Communities and food supply: looking at their intersection

There is an extended opinion that Food Supply Chains (FSCs) create economic value; usually by aligning different actors along the chain. However, for food microproducers, economic value is not necessarily the main driver to engage with FSCs. This opens up the discussion towards how to build FSCs with potential members that do not always recognise practical advantages in working with others. We propose explore previous research done in the area of Community Operational Research (COR) by looking microproducers not as links constituting a chain, where the weakest is removed for the benefit of the rest. We explore if there are benefits from being members from a community (Food Supply Communities, FSComs), where they identify which individual actions contribute to the collective self-construction, and vice versa. To contextualise the discussion, we use the case of a typical UK regional, county-based food marketing group which provides umbrella marketing support for specialist SMEs

OR in search for community

This year’s Keynote has a special format. The interest in Community OR has taken the form of a new Special Interest Group that is presently taking shape. To contribute to a better understanding of the variety of interest that is being incorporated, we have invited a number of people to present their ideas as short presentations or pitches. Below you will find an outline of what we have today. These may help to summarise the current thinking and (research) practices in Community OR. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion. Social Innovation and Community OR Communities are the main addressees for sustainable change and improvement, at least in the European Union. There are some considerable difficulties here, as the cry for policies that are effective in delivering this change is getting stronger and communities are getting better in avoiding being addressed as stooges. At present OR explores contributions to the policy problem (see the new SIG for Social Policy). It is argued that policy should be supportive to community level activities and initiatives, rather than the reverse, if social innovation is to be promoted. Examples are presented. Organising Suppliers: Chain or commune? Economy-based supplier structures are organised under drivers that aim at the alignment of goals and the optimisation of resources available; however, this does not seem to apply to any size of business. Observations on microbusinesses suggest that they do not strive for economic drivers only. Lifestyle, family and other non-economic drivers are also part of their strategic decision making processes. Different snapshots about UK and Mexican microbusinesses are used to illustrate possibilities that supply chains and communities may provide. Community OR ideas are used as a framework for the comparison

A importância da utilização do e-mail marketing na estratégia comercial de uma empresa: o caso I LOVE DOURO

O presente relatório de estágio foi elaborado no âmbito da obtenção do grau de mestre em Direção Comercial e Marketing, pelo Instituto Superior de Administração e Gestão no Porto. O estágio foi realizado na empresa I Love Douro, que fornece vários serviços aos seus clientes, assim como publicidade na rede da empresa, criação de conteúdo e gestão de redes sociais. O relatório foi elaborado com a intenção de demonstrar como a correta utilização de campanhas de e-mail marketing pode ser importante na estratégia comercial das empresas. Para isso, foi desenvolvida uma campanha de e-mail marketing durante o decorrer do estágio, com o objetivo de angariar novos clientes e, paralelamente, foi realizado um estudo quantitativo para validar hipóteses baseadas na revisão literatura. O estudo de metodologia quantitativa foi destinado a pessoas que trabalham e utilizam o e-mail marketing na sua atividade laboral, sendo as suas respostas aqui interpretadas como se cada indivíduo representasse uma empresa. Após a recolha das respostas, procedeu-se à análise das mesmas, que culminou com a conclusão sobre esta, assim como, a indicação de propostas de melhoria no caso de nova abordagem do tema. Como resultado, foi possível verificar que o e-mail marketing efetivamente tem importância na estratégia comercial, uma vez que na campanha desenvolvida em estágio, foram angariados quatro novos clientes. E, para além disso, o estudo quantitativo revelou que os canais digitais impactam os resultados da empresa, assim como, que o e-mail marketing é um dos canais digitais que mais influencia positivamente os resultados das empresas

An Economic Analysis of the European Space Economy

334 p.Esta tesis examina las actividades espaciales en cooperación en Europa y se enfocada en las instituciones supranacionales e intergubernamentales implicadas en la promoción del la explotación y exploración del Espacio Exterior, que son la ESA (Agencia Espacial Europea) y la UE (Unión Europea) y su reciente programa de investigación y desarrollo Horizonte 2020 ¿ Espacio. Europa es un actor relevante en la Nueva Economía Global del Espacio y es un interesante ejemplo de colaboración basada en los procesos de integración política y económica.La primera parte de esta tesis delimita el sector, describe las características económicas de los bienes y servicios producidos, los agentes implicados y las instituciones surgidas. La segunda parte se basa en los resultados de la investigación empírica realizada y la prueba de diversas hipótesis acerca de las razones del comportamiento de los agentes de la Economía Espacial Europea y la caracterización de la relación establecida entre ellos.Se concluye sobre la intensidad y estructura de la red de cooperación en el sector espacial europeo, el papel de las instituciones públicas, la influencia de las capacidades tecnológicas nacionales y la implicación de entidades privadas de todo tipo y sus preferencias de cooperación. Todo ello en un análisis realizado por subsectores tecnológicos, por agente individual y agregado por país y valorando su evolución temporal

