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PurposeCollaboration is an important emerging dimension of sustainable supply chain management. How to improve supply chain collaboration (SCC) by means of operational excellence approaches has become an important research topic. The Internet of things (IoT), an important means of operational excellence, has also received increased attention. For better collaboration by the IoT, this study proposes a novel methodology to evaluate the measures of IoT adoption in SCC.Design/methodology/approachBased on the six-domain model and the common classification of collaboration, the measures of the IoT and the criteria of SCC are developed, respectively. A hybrid multi-step methodology that combines neutrosophic set theory, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technology for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) is proposed to complete the evaluation.FindingsThe results show that improving information transparency, strengthening the integration of management information systems and improving large data processing abilities are the most important measures of the IoT in improving SCC. Measures such as introducing sensing technology and laser scanning technology rank at the bottom and are relatively unimportant.Practical implicationsThe research results provide insights and references for firms to improve SCC by adopting appropriate IoT measures.Originality/valueMost of existing studies indicate the significance of technology in SCC. But this study shows a different conclusion that technologies rank the bottom, while information transparency is more important. And a suitable explanation is given. It further enriches the theoretical studies in SCC field.

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Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), a byproduct from the palm oil refinery process, has recently been utilized as an alternative feedstock for biodiesel (BD) production via homogeneous acid-catalyzed esterification. This process suffers from catalyst recovery, wastewater treatment, and BD purification. To minimize the problem, heterogeneous catalysts, Novozym 435 (immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B) and Amberlyst 15 (acidic styrene-divinylbenzene sulfonated ion-exchange resin), are tested and their catalytic activities under various reaction conditions are compared. Novozym 435 acts fast and its optimal specific activity (g BD/h/g catalyst) is 50-fold higher than that of Amberlyst 15. The maximum BD yields obtained using Novozym 435 and Amberlyst 15 are 95 and 97%, respectively. Both catalysts are recycled more than 15 cycles without losing their activities. The results suggest that both Novozym 435 and Amberlyst 15 can be effectively used for BD production from PFAD.