Overcoming barriers towards Sustainable Product-Service Systems in Small and Medium-sized enterprises: State of the art and a novel Decision Matrix

The Sustainable Product-Service Systems are a promising approach based on a Triple Bottom Line perspective of the sustainability. However, its practical and effective adoption is still very limited and addresses significant barriers for the manufacturing firms. Furthermore, this emergent topic has been discussed by literature mainly in large company's context, turning in a very limited and immature stage the current body of knowledge for the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Thus, considering the significance of small companies to the global economy and their intrinsic difficulties, the purpose of this study was to identify the main barriers involving the transition towards Sustainable Product-Service Systems in manufacturing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises as well as the strategies to overcome them. A systematic literature review of the past two decades was organized capturing the state of the art of the area. Findings reveal that internal barriers associated with intrinsic characteristics of SMEs become still more sensitive during the transition (e.g., limited financial resources, the lack of competences, follower mentality and resistance to change). As well as, barriers related with the novelty of Sustainable Product-Service Systems models require new attitudes to small companies (e.g., changing mindsets from product ownership to use, replacing the value of exchange by value in use involving long-term relations, understanding the Product-Service Systems concept) and particularly highlight the lack of models/methods supporting this transition. The practical contribution of this study is in organise a comprehensive body of knowledge on strategies to overcome barriers towards Sustainable Product-Service offering. Moreover, an innovative decision matrix supporting decision-makers during the Sustainable Product-Service System development was proposed from the literature review findings. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Production of mutants of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici and var. avenae by 4- nitroquinolene-oxide treatment of protoplasts.

The ascomycete fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis is the causative agent of take-all disease of cereals. Much information about the physiology and pathology of this organism has been generated (Asher and Shipton (Eds.) Biology and Control of Take-All , Academic Press, 1981), but genetic studies such as the production of mutants have been hindered by problems in obtaining viable propagules suitable for mutagenesis (Blanch et al. 1981. Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 77:391-399). The fungus is homothallic but many strains cannot be induced to form perithecia in culture and even the fertile strains produce insufficient numbers of ascospores for use in mutagenesis. It is, however, possible to produce and regenerate large numbers of protoplasts and Rochefrette et al

In‐plane shear strength of single‐lap co‐cured joints of self‐reinforced polyethylene composites

The present study introduces the analysis of single‐lap co‐cured joints of thermoplastic self‐reinforced composites made with reprocessed low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) and reinforced by ultra‐high‐molecular‐weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers, along with a micromechanical analysis of its constituents. A set of optimal processing conditions for manufacturing these joints by hot‐press is proposed through a design of experiment using the response surface method to maximize their in‐plane shear strength by carrying tensile tests on co‐cured tapes. Optimal processing conditions were found at 1 bar, 115 °C, and 300 s, yielding joints with 6.88 MPa of shear strength. The shear failure is generally preceded by multiple debonding‐induced longitudinal cracks both inside and outside the joint due to accumulated transversal stress. This composite demonstrated to be an interesting structural material to be more widely applied in industry, possessing extremely elevated specific mechanical properties, progressive damage of co‐cured joints (thus avoiding unannounced catastrophic failures) and ultimate recyclability

The effect of collaboration and IT competency on reverse logistics competency - Evidence from Brazilian supply chain executives

Business models have being designed, worldwide, to create sustainability competencies and in particular to incorporate reverse logistics, but Brazilian executives have not yet fully adhered to Law 12,305 on solid waste and reverse logistics. What would be the Brazilian executives' perception about reverse logistics competency and the support provided by a collaborative and IT competency? The objective of the paper is to investigate the effects of collaboration and IT competency in developing reverse logistics competency, as a strategy, and its consequences in economic and environmental performance. A survey was performed with 320 Brazilian supply chain executives and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. The models demonstrated that collaboration has a direct positive influence on the development of reverse logistics competency, by executives' point of view. The moderation effect between collaboration and IT competency for reverse logistics was not confirmed, since it was adopted a strategic view of reverse logistics. Therefore, despite there was not a moderation effect, IT presented a lower direct effect on reverse logistics competency. Results reinforce that organizations that develop reverse logistics competency tend to improve their economic and environmental performances.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Los caminhos de la calidad, un estudio sobre la visión de expertos y productores rurales a respeto de procesos y tecnologías.

The production of special coffees consists of an art, employing different management and production and processing systems, to obtain the most advantageous results regarding final product quality. Several factors interact during the production cycle being, almost always, essential to obtain a product with better quality or, on the other hand, for its deterioration. This work aims to study and quantify the perception of the degree of importance of various forms and methods for the production of special coffees, from producers and experts, in the mountain regions of Espírito Santo. As methodology to understand the processes adopted by producers and indicated by experts, we used a questionnaire with closed questions, being the questionnaire validated by Cronbach's Alpha. After instrument validation, data were analyzed by t test, for analysis and comparison of the studied groups. The results indicate that some processes have no homogeneity between experts and producers of special coffees, indicating gaps which need to be better understood and studied. The harvest, wet processing, storage and technical assistance constructs were more homogeneous among the studied group, indicating that various techniques are rooted between experts and producers of special coffees

Los caminos de la calidad: un estudio sobre la visión de expertos y productiores rurales a respeito de procesos y tecnologias.

La producción de cafés especiales consiste en un arte, que emplea diferentes sistemas de manejo y producción y procesamiento, para obtención de resultados más ventajosos en lo que se refiere a la calidad final del producto. Distintos factores interactúan durante el ciclo de producción siendo, casi siempre, determinantes para la obtención de un producto de mejor calidad o, por otro lado, por su deterioración. Este trabajo objetiva estudiar la percepción cuanto al grado de importancia de diferentes formas y metodologías para producción de cafés especiales, por parte de productores y expertos, en la región serrana del Espírito Santo

Energy crisis in Brazil: Impact of hydropower reservoir level on the river flow

Water management strategies can have considerable impacts on the regional climate and hydrology. It is usually the case that the construction and operation of hydropower reduce the river flow downstream due to the increase in evaporation. However, this paper shows that in humid regions, such as in Brazil, the hydropower storage reservoirs contribute to increase the flow of the river. This observation has been tested with historical reservoir levels and river flow data from several dams in Brazil. It was found that the operation of reservoirs in Brazil has a considerable impact on its river flows. The higher the storage level at the beginning of the humid period, the higher the river flow during the wet period. The paper proposes strategies to allow the reservoirs to fill up and to maintain the reservoirs filled in the future, with the intention of increasing hydropower generation and reducing the intermittency of other renewable energy sources