Environmental Audit improvements in industrial systems through FRAM

Environmental risk management requires specific methodologies to focus audit activities on the most critical elements of production systems. Limited resources require a clear motivation to put attention on specific technological, human, organizational components, and often should address the monitor of interactions among these elements. Recent research in environmental risk looks at methods to deal with complexity as interesting tools to reduce real impacts on pollution and consumption. In this paper, we provide evidence of the advantage in using the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM), not only to identify the criticalities of a complex production system but to provide a methodology to continuously improve the audit activities in parallel with the introduction of technique to reduce environmental risk. The case study presents the evolution of environmental audit in a sinter plant, proving the need for a review of the criticality list and the successful application of FRAM to refocus the control activities

Simulation model of the logistic distribution in a medical oxygen supply chain

Research activities on operations management in the last years are always more dedicated to supply chain and logistics optimization models. The study belongs to this branch and describes the problems related to a re-configuration of the distribution net in a company that produces medical oxygen cylinders for Italian market. The enterprise is particularly sensible to the optimization of supplying processes due to the characteristics of its product, as any delay in the delivery could create dangerous health situation for patients. The work has the objective to realize a software for supply chain management that could be a decision support system, analyzing strategic impacts that changes in distribution system create. In details, the model shows the differences in service level in case of closing one or more factories and the relative necessary changes in logistics net. The paper is articulated in the following parts: • analysis of company and construction of simulation model; • study of classic operation research techniques to solve dynamic vehicle routing problems; • description of possible scenes derived by strategic decision in closing factories; analysis of experiments and global conclusions and developments

QCD at High Temperature : Results from Lattice Simulations with an Imaginary mu

We summarize our results on the phase diagram of QCD with emphasis on the high temperature regime. For $T \ge 1.5 T_c$ the results are compatible with a free field behavior, while for $T \simeq 1.1 T_c$ this is not the case, clearly exposing the strongly interacting nature of QCD in this regionComment: 7 pages, 2 figures; To appear in the proceedings of QCD@Work 2005,International Workshop on Quantum Chromodynamics, Conversano, Bari, Italy, 16-20 Jun 200

Managing the bullwhip effect in multi-echelon supply chains

This editorial article presents the bullwhip effect which is one of the major problems faced by supply chain management. The bullwhip effect represents the demand variability amplification as demand information travels upstream in the supply chain. The bullwhip effect research has been attempting to prove its existence, identify its causes, quantify its magnitude and propose mitigation and avoidance solutions. Previous research has relied on different modeling approaches to quantify the bullwhip effect and to investigate the proposed mitigation/avoidance solutions. Extensive research has shown that smoothing replenishment rules and collaboration in supply chain are the most powerful approaches to counteract the bullwhip effect. The objective of this article is to highlight the bullwhip effect avoidance approaches with providing some interesting directions for future research

Quality of Life in elderly patients with cancer

The incidence of most types of cancers is age-dependent and the progressive ageing is rapidly increasing the number of elderly people who need treatment for cancer. Elderly patients present peculiar characteristics that make the choice of the correct treatment more difficult and these patients are often undertreated. Moreover, elderly patients are largely underrepresented in cancer treatment trials, and this makes the experimental evidence on this topic even weaker. Health-related Quality of Life (QOL) has been considered as one of the hard end-points for clinical cancer research, and treatment of elderly cancer patients represents a typical situation where its assessment can be particularly useful, because the expected toxicity of treatment could be relevant in the discussion of the treatment choice. However, QOL assessment in the elderly is complicated by several unresolved methodological problems (higher frequency of illiteracy, worse compliance with the questionnaires, concomitant diseases, use of instruments not validated in the aged population). Conduct of clinical trials dedicated to elderly patients is now encouraged but there are few published studies. Advanced non-small-cell lung cancer is one of the fields with the largest amount of research on QOL in elderly patients. The ELVIS study demonstrated the efficacy of single-agent chemotherapy, both in terms of QOL and of survival. The MILES study, in which combination chemotherapy was not superior than single agents, showed that baseline QOL is a strong prognostic indicator in these patients. QOL of patients with breast cancer has been another important field in clinical research over the last decades, and interest on this topic in elderly patients is growing, from loco-regional to palliative treatment. In conclusion, some steps have been done in clinical cancer research dedicated to elderly patients, and the role of QOL assessment in this setting is important. However, many methodological problems must be resolved, in order to obtain reliable and useful results. A QOL assessment could also be useful for elderly patients in clinical practice, where it could improve patient-clinician communication: a wider application of properly selected instruments should be recommended

Encouraging persons to visit cultural sites through mini-games

Gamification has been recently proposed as a technique to improve user engagement in different activities, including visits to cultural sites and cultural tourism in general. We present the design, development and initial validation of the NEPTIS Poleis system, which consists of a mobile application and a Web interface for curators, allowing the definition, and subsequent fruition by users, of different minigames suitable for open-air assets

Enterprise Risk Management to Drive Operations Performances

Global competition characterizes the market of the new millennium where uncertainty and volatility are the main elements affecting the decision making process of managers that need to determine scenarios, define strategies, plan interventions and investments, develop projects and execute operations. Risks have been always part of entrepreneurships but a growing attention to the issues related to Risk Management is nowadays spreading. Along with the financial scandals in the affairs of some major corporations, the high degree of dynamism and the evolutions of markets need organizations to rapidly adapt their business models to changes, whether economic, political, regulatory, technological or social. In particular, managerial trends of business disintegration,decentralization and outsourcing, pushed organizations towards practices of information sharing, coordination and partnership. The difficulties that generally arise during the implementation of these practices underline the impact that critical risk factors can have on corporate governance. Operations, at any level, are highly affected in their performance by uncertainty, reducing their efficiency and effectiveness while losing control on the evolution of the value chain. Studies on risk management have to be extended, involving not only internal processes of companies but considering also the relationship and the level of integration of supply chain partners. This can be viewed as a strategic issue of operations management to enable interventions of research, development and innovation. In a vulnerable economy, where the attention to quality and efficiency through cost reduction is a source of frequent perturbations, an eventual error in understanding the sensibility of the operations to continuous changes can seriously and irreparably compromise the capability of fitting customers’ requirements. While studies and standards on risk management for health and safety, environment or security of information defined a well-known and universally recognized state of the art, corporate and operational risk management already needs a systematic approach and a common view. The main contributions in these fields are the reference models issued by international bodies. Starting from the most advanced international experiences, in this chapter some principles are defined and developed in a framework that, depending on the maturity level of organizations, may help to adequately support their achievements and drive operations performance