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The design stage of a product plays a critical role in determining its sustainability. Key product attributes—such as reliability, durability, reusability, repairability, design for remanufacturing, recyclability, and end-of-life considerations—are established during this stage, influencing the product’s overall environmental impact. Circular product design (CPD) is a design philosophy that fosters economic growth while reducing negative environmental impact across the product’s entire life cycle. This study aims to identify circular product design strategies (CPDS) for the apparel industry, a sector known for its significant carbon footprint. Twelve CPDS are identified in this study, categorized into five dimensions of circular economy (CE): narrowing , slowing , closing , reintegrating , and technology , using the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) with inputs from a panel of twenty-three experts. Furthermore, causal interrelationships and a prioritized list of these strategies are determined using the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) technique. Of the twelve strategies, five are part of the causal group, while the remainder are in the effect group. The top three causal CPDS are Design standardization , Design with responsible materials , and Design for redesign and remanufacturing . Conversely, the CPDS under the ‘effect’ group with least impact includes Multifunctional product design , Artificial intelligence in design forecasting , and Computer-aided product design . This study offers valuable managerial insights for decision-makers and designers in the apparel industry, guiding the implementing of CE practices throughout the apparel supply chain.

The fast fashion industry significantly impedes sustainability by its rapid production cycles, low-cost products, and heavy carbon footprint. Nowadays, circular economy (CE) has become an interesting concept, which follows the “take-make-dispose” model and allows products, materials, and resources to be in use as long as possible. There is a paucity of research in the identification of circular economy strategies (CES) and mapping them based on their interrelationships, which is very important from a managerial perspective. In this vein, this study identifies nine CES and analyzes their causal relationships using the Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory method in the context of fast fashion footwear manufacture. The key contributions include providing actionable insights for implementing CE practices, enhancing the sustainability of the footwear industry, and offering a strategic roadmap for industry stakeholders. The results and implications of this study will guide footwear industry decision-makers in making a strategic map considering the cause-and-effect interrelationships among the CES for implementing CE business practices in the footwear industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a global threat that is making industrial managers rethink their supply chain (SC) structures in an uncertain business environment. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, global SCs have been severely disrupted, triggering the need for a supply chain resilience (SCR) model. Based on the literature and expert input, 15 SCR drivers for the manufacturing industry were identified in three categories, namely, absorptive, adaptive, and restorative capacity. The approximate fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (AFDEMATEL) method was used to categorize these 15 SCR drivers into cause-and-effect groups and produce a priority list of the SCR drivers. System robustness , geographically dispersed multiple suppliers , and risk management culture are the top three critical SCR drivers, respectively, in the cause group, and all three are associated with the absorptive capacity of the manufacturing industry. Agile supply chain , contingency planning , and restoration of resources are the least important drivers, respectively, in the effect group. In an uncertain environment, the critical SCR drivers are system robustness and risk management culture . The study results will help supply chain managers formulate strategic policies to achieve supply chain resilience in an uncertain business environment.

PurposeBangladesh's ready-made garment (RMG) industry plays a vital role in the economic growth of this country. As the global trend in the fashion market has introduced a high-mix, low-volume ordering style, manufacturers are facing an increased number of changeovers in their production systems. However, most of the Bangladeshi RMG manufacturers are not yet ready to respond to such small orders and to improve the flexibility of their production systems. Consequently, the industry is falling behind in global market competition. Thus, this study aims to advance the current performance of RMG manufacturing operations to respond to the fast-fashion industry's challenges effectively using quick changeover.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a Single-Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) is applied to attain quick changeover following the best practices of lean manufacturing.FindingsThis study examined the performance of the SMED technique to reduce changeover time in two case organisations. The changeover time was reduced by 70.76% from 434.56 min to 127.08 min and 42.12% from 2,664 min to 1,542 min for the case organisations, respectively. The results of this study show that companies require improved changeover times to address the demand for high-mix, low-volume orders.Originality/valueThis study will certainly guide practitioners of the RMG industry to adopt SMED to reduce changeover time to meet small batch production.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted global business operations. Most importantly, practitioners of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been facing devastating economic shocks emanated from the COVID-19 pandemic. The purposes of this study are to explore the business status of SMEs, business sustenance period, types of problems faced by the practitioners and impact on production volume, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For these purposes, primary survey data from 284 SMEs in Bangladesh are collected in this study. The survey data are descriptively analyzed using appropriate graphs. This study finds that SMEs are facing several problems such as demand fall (92.96%), cancellation of orders (85.56%), liquidity crisis (74.30%), delayed transportation (72.53%), unsecured working environment (68.31%), raw material shortage (63.73%) and employees’ absenteeism (62.67%). The SMEs face beyond 40% decrease in production volume against the pre-pandemic year. Furthermore, this study formulates several strategic measures, which will certainly guide policymakers and practitioners to combat the COVID-19 economic shocks for the SMEs and also for other industries.