An Economic Analysis of the European Space Economy

334 p.Esta tesis examina las actividades espaciales en cooperación en Europa y se enfocada en las instituciones supranacionales e intergubernamentales implicadas en la promoción del la explotación y exploración del Espacio Exterior, que son la ESA (Agencia Espacial Europea) y la UE (Unión Europea) y su reciente programa de investigación y desarrollo Horizonte 2020 ¿ Espacio. Europa es un actor relevante en la Nueva Economía Global del Espacio y es un interesante ejemplo de colaboración basada en los procesos de integración política y económica.La primera parte de esta tesis delimita el sector, describe las características económicas de los bienes y servicios producidos, los agentes implicados y las instituciones surgidas. La segunda parte se basa en los resultados de la investigación empírica realizada y la prueba de diversas hipótesis acerca de las razones del comportamiento de los agentes de la Economía Espacial Europea y la caracterización de la relación establecida entre ellos.Se concluye sobre la intensidad y estructura de la red de cooperación en el sector espacial europeo, el papel de las instituciones públicas, la influencia de las capacidades tecnológicas nacionales y la implicación de entidades privadas de todo tipo y sus preferencias de cooperación. Todo ello en un análisis realizado por subsectores tecnológicos, por agente individual y agregado por país y valorando su evolución temporal

Friction Force Microscopy of Deep Drawing Made Surfaces

Aim of this paper is to contribute to micro-tribology understanding and friction in micro-scale interpretation in case of metal beverage production, particularly the deep drawing process of cans. In order to bridging the gap between engineering and trial-and-error principles, an experimental AFM-based micro-tribological approach is adopted. For that purpose, the can’s surfaces are imaged with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the frictional force signal is measured with frictional force microscopy (FFM). In both techniques, the sample surface is scanned with a stylus attached to a cantilever. Vertical motion of the cantilever is recorded in AFM and horizontal motion is recorded in FFM. The presented work evaluates friction over a micro-scale on various samples gathered from cylindrical, bottom and round parts of cans, made of same the material but with different deep drawing process parameters. The main idea is to link the experimental observation with the manufacturing process. Results presented here can advance the knowledge in order to comprehend the tribological phenomena at the contact scales, too small for conventional tribology

Towards a Conceptual Design of an Intelligent Material Transport Based on Machine Learning and Axiomatic Design Theory

Reliable and efficient material transport is one of the basic requirements that affect productivity in sheet metal industry. This paper presents a methodology for conceptual design of intelligent material transport using mobile robot, based on axiomatic design theory, graph theory and artificial intelligence. Developed control algorithm was implemented and tested on the mobile robot system Khepera II within the laboratory model of manufacturing environment. Matlab© software package was used for manufacturing process simulation, implementation of search algorithms and neural network training. Experimental results clearly show that intelligent mobile robot can learn and predict optimal material transport flows thanks to the use of artificial neural networks. Achieved positioning error of mobile robot indicates that conceptual design approach can be used for material transport and handling tasks in intelligent manufacturing systems

Towards a Conceptual Design of an Intelligent Material Transport Based on Machine Learning and Axiomatic Design Theory

Reliable and efficient material transport is one of the basic requirements that affect productivity in sheet metal industry. This paper presents a methodology for conceptual design of intelligent material transport using mobile robot, based on axiomatic design theory, graph theory and artificial intelligence. Developed control algorithm was implemented and tested on the mobile robot system Khepera II within the laboratory model of manufacturing environment. Matlab© software package was used for manufacturing process simulation, implementation of search algorithms and neural network training. Experimental results clearly show that intelligent mobile robot can learn and predict optimal material transport flows thanks to the use of artificial neural networks. Achieved positioning error of mobile robot indicates that conceptual design approach can be used for material transport and handling tasks in intelligent manufacturing systems