Facility management, outsourcing and contracting overview

The discipline of facility management has basically originated from the experience of the field and most of the business models are driven from the American market. The majority of surveys agree that organizational objectives vary according to different business environments. The link between a given company and its facility management department has been studied in details with a widespread agreement on the importance of tailoring to the specific context the facility management organizational model and the approach to the relationships with suppliers. In Europe two Technical Committees of the Comite Europeen de Normalisation (CEN) are currently adding to the body of knowledge terminologies…

La shelf life per la gestione delle scorte

EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE ACCURACY OF RFID BASED LOCALIZATION SYSTEMS FOR INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSES

Simulation analysis of cold chain performance based on time–temperature data

Perishable goods are a fundamental source of revenue for the retail sector; their management, however, constitutes a severe challenge for retailers and supply chain partners. A significant cost in particular is the fraction of products perished through the supply chain, which also constitutes an ethical and environmental concern. Supply chain organisation and operative characteristics have a significant influence on this matter, as in fact ensuring suitable temperature conditions for the stock-keeping units throughout the supply chain is mandatory for perishable products. Recent developments in sensing and communication technologies allow detailed monitoring and control of cold chain; howev…

Coffee biowaste valorization within circular economy: an evaluation method of spent coffee grounds potentials for mortar production

Abstract Purpose Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are biowastes extensively generated within the coffee supply chain. Nowadays, their disposal represents an increasing environmental concern due to its toxicity and organic nature. With the estimated increase of coffee production and consumption in the upcoming years, there is an imperative need to find a proper reverse option, along with a novel industrial application, which allows for the valorization of this coffee by-product within a circular economy perspective. This study aims at investigating a potential reuse of spent coffee grounds to produce novel construction materials to be used for sustainable buildings. Methods After having illustrate…

Evaluation of maintenance service procurement contracts

A sustainable phenolic compound extraction system from olive oil mill wastewater

Abstract The reduction of environmental impact and the achievement of economic advantages based on by-product recovery is the aim of applying methodologies for phenolic compounds extraction from Olive Oil Mill Wastewater. Volume reduction of Olive Oil Mill Wastewater could generate important advantages in terms of waste disposal cost abatement and, in addition, reuse in the production of foods with health properties could lead to economic benefits. Despite the fact that literature shows that several techniques have been developed, few economic approaches have been presented. This paper assesses the economic feasibility of a system based on membrane filtration and reverse osmosis processes f…

Selection of novel geopolymeric mortars for sustainable construction applications using fuzzy topsis approach

Construction is recognized as one of the most polluting and energy consuming industries worldwide, especially in developing countries. Therefore, Research and Development (R&amp

Solving type-2 Assembly Line Balancing Problem with Fuzzy Binary Linear Programming

From lab to industry: Scaling up green geopolymeric mortars manufacturing towards circular economy

Abstract Construction is nowadays considered an extremely energy intensive industry and one of the main sources of environmental pollution in the world. Therefore, the research and the development of novel energy-saving manufacturing processes and sustainable construction materials is more than ever urgent and challenging. This paper aims at identifying the industrial process for the production of novel geopolymers to be used as a greener substitute for cement, especially the Portland one, widely used for structural applications to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry. Here, the materials sustainability and the manufacturing process are improved by valo…

Coverage analysis of RFID indoor localization system for refrigerated warehouse based on 2-D Ray tracing

Due to the ever increasing diffusion of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) in logistic processes, the localization of the tags in the environment is becoming an important feature for many RFID-based inventory management systems. RFID-based Location system will allow offering value-added services logistics operators, and RFID tags can be used for more than just labeling items. This paper proposes a Received Signal Strength (RSS) based positioning system for perishable products equipped with active UHF RFID tags inside a refrigerated warehouse (4C°). The major performance metrics of interest for indoor positioning systems are the accuracy and the precision in estimating signal strength wit…

Ranking of shelf life models based on smart logistic unit using the ELECTRE III method

The aim of this paper is the evaluation of Shelf Life (SL) models based on Smart logistic unit to support the management of the food supply chain in order to guarantee the shelf life of products in agreement with logistic efficiency and system sustainability. For this purpose, the main shelf life equations based on parameters that influence the quality of perishable products were defined and the correspondent acquiring and gathered system has been developed. The selection of the optimal SL model was carried out by means of the multi-criteria decision-making procedure ELECTRE III.

Biomass power plants in western Sicily, Italy

Multi-Criteria Decision Making support system for pancreatic islet transplantation

Pancreatic islet transplantation consists of replacing insulin-producing cells to restore normal glycemia in diabetic patients. This is a minimal invasive procedure that has been proved successful. Unfortunately unpredictability of islet transplant outcome remains a frustrating and costly issue limiting the clinical implementation of this procedure. Multiple variables are involved in the procedure and assessment is subjective to individual operators. The aim of this study was to generate a system expressing the probability of transplant success in relation to four classes of identified variables (donor, organ, isolation and recipient). We have proposed the utilization of Multi-Criteria Deci…

A webGIS-based system for real time shelf life prediction

Technologies to acquire and monitor changes in the product shelf life were described.Four different SL predictive models were considered.A simulated transport using a prototype of Smart Logistic Unit was analysed.Real time shelf life prediction system was implemented in a webGIS platform. Shelf-life (SL) prediction and Least Shelf-life First Out (LSFO) stock strategy are important factors in perishable food supply chain in order to reduce quality and economic losses.In particular, distribution represents one of the main critical phases in logistic chain management and only the introduction of monitoring procedure can allow a reduction in food losses. Literature shows several mathematical mo…

Ranking of occupational health and safety risks by a multi-criteria perspective: Inclusion of human factors and application of VIKOR

Nowadays, the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is more and more recognized as a crucial process to be properly managed and continuously improved by every organization. Primarily addressed to prevent workers’ injuries and diseases, it positively impacts on productivity, competitiveness and reputation as well as it con-tributes to cost savings in general. OHS management is grounded upon the risk assessment results, on the basis of which defining corrective measures to be taken to reduce risks to acceptable values. In this regard, the paper proposes a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) based methodology addressed to the occupational risks prioritization. In order to overcome the shortco…

Coverage analysis of RFID indoor localization system for refrigerated warehouses based on 2D-ray tracing

The Design of Effective Maintenance Outsourcing Contracts

Recent developments in maintenance planning and management demonstrate that the establishment of optimized maintenance policies may drastically improve the performance and reduce the operating cost of facilities. However maintenance activities are typically outside of the core business of production facilities, hence enterprises often fail to catch the opportunities that may originate by properly optimized management strategies. A strategic maintenance management should hence encompass the possibility of outsourcing maintenance activities to ensure the necessary perfomance of production systems, while allowing enterprises to concentrate their resources on their core activities. In order to …

An Innovative Shelf Life Model Based on Smart Logistic Unit for an Efficient Management of the Perishable Food Supply Chain

Despite the recent interest towards food safety and control, it is generally difficult to ensure full products traceability through industrial food chains, due to the lack of efficient information and communication systems. Consequently, nowadays, the protection of food products often ends at the gates of the producer without any investigation about the status of their quality at the consumer’s location. The aim of this paper was the development of a supply chain monitoring system based on a smart logistic unit (SLU) to support the integrated management of the food supply chain from “farm to fork” in order to guarantee and control food safety and shelf life (SL) of products in agreement wit…

Human Factor Interrelationships to Improve Worker Reliability: Implementation of MCDM in the Agri-Food Sector

Performance Shaping Factors (PSFs) are contextual, individual, and cognitive factors used in Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) to quantify the worker contribution to errors when performing a generic task. Although the empirical evidence demonstrates the existence of PSF interrelationships, the majority of HRA methods assume their independence. As a consequence, the resulting Human Error Probability (HEP) might be over- or underestimated. To deal with this issue, only a few qualitative guidelines or statistical-based approaches have been proposed so far. While the former are not well structured, the latter require a high computational effort and a proper number of input data. Therefore, the p…

Distribution of biomass and site location of combustion and gasification power plants in western Sicily

The substitution of conventional fossil fuels with biomass for energy production results both in the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions and in the replacement of non-renewable energy sources. The use of biomass for energy production responds to the growing pressure of government policies towards the achievement of better environmental sustainability of power generation processes. This is particularly true for the agricultural areas of Sicily, where the realization of new economic dynamics can lead to development of a local economic system. However, at present, generating energy from biomass is rather expensive due to both technological limits related to low conversion efficiencies, and…

Sustainable vehicle routing based on firefly algorithm and TOPSIS methodology

Abstract In a sustainable management of logistics, transportation plays a crucial role. Traditionally, the main purpose was to solve the Vehicle Routing Problem minimizing the cost associated with the travelled distances. Nowadays, the economic profit cannot be the only driver for achieving sustainability and environmental issues have to be also considered. In this paper, to satisfy the intricate limits involved in real vehicle routing problem, the study has been structured considering different types of vehicles in terms of maximum capacity, velocity and emissions, asymmetric paths, vehicle-client constraints and delivery time windows. The firefly algorithm has been implemented to solve th…

Shelf life-based inventory management policy for RF monitored warehouse

Post-harvest losses of perishable products strongly depend on inefficiencies of the entire supply chain. In particular, these inefficiencies can be reduced by optimizing the warehouse management, taking into account the remaining shelf life of the product, and matching it to the requirements of the subsequent part of the handling chain. The replacement of First In First Out picking rule with Last Shelf Life First Out policy has been proved to improve the overall performance of the supply chain. The practicability of such approach is related to the possibility of monitoring the deterioration rate of the products and of predicting the residual shelf-life, that is mainly influenced by harvesti…

Solving type-2 assembly line balancing problem with fuzzy binary linear programming

This paper deals with the use of fuzzy set theory as a viable alternative method for modelling and solving the stochastic assembly line balancing problem. This paper presents a fuzzy extension of the simple assembly line balancing problem of type 2 SALBP-2 with fuzzy job processing times since uncertainty, variability, and imprecision are often occurred in real-world production systems. The job processing times are formulated by triangular fuzzy membership functions using their statistical distributions. This study proposes to solve a Fuzzy Binary Linear Problem FBLP with fuzzy coefficients in the objective function and in a constraint. Finally, the effect of the unbalancing of a station in…

A combined interval-valued ELECTRE TRI and TOPSIS approach for solving the storage location assignment problem

Abstract Efficiency and effectiveness of logistic activities, in general, and of distribution networks, in particular, are largely influenced by the way warehouses operate as nodes of these networks. In recent years, warehouse management has undergone major changes due to the increase of e-commerce and competition in time-reduction. Despite that, logistic costs of warehouse processes (e.g. receiving, storage, order picking and shipping, etc.) are still often high. Referring to the order picking process, related activities may be optimized by a proper assignment of products to storage locations. In the literature, this problem is known as Storage Location Assignment Problem (SLAP). Due to th…

Evaluation of routing policies using an interval-valued TOPSIS approach for the allocation rules

Abstract The success of warehouse management in a supply chain widely depends on an efficient and effective retrieve of customer orders, which is known as the picking process. This paper investigates various routing policies of pickers under two different allocation methods of items in a warehouse of fixed layout, and evaluates their performance in terms of the resulting travel distance by means of a simulation approach. The allocation strategies taken into account are the random storage and a multi-criteria approach, called Interval-Value TOPSIS (IV-T), which is expressively proposed in this paper as a new way to solve the storage allocation problem of items in a warehouse. Because of the …

