Ricerca dell'eccellenza e strategie di outsourcing: Il caso Pagani Automobili S.p.A.

La tesi illustra il concetto di outsourcing e tutti gli aspetti che lo riguardano, con l’obiettivo di confrontare la teoria con un caso pratico: quello della Pagani Automobili S.p.A . Al contempo, questo confronto permette di interpretare al meglio tutti gli aspetti della particolare strategia di outsourcing della Pagani e quindi di capire i motivi e le logiche che sono alla sua base. Nella prima parte vengono, innanzitutto, esplicitati i concetti di outsourcing e di core business per poi passare alla storia dell’esternalizzazione. L’argomento trattato nella tesi, oltre ad essere di notevole complessità, è di forte interesse, in quanto i manager delle aziende sono oggi chiamati a prendere decisioni importanti in merito. Scegliere di svolgere un’attività all’esterno o all’interno dell’azienda è nel contesto odierno, caratterizzato da una forte competitività su tutti i mercati, una decisione strategica che può influire in modo rilevante sull’equilibrio economico-finanziario dell’azienda. Proprio per questo, sempre nel primo capitolo, si illustra chi sono i soggetti in azienda che devono prendere tali decisioni, i motivi che fanno propendere per tale scelta e quali sono le tipologie di outsourcing che si possono attuare. Una volta spiegato ciò, si descrive tutto il processo che porta alla stipulazione del contratto di outsourