Raffaele Iannone

Supply chain distributed simulation: An efficient architecture for multi-model synchronization

Abstract The growing interest in evaluating the overall performance of supply chains leads further and further towards the development of complex simulation models able to answer unsolved questions. In particular, distributed simulation represents one of the tools most frequently used to observe the behaviour of supply chains in order to highlight its lack of efficiency and evaluate new management solutions in a relatively short time. Distributed simulation, however, requires resort to complex platforms, necessary for coordinated time advancing and information exchange management. The technological complexity of these platforms represents a strong limit to the diffusion of this tool in supply chain studies, which, on the contrary, evidence the necessity to develop more simplified methodologies. The paper proposes an efficient architecture (SYNCHRO) which is able to synchronize, simply and securely, simulation models which are located in different geographical areas. The architecture, developed by the authors, has been tested to establish its efficiency when using a variable number of connected units and has demonstrated it can be successfully applied in supply chain contexts.

A Simulator for Human Error Probability Analysis (SHERPA)

Abstract A new Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) method is presented in this paper. The Simulator for Human Error Probability Analysis (SHERPA) model provides a theoretical framework that exploits the advantages of the simulation tools and the traditional HRA methods in order to model human behaviour and to predict the error probability for a given scenario in every kind of industrial system. Human reliability is estimated as function of the performed task, the Performance Shaping Factors (PSF) and the time worked, with the purpose of considering how reliability depends not only on the task and working context, but also on the time that the operator has already spent on the work. The model is able to estimate human reliability; to assess the effects due to different human reliability levels through evaluation of tasks performed more or less correctly; and to assess the impact of context via PSFs. SHERPA also provides the possibility of determining the optimal configuration of breaks. Through a methodology that uses assessments of an economic nature, it allows identification of the conditions required for the suspension of work in the shift for the operator׳s psychophysical recovery and then for the restoration of acceptable values of reliability.

Modelling Hospital Materials Management Processes

Materials management is an important issue for healthcare systems because it influences clinical and financial outcomes. Before selecting, adapting and implementing leading or optimized practices, a good understanding of processes and activities has to be developed. In real applications, the information flows and business strategies involved are different from hospital to hospital, depending on context, culture and available resources; it is therefore difficult to find a comprehensive and exhaustive description of processes, even more so a clear formalization of them. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, it proposes an integrated and detailed analysis and description model for hospital materials management data and tasks, which is able to tackle information from patient requirements to usage, from replenishment requests to supplying and handling activities. The model takes account of medical risk reduction, traceability and streamlined processes perspectives. Second, the paper translates this information into a business process model and mathematical formalization. The study provides a useful guide to the various relevant technology-related, management and business issues, laying the foundations of an efficient reengineering of the supply chain to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of care.

Economic Evaluation of RFID Technology in the Production Environment

The aim of this paper is to present an economic evaluation framework of an RFID system implementation through a pilot project with the aim of streamlining logistic processes and compliance with higher level requirements. The company involved in the project belongs to the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) food industry, and in particular to the alimentary industry, whose principal scope was to comply the new norms of the sector by implementation of a better traceability system. This system, besides being very effective for the scope of the project, also had a huge impact in economic terms on logistics resources and cost reduction. For this reason, the discover of the RFID technology for the company has been greatly appreciated at management level, and today other fields of application are under evaluation. The added value of this article is contained not only in the results obtained in the economic evaluations, but also in the applied methodology, evidencing the advantages obtainable in the processes by cutting no added value operations. The economic analysis has thus been conducted on the basis of this TO-BE process streamlining.

Evaluating RFID opportunity through process analysis

Current literature agrees that one of the main results obtained by adopting RFID lies in an improved efficiency increase in material handling operations, especially regarding reductions in the time required to perform certain procedural steps. However, by evaluating only the advantages that can be easily quantified and definitely achieved may lead to limited results. This paper presents a business case of a large European Consumer Packaged Goods (FMCG) company in the cosmetics and beauty sector. Eleven processes in receiving, handling, storage and delivery procedures in one of the main distribution centres of the company were analysed and modelled using a detailed Business Process Modelling (BPM) approach. Since savings were evaluated only in terms of the reduction of resources used - achieved through process acceleration - despite the company dealing in huge volumes of high-margin products, the feasibility study turned out to be negative. Thus, the paper concludes with a brief discussion of how companies should take on this challenge if process timing benefits are insufficient. The detailed process analysis reported in this paper may be useful for operation practitioners or any manufacturing company or distribution centre about to start an as-is versus to-be comparison of their material handling procedures for RFID implementation.

Life Cycle Assessment of Red and White Wines Production in Southern Italy

In the last years, the wine production industry has gradually focused its attention in the improvement of the product quality rather than in the production of great quantities. This tendency has allowed the entrance in the market of various small wine producers that have developed new product trademarks of good qualities on a small scale. Recently, the environmental sustainability is establishing to determine the product quality. In this study, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was carried out to compare the environmental impacts and the energy efficiency of four kinds of wines made by a small producer in the southern part of Italy. The system boundary covered the industrial life-cycle stages of wine production. In particular, in this paper, four stages were considered: vinification, bottling, packaging and waste disposal treatments. The aim of the work is to compare the environmental impact of a high and medium quality wine (either in the case of white wines or in the case of red wines) to understand how to address the production toward a higher sustainability. The analysed products have been realized using different processes and different raw materials, depending on the specific characteristics and kind (red or white) of produced wine. The materials and energy consumption and the emissions to air, soil and water were reported to the chosen functional unit (1 bottle of Italian wine). The data were analysed using SimaPro 8.0.2 software and the Ecoinvent database, in accordance with the reference standard for LCA (i.e., ISO 14040-14044) to identify environmental key performance indicators (KPIs).

Merchandise and Replenishment Planning Optimisation for Fashion Retail

The integration among different companies functions, collaborative planning and the elaboration of focused distribution plans are critical to the success of each kind of company working in the complex retail sector. In this contest, the present work proposes the description of a model able to support coordinated strategic choices continually made by Supply Chain (SC) actors. The final objective is achievement of the full optimisation of Merchandise & Replenishment Planning phases, identifying the right replenishment quantities and periods. To test the proposed models effectiveness, it was applied to an important Italian fashion company in the complex field of fast-fashion, a sector in which promptness is a main competitive leverage and, therefore, the planning cannot exclude the time variable. The passage from a total push strategy, currently used by the company, to a push-pull one, suggested by the model, allowed us not only to estimate a reduction in goods quantities to purchase at the beginning of a sales period (with considerable economic savings), but also elaborate a focused replenishment plan that permits reduction and optimisation of departures from network warehouses to Points of Sale (POS).

Life cycle assessment of ale and lager beers production

The food production industry requires great amounts of resources and energy, causing, during the productions, negative effects on environment. For these reasons, in the last years, different products of consumption were analysed from the environmental point of view, following Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approaches. This work aimed at studying the environmental performance and the energy consumption of different beers produced in Italy by a small brewery. The study followed a life cycle approach and was focused on the industrial phases of the productions. A comparison among ale (high fermentation) and lager (low fermentation) beers’ productions was made with the aim of address the productions toward a higher sustainability. The system boundaries covered by our research are only the industrial steps of the entire products’ life cycle path: production in the brewery, bottling, packaging and waste disposal treatments (“gate to gate” and “gate to grave” approach). Raw materials, energy consumption and emissions to air, soil and water were normalized to the functional unit (beer in 33 cL glass bottle). In accordance with the reference standard for LCA (i.e., ISO 14040-14044), data were analysed using SimaPro 8.0.4 software and Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) was obtained using primary data and the Ecoinvent 3.1 database.

The search for the optimal number of kanbans in unstable assembly-tree layout systems under intensive loading conditions

The JIT system and its operational techniques have shown noticeable advantages when applied in an ideal factory. The steadiness of demand and production times and the reduction of set-up times represent the key factor necessary in order to correctly execute JIT. Ideal environments are designed to work with smooth and stable demand patterns, constant and balanced processing times, small lot sizes and without scraps and reworks. However, these conditions are difficult to realise in real productive systems. In these contexts, the increase of operational costs, owing to the growth of inventories, necessary to match demand, often causes the failure of many JIT implementations. For these reasons, during the past years researchers have been investigating the issues related to JIT implementation in unsteady productive organisations. In this area, the kanban system, responsible for the exact propagation of information and for inventory control, is the most widely researched control mechanism. Literature proposes various kanban systems; in all cases the determination of the number of kanbans depends both on the management method chosen at each stage of the process as well as on the fluctuation of operative variables. This study deals with the problem of choosing the optimal number of kanbans in a multi-stage productive environment organised in an assembly-tree layout. In particular, this paper proposes a heuristic procedure to determine the number of kanbans and compares it with the traditional methods applied in manufacturing contexts.

A Model for Vendor Selection and Dynamic Evaluation

The present paper proposes an evaluation model able to integrate the selection phase with the monitoring and the continuous analysis of the vendor performances. The vendor evaluation process is realised through an opportune methodology which puts beside qualitative judgements (i.e. the adequacy of the organisation or the maintenance management policies) and performance data (i.e. delivery delays, number of non conformities, discrepancies in the delivered quantities, etc.) and builds the database which will support the daily decisions of the buyers. Thanks to its generality and customisability, together with the use of basic managerial tools, the system represents an appropriate trade-off between implementation costs and obtainable benefits.