Salvatore Miranda

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.

Strategic Planning and Design of Supply Chains: a Literature Review

In this paper, a literature review of the mathematical models for supply chain design is proposed. The research is based on the study and analysis of publications of the last twelve years from the most widespread international journal about operations management and logistics. The aim of the work lies in identifying tendencies in the literature and related open issues about the strategic decisions, economic parameters, constraints and model features considered in the strategic planning and design of supply chains. After a description of the review methodology, comparison parameters and paper exhaustiveness, some guidelines are given in order to support future works in this field.

Performance parameters optimization of a pneumatic programmable palletizer using Taguchi method

Abstract The present paper aims to present the results of numerous field tests, conducted on an innovative palletizer, designed by us, moved by programmable pneumatic drives. The tests have been carried out in order to verify the real possibility of employing this kind of pneumatic drives in integrated industrial applications. The sampling plan of control system data has been realized using design of experiments techniques, according to Taguchis approach. The obtained results have allowed us to find the most critical parameters, the main interactions between them and to determine the combination of values that maximizes the average performance and its robustness to noise factors. With this configuration, palletizers accuracy and repeatability errors have been measured according to European Standard EN ISO 9283. The outcoming general performances of the machine are surely acceptable for palletization applications; this confirm the real possibility to utilize programmable pneumatic axes in such kind of industrial activity.

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.

Application of a business process model (BPM) method for a warehouse RFID system implementation

In recent years, the importance of the RFId technology within the operations management environment has become more evident. In particular, the RFId technology is recognised as an accelerator of the change towards a more efficient way to manage operations in an industrial context. The aim of this paper is to present a case study for the application of a pre-existing model (based on the Business Process Modelling method) for the technical, economic and financial evaluation of an RFId technology application in the area of industrial logistics for a bike manufacturer. The paper will face this issue preliminarily analysing the RFId utilization in the industrial context, afterwards analysing the existing literature on the BPM use for the evaluation of the applicability of RFId to the industrial context and lastly illustrating the case study and the results of the application of the BPM to the specific firm. The results demonstrate the improvement that it is possible to achieve in terms of financial returns and in terms of bikes worked in the warehouse per year.