Abstract
The practical relevance and challenging nature of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) have motivated the Operations Research community to consider different practical requirements and problem variants throughout the years. However, businesses still face increasingly specific and complex transportation re-quirements that need to be tackled, one of them being synchronisation. No literature contextualises syn-chronisation among other types of problem aspects of the VRP, increasing ambiguity in the nomenclature used by the community. The contributions of this paper originate from a literature review and are three-fold. First, new conceptual and classification schemas are proposed to analyse literature and re-organise different interdependencies that arise in routing decisions. Secondly, a modelling framework is presented based on the proposed schemas. Finally, an extensive literature review identifies future research gaps and opportunities in the field of VRPs with synchronisation.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

Abstract
Assembly lines are at the core of many manufacturing systems, and planning for a well-balanced flow is key to ensure long-term efficiency. However, in flexible configurations such as Multi-Manned Assembly Lines (MMAL), the balancing problem also becomes more challenging. Due to the increased relevance of these assembly lines, this work aims to investigate the MMAL balancing problem, to contribute for a more effective decision-making process. Therefore, a new approach is proposed based on Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) embedded in a Digital Twin architecture. The proposed approach provides a close-to-reality training environment for the agent, using Discrete Event Simulation to simulate the production system dynamics. This methodology was tested on a real-world instance with preliminary results showing that similar solutions to the ones obtained using optimization-based strategies are achieved. This research provides evidence of success in terms of dynamic resource assignment to tasks and workers as a basis for future developments. © 2024, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
The Strategic Framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training (ET 2020) aimed to pro-mote the exchange of best practices among the Member States. This paper assesses the performance evo-lution of European countries in terms of the common objectives for the education sector. The framework used to evaluate European education systems is based on constructing a composite indicator adopting a benefit-of-the-doubt approach. The evaluation of performance change over time is done using a Global Malmquist Index. Sigma and beta convergence of EU countries are also explored using non-parametric frontier techniques. The results are analysed for the period 2009-2018 and discussed in light of the goals envisaged and the national policies adopted. The results revealed a trend of improvement in the perfor-mance of education systems in most European countries in the period analysed. Although most European countries moved closer to the European best practice frontier over time, as confirmed by the values of sigma-convergence, a few countries are still lagging considerably below their peers, as revealed by the existence of divergence in beta.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ )

Abstract
Cutting and packing problems are challenging combinatorial optimization problems that have many rel-evant industrial applications and arise whenever a raw material has to be cut into smaller parts while minimizing waste, or products have to be packed, minimizing the empty space. Thus, the optimal solution to these problems has a positive economic and environmental impact. In many practical applications, both the raw material and the cut parts have a rectangular shape, and cut-ting plans are generated for one raw material rectangle (also known as plate) at a time. This is known in the literature as the (two-dimensional) rectangular cutting problem. Many variants of this problem may arise, led by cutting technology constraints, raw-material characteristics, and different planning goals, the most relevant of which are the guillotine cuts. The absence of the guillotine cuts imposition makes the problem harder to solve to optimality.Based on the Floating-Cuts paradigm, a general and flexible mixed-integer programming model for the general rectangular cutting problem is proposed. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first mixed inte-ger linear programming model in the literature for both non-guillotine and guillotine problems. The basic idea of this model is a tree search where branching occurs by successive first-order non-guillotine-type cuts. The exact position of the cuts is not fixed, but instead remains floating until a concrete small rect-angle (also known as item) is assigned to a child node. This model does not include decision variables either for the position coordinates of the items or for the coordinates of the cuts. Under this framework, it was possible to address various different variants of the problem.Extensive computational experiments were run to evaluate the model's performance considering 16 dif-ferent problem variants, and to compare it with the state-of-the-art formulations of each variant. The results confirm the power of this flexible model, as, for some variants, it outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches and, for the other variants, it presents results fairly close to the best approaches. But, even more importantly, this is a new way of looking at these problems which may trigger even better approaches, with the consequent economic and environmental benefits.

Abstract
The Industry 4.0 technologies and servitization are requiring manufacturers to reinvent themselves to remain competitive. In this sense, companies are putting more emphasis on the customer experience, while associating services to their products with the support of emerging technologies. At the same time, actors in the innovation ecosystem such as universities, research institutes, and service providers are involved in the value co-creation process. Thus, this study aims to systemize and present the main findings of a literature review regarding the role of digitalization, servitization, and innovation ecosystem actors in boosting innovation in business models. The study involved 585 articles in international journals and conference proceedings published till 2021. A detailed selection process led 10 articles for further analysis. As a consequence of digitalization and servitization, there has to be an alignment among ecosystem actors to capture the co-created value generated by BMI. Moreover, the combination of BMI, servitization, and digitalization may also be structured into frameworks according to the different levels of each of those factors, thus allowing for companies to assess and position themselves in such frameworks and identify the path to follow. However, any of these articles addressed the combination of the three topics proposed: digitalization, servitization, and the contribution of the innovation ecosystem actors, even if they showed a clear interdependence between these areas, leading to common findings impacting BMI. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Abstract
Censored data are frequently found in diverse fields including environmental monitoring, medicine, economics and social sciences. Censoring occurs when observations are available only for a restricted range, e.g., due to a detection limit. Ignoring censoring produces biased estimates and unreliable statistical inference. The aim of this work is to contribute to the modelling of time series of counts under censoring using convolution closed infinitely divisible (CCID) models. The emphasis is on estimation and inference problems, using Bayesian approaches with Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) and Gibbs sampler with Data Augmentation (GDA) algorithms.