanol manufacturer in Brazil, producing 4.4 million metric tons of sugar and 2.7 billion liters of ethanol. The cooperative is composed of 34 sugar mills with centralized sales and marketing. This organization establishes the amount of each product that will be manufactured in each mill to reduce total transportation and storage costs and, consequently, increase overall gain. Critical aspects of this problem are seasonal production and, therefore, the need to store final products to meet demand during the off-season period. This study focuses on the application of a multi-period linear programming model that provides optimal assignment of production, transportation, and storage of final products subject to manufacturing and flow capacity constraints. The expected annual benefits of implementing the proposed solution are 3.3 million dollars. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was carried out to investigate the possibility of increasing the capacity of the installed mills.Founded in July 1959, COPERSUCAR is composed of 34 sugar mills, 31 of which are concentrated in the state of Sa˜o Paulo, as shown in Fig. 1. With centralized management of sales and marketing, this group serves clients throughout Brazil. This cooperative is the largest sugarcane manufacturer in Brazil, with a production of 4.4 million metric tons of sugar and 2.7 billion liters of ethanol (data for the 1999/2000 crop). It is also the market leader, accounting for 26% of the sugar market and 23% of the ethanol market in the central and southern regions of Brazil.This study focuses on the application of a linear programming (LP) model that provides the optimal assignment of production, transportation, and warehousing for each period within the logistics system managed by COPERSUCAR. Critical aspects of this problem are seasonal production and the resulting need to store final products to meet demand during the off-season. Thus, production planning involves decisions such as distribution of the production mix between several plants according to their individual capacity, the need for totally external storage, and management of inventory levels for each plant.Numerous mathematical programming models applied to production and distribution problems can be found in the literature. Gehring et al. (1991) used LP in the integrated planning of production and distribution of cement. Gutierrez (1996) developed a multi-period, multiproduct LP model to optimize production, inventory placement (raw materials and final products), and distribution of a company that deals with agricultural input with high seasonal demand. Schuster and Allen (1998) approached the problem of aggregate planning for a manufacturer of fruit-derived products, minimizing transportation, manufacturing, and storage costs. Hindi et al. (1998) presented an application of a multi-product transshipment model for the ...