Facility layout problem: Bibliometric and benchmarking analysis

Facility layout problem is related to the location of departments in a facility area, with the aim of determining the most effective configuration. Researches based on different approaches have been published in the last six decades and, to prove the effectiveness of the results obtained, several instances have been developed. This paper presents a general overview on the extant literature on facility layout problems in order to identify the main research trends and propose future research questions. Firstly, in order to give the reader an overview of the literature, a bibliometric analysis is presented. Then, a clusterization of the papers referred to the main instances reported in literat…

La tracciabilità nelle filiere agroalimentari e la gestione ottimizzata di magazzini refrigerati basata su tecnologia RFID

Multi Objective Genetic Algorithm for multimode job shop scheduling problem

The sustainability of olive orchard planting management for different harvesting techniques: An integrated methodology

Abstract The globalization of the olive oil market has caused greater competitiveness in terms of olive oil quality and production costs and the main countries interested in olive growing, have introduced efficient planting design and horticultural techniques in order to meet these requirements. In this paper the sustainability of olive orchard planting management for different olive fruit-harvesting methods has been assessed on the basis of the data gathered by the Geographic Information System and processed using a Multi-Criteria Decision Making Analysis. In particular, three different agronomic scenarios have been analyzed and a specific cultivar has been considered in order to ensure th…

Firefly algorithm based upon slicing structure encoding for unequal facility layout problem

Finding the locations of departments or machines in a workspace is classified as a Facility Layout Problem. Good placement of departments has a relevant influence on manufacturing costs, work in process, lead times and production efficiency. This paper analyses the problem of allocating departments with restrictions in terms of unequal area and rectangular shape within a facility, in order to minimize the sum of material handling costs taking into account the satisfaction of the aspect ratio requested. In particular, we propose for the first time a Firefly Algorithm based on the slicing structure encoding. The proposed method was tested comparing the results obtained from other authors on t…

Reducing waste and ecological impacts through a sustainable and efficient management of perishable food based on the Monte Carlo simulation

Abstract In today’s competitive global market it is mandatory to improve warehousing operations integrating economic, environmental and social aspects. The recent advancement in monitoring technologies can greatly improve the performance of the food supply chain reducing product loss. In particular, in the perishable food supply chain, initially inventory operations are critical because they manage the material flows in very variable conditions. The deterioration level of the products as well as the market demand are the main factors that can influence warehouse strategy. This research aims to consider the application of sustainability principles in the context of warehouse storage, evaluat…

Preliminary analysis of warehouse localization systems based on RFID technology

In the industrial warehouse design domain, today's computerized information systems have gained a relevant interest due to the issues related to asset tracking and traceability. In such context, the employment of new information technologies on warehouse management systems has opened new business opportunities due to the sensible price reduction in the last years. This paper focuses on the technical issues related to the realization of wireless localization systems for warehouses, which are necessary for the implementation of random allocation policies, and in particular investigates the opportunities offered by RFID technology in such context. The enforcement of random allocation policies …

Regenerative scheduling problem in engineer to order manufacturing: an economic assessment

The dynamic production scheduling is a very complex process that may arise from the occurrence of unpredictable situations such as the arrival of new orders besides the ones already accepted. As a consequence, companies may often encounter several difficulties to make decisions about the new orders acceptance and sequencing along with the production of the existing ones. With this recognition, a mathematical programming model for the regenerative scheduling problem with deterministic processing times is formulated in the present paper to evaluate the economic advantage of accepting a new order in an engineer to order (ETO) manufacturing organization. The real case of an Italian ETO company …

Economic assessment based on scenario analysis for the production of a new functional pasta

Abstract Nowadays functional foods are becoming more popular due to their capacity to prevent and/or reduce the risk of certain diseases. Functional foods improve health and give physiological benefits providing nutrients beyond the simple nutritional value. The market for functional foods is growing rapidly and the consumers are willing to pay a premium price for these products. In this context, the production of pasta comprising Opuntia may represent an opportunity to combine the widespread consumption of pasta in the traditional Mediterranean Diet and the beneficial characteristics of the Opuntia, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, antimicrobial and neuroprotective p…

An Innovative Shelf Life Model Based on Smart Logistic Unit for an Efficient Management of the Perishable Food Supply Chain

Despite the recent interest towards food safety and control, it is generally difficult to ensure full products traceability through industrial food chains, due to the lack of efficient information and communication systems. Consequently, nowadays, the protection of food products often ends at the gates of the producer without any investigation about the status of their quality at the consumer's location. The aim of this paper was the development of a supply chain monitoring system based on a smart logistic unit (SLU) to support the integrated management of the food supply chain from “farm to fork” in order to guarantee and control food safety and shelf life (SL) of products in agreement wit…

Selection of a Sustainable Functional Pasta Enriched with Opuntia Using ELECTRE III Methodology

In the last decade, the nutritional and health benefits of Opuntia (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.) were discussed by academic scientists and private companies. In particular, the introduction of this substance in frequently consumed foods, like, for example, pasta and bakery products, could have a wide diffusion due to its rich composition in polyphenols, vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and amino acids. The identified natural cactus compounds are responsible for biologically relevant activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, antimicrobial, and neuro-protective properties. The aim of this paper is the evaluation of the best combination of Opuntia quantity an…

Predictive shelf life model based on RF technology for improving the management of food supply chain: A case study

The aim of this paper was the development of a Smart Logistic Unit (SLU) based on RF technology to support the management of the food supply chain, in order to guarantee the shelf life of products in agreement with logistic efficiency and system sustainability. For this purpose, the main parameters that influence the quality of perishable products were determined and a shelf life equation based on Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) was modelled. The levels of VOCs were gathered by the sensors allocated inside the SLU, which configures as the remote element of a system for identification and data transmission. The proposed model was then validated through an experimental test, simulating the …

A multifunctional plant for a sustainable reuse of marble waste toward circular economy

The marble processing cycle involves the production of large quantities of wastes whose disposal represents an economic and environmental concern for marble companies due to the difficulty of identifying suitable landfills and the high transfer costs. In this context, the design of a sustainable industrial plant that allows the reuse of the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) contained in the marble waste is extremely challenging. With this recognition, the main industrial applications of CaCO3 are firstly analyzed in the present work to identify the physical–chemical properties required to CaCO3 in these contexts. Later, different plant solutions are suggested to recover CaCO3 from marble sludge in…

Economic and Environmental Assessment of Biomass Power Plants in Southern Italy

In 2019, Europe adopted the New Green Deal as a strategic plan to become a competitive, resource-efficient, and driven economy by reducing its gas emissions and carbon footprint. Due the COVID-19 pandemic, this strategic plan was recently updated to expedite the green transition of European industries. Therefore, the present paper deals with the problem of deciding an appropriate size for a biomass plant that directly produces electric energy by means of two different conversion processes: combustion and gasification. After an initial estimation of the energy potential in western Sicily, GIS data of biomass growth were used to identify the appropriate size for the power plants under investi…

Project Management Information Systems (PMISs): A Statistical-Based Analysis for the Evaluation of Software Packages Features

Project Managers (PMs) working in competitive markets are finding Project Management Information Systems (PMISs) useful for planning, organizing and controlling projects of varying complexity. A wide variety of PMIS software is available, suitable for projects differing in scope and user needs. This paper identifies the most useful features found in PMISs. An extensive literature review and analysis of commercial software is made to identify the main features of PMISs. Afterwards, the list is reduced by a panel of project management experts, and a statistical analysis is performed on data acquired by means of two different surveys. The relative importance of listed features is properly comp…

Experimental analysis of shelf life based inventory management policies for RIFD enabled supply chains