The footwear industry is the second largest export earning sector of Bangladesh, contributing to earning $1.234 billion in 2016-17. Despite its ample opportunity to value addition to national economy, the sector faces enormous image crisis at home and abroad because of non-existent green practices in the supply chain. The tenet of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) practices is to diminish or obviate wastages, greenhouse gas emission, and energy consumption and promotes reuse, recycle, remanufacture and reverse logistics. The study was designed to identify the barriers for implementing Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) practices in Footwear Industry of Bangladesh. A two round Delphi study approach was conducted from five industrial experts and five academic experts to identify the common barriers. The study identified twenty two barriers whereas the lack of commitment of management is the paramount. Financial constraint, lack of energy management & wastage management as well as lack of source of eco-friendly materials are the second most important barriers. The internal barriers and regulations & awareness barriers were classified as the top source and features barriers respectively. The study result may provide insight to the management in formulating strategies and tactics to implement green practices in footwear industry for sustainability.

Several materials and chemicals are being used during manufacturing processes of shoes which are responsible for a good quality product. Nowadays it has been coming out of the current market of Bangladesh that leading retail brands are not providing good quality footwear to their customers. The aim of the study was to investigate different physical and chemical properties of sample shoe materials related to comfort features. Ten pairs of casual leather shoes were brought from five leading Bangladeshi retail brand outlets focusing on equal price point and best-selling article. These samples underwent different physical and chemical tests following standard methods of SATRA (Shoe and Allied Trade Research Association), IUP (International Union for Physical testing) and SLC (Society of Leather Chemists) such as whole shoe flexing, sole adhesion, flexing endurance of upper materials, SATRA-Bata sole flexing, shrinkage temperature, percentage of chromium (expressed as % Cr2O3) content, water absorbency, water vapor permeability (W.V.P) and pH. All samples showed poor sole adhesion as average separation load were recorded 13.9 kg, 14.2 kg and 20.1 kg at the toe, ball and heel areas respectively that were far below than standard values. Three sample soles were broken down after 30,000 and 40,000 cycles rendering poor flexing resistance, whereas the upper materials of four samples showed poor flexing endurance with break pipiness scale ratings 4/5 and 4 before desired 50,000 cycles. Especially sole adhesion and flexing endurance properties should be ameliorated to gratify customers' expectations.

There are many factors that have a great influence over customer's decision in case of choosing gent's shoes and also several features are related to comfort properties of shoes. The aim of the study was to identify the most influential purchase factors of gent's shoes along with disclosing frequently considered comfort factors through target sample population and experts. Two questionnaire experiments were performed among selected respondents and four experts' opinions were observed. The number of total interviewees who provided their preference of choosing factors during shoe purchase was 72 and the interviewees gave their feedbacks especially on basic comfort properties after wearing three pairs of sample shoes for a period of two months. Bar chart, pie chart, Pareto analysis and average weighted method were followed for assessing data. Style, comfort, price and colour were the top four factors that were suggested by the respondents respectively and style, comfort, color and price were considered by the experts at the time of purchasing new shoes, respectively. On the other hand, breathability, proper size and fit, light weight, flexibility and appearance were selected as the most considered factors regarding shoe comfort, whereas experts suggested size and fit, cushioning, flexibility, light weight, breathability, arch support and toe profile shape, respectively. Those who wore sample shoes made of synthetic upper materials and narrow fitted in the forefoot region during the experimental period, tended to perceive them as very uncomfortable.

This study aims to investigate factors influencing the adoption of clean energy among households in Bangladesh, using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and extended probit regression model with data from the 2019 Bangladesh multiple indicator cluster survey. Small households, primarily Muslim and urban dwellers, who speak the Bengali language and are Internet and mobile users, were likelier to adopt cleaner fuels than their counterparts. On the contrary, households residing in the Barisal, Khulna, Rajshahi, and Rangpur divisions, belonging to poor and middle-class households, with household heads aged 15–64 and without formal education, were less likely to adopt cleaner fuels than their counterparts. The concentration curve revealed socioeconomic inequality in the adoption of clean energy, particularly favouring richer households in urban and rural areas. Further analysis using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition showed that urban residents showed a higher probability of adopting clean energy, with a significant difference of 0.508 compared to rural areas. Regarding the endowment effect, poor wealth quintile contributed the most, followed by the ownership of rented dwellings and the middle wealth quintile. The Bengali differential effect made the largest contribution to this aspect of the disparity, followed by the exposure of the Internet and the influence of the Dhaka and Chattogram divisions. The detailed analysis provides valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners on the issue of disparities in the adoption of clean energy between urban and rural areas in Bangladesh.

The recently developed Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) is a seven-item uni-dimensional scale that assesses the severity of fears of COVID-19. Given the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh, we aimed to translate and validate the FCV-19S in Bangla. The forward-backward translation method was used to translate the English version of the questionnaire into Bangla. The reliability and validity properties of the Bangla FCV-19S were rigorously psychometrically evaluated (utilizing both confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis) in relation to socio-demographic variables, national lockdown variables, and response to the Bangla Health Patient Questionnaire. The sample comprised 8550 Bangladeshi participants. The Cronbach α value for the Bangla FCV-19S was 0.871 indicating very good internal reliability. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the uni-dimensional factor structure of the FCV-19S fitted well with the data. The FCV-19S was significantly correlated with the nine-item Bangla Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-90) ( r  = 0.406, p  < 0.001). FCV-19S scores were significantly associated with higher worries concerning lockdown. Measurement invariance of the FCV-19S showed no differences with respect to age or gender. The Bangla version of FCV-19S is a valid and reliable tool with robust psychometric properties which will be useful for researchers carrying out studies among the Bangla speaking population in assessing the psychological impact of fear from COVID-19 infection during this pandemic.