Traceability system for capturing, processing and providing consumer-relevant information about wood products: System solution and its economic feasibility

Current research and practice reports indicate the existence of purchase barriers concerning eco-friendly products, e.g. wood products. These can be ascribed to consumers' mistrust regarding the non-observable environmental impact of wood products. To counter the mistrust, wood products are commonly endowed with eco-labels, which may be perceived mostly as a marketing tool, therefore not fulfilling their intended purpose. Current studies have shown that providing consumers with wood product information based on traceability systems increases product trust and purchase intentions, with those information items most valued by consumers being identified as well. Based on this, the paper proposes a traceability information system for the capturing, processing, and provision of product information using examples of wood furniture. Furthermore, a cost-benefit model for the proposed solution is developed. The calculations indicate the possibility of implementing traceability at the item level based on a four-layer system architecture enabling the capture and delivery of all information valued by consumers at acceptable costs. The proposed system helps to overcome purchase barriers of eco-friendly products, increasing consumers' product trust and purchase intentions

Plant Pathology and Information Technology: Opportunity for Management of Disease Outbreak and Applications in Regulation Frameworks

In many European rural areas, agriculture is not only an economic activity, but it is strictly linked to environmental and social characteristics of the area. Thus, sometimes, a pathogen can become a social threat, as in the case of Xylella fastidiosa and olive trees ( Olea europaea L.) in Salento. Fast and systemic response to threats represents the key to success in stopping pest invasions, and proves a great help in managing lots of data in a short time or coordinating large-scale monitoring coming from applying Information Technology tools. Regarding the field of applications, the advantages provided by new technologies are countless. However, is it the same in agriculture? Electronic identification tools can be applied for plant health management and certification. Treatments, agrochemical management or impact assessment may also be supported by dematerialization of data. Information Technology solution for urban forestry management or traceability of commodities belonging to "Food from Somewhere" regimes were analyzed and compared to protection from pests of a unique tree heritage such as olive trees in Salento

Forests

In this paper, we provide an overview of positioning systems for moving resources in forest and fire management and review the related literature. Emphasis is placed on the accuracy and range of different localization and location-sharing methods, particularly in forested environments and in the absence of conventional cellular or internet connectivity. We then conduct a second review of literature and concepts related to several emerging, broad themes in data science, including the terms |, |, |, |, |, |, and |. Our objective in this second review is to inform how these broader concepts, with implications for networking and analytics, may help to advance natural resource management and science in the future. Based on methods, themes, and concepts that arose in our systematic reviews, we then augmented the paper with additional literature from wildlife and fisheries management, as well as concepts from video object detection, relative positioning, and inventory-tracking that are also used as forms of localization. Based on our reviews of positioning technologies and emerging data science themes, we present a hierarchical model for collecting and sharing data in forest and fire management, and more broadly in the field of natural resources. The model reflects tradeoffs in range and bandwidth when recording, processing, and communicating large quantities of data in time and space to support resource management, science, and public safety in remote areas. In the hierarchical approach, wearable devices and other sensors typically transmit data at short distances using Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), or ANT wireless, and smartphones and tablets serve as intermediate data collection and processing hubs for information that can be subsequently transmitted using radio networking systems or satellite communication. Data with greater spatial and temporal complexity is typically processed incrementally at lower tiers, then fused and summarized at higher levels of incident command or resource management. Lastly, we outline several priority areas for future research to advance big data analytics in natural resources.U01 OH010841/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/U54 OH007544/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States

Managing Product Life Cycle Data Using Automatic Identification

Kuluttajat ja lainsäätäjät vaativat yhä tarkempaa tietoa tuotteiden alkuperästä ja ympäristökuormituksesta. Yhä monimutkaisemmiksi käyvät tuotteiden tuotantoketjut ovat haasteellisia tämän tiedon keräämisen kannalta. Tuotantoketjussa voi olla satoja eri alihankkijoita sekä lukuisia jatkojalostajia. Tähän asti yleisin tapa laskea tuotteen elinkaaren ympäristövaikutukset on ollut mitata resurssien ja energian käyttö prosesseissa sekä prosessien päästöt ilmaan, maahan ja veteen esimerkiksi vuoden jaksolla ja käyttää saatua lukua keskiarvona kaikille tuotetuille tuotteille. Tämä väitös esittää mallin, joka mahdollistaa yksittäisen tuotteen elinkaaren seuraamisen ja sen elinkaari-informaation keräämisen sekä tämän informaation jakamisen. Esitettyä mallia voidaan käyttää pohjana kehitettäessä luotettava järjestelmä tuotteiden ympäristövaikutusten mittaamiseen ja tämän tiedon jakamiseen kuluttajille. Näin kuluttajat voivat tehdä ostopäätöksensä oikean ja tarkan tiedon perusteella. Työssä on tarkasteltu metsäteollisuutta esimerkkitapauksena, jossa tuotteiden ja komponenttien tunnistaminen perustuu RFID-tekniikkaan. Automaattinen tunnistaminen mahdollistaa jopa yksittäisen tuotteen seuraamisen koko tuotantoketjun läpi ja tarkan elinkaari-informaation keräämisen. Tätä informaatiota käyttämällä yksittäiselle tuotteelle voidaan laskea tarkka ympäristövaikutus.Managing the life cycle of products is becoming more and more important. Organizations are facing increasing pressure from consumers and legislators to accurately measure and manage the environmental impact of products. However, the complexities of today s supply chains pose a challenge for gathering accurate data throughout the life cycle of the product. The life cycle of a product can be defined as a network of entities responsible for the procurement, manufacturing and distribution of the product. In order to enable tracing through the dynamic supply chain, the products must be identified. The development of automatic identification enables us to identify each object in the supply chain and trace it through the complex and dynamic supply chain where each organization manages a part of the chain. Thanks to traceability, we can connect the information about the products' movements with the information about processes. In other words, we can allocate the properties of the processes to the actual product instances involved in each process. To be able to store the life cycle information of products, we must have a model that enables the allocation of life cycle information to the traced product throughout the supply chain. This dissertation defines such a model (traceability graph) that can be used to allocate life cycle information from processes to individual products. Further, the model enables multidimensional analyzes of data associated with the life cycle information of products and their components. The dissertation also specifies a solution for collecting, storing and sharing life cycle information about the product throughout its life cycle, enabling consumers to make educated choices based on accurate information regarding products they are purchasing. The method enables supply chain stakeholders to exchange life cycle information by utilizing the EPCGlobal Network architecture. The case example used in this dissertation is environmental impact information. In recent times, consumers and legislators have become increasingly interested in the environmental impacts of products throughout their life cycle. The biggest challenge with measuring the environmental impact is the fact that supply chains are complex and dynamic. A manufacturer can use various subcontractors and supply various end manufacturers or retailers in different countries. So far, the most common method of calculating the environmental impact of a product has been to measure the resources used, emissions and production for a certain period of time and then calculate the average environmental impact of the product. This work provides methods to monitor environmental performance even at a product level

Review. Monitoring the intermodal, refrigerated transport of fruit using sensor networks

Most of the fruit in Europe is transported by road, but the saturation of the major arteries, the increased demand for freight transport, and environmental concerns all indicate there is a need to change this means of transport. A combination of transport modes using universal containers is one of the solutions proposed: this is known as intermodal transport. Tracking the transport of fruit in reefer containers along the supply chain is the means by which product quality can be guaranteed. The integration of emerging information technologies can now provide real-time status updates. This paper reviews the literature and the latest technologies in this area as part of a national project. Particular emphasis is placed on multiplexed digital communication technologies and wireless sensor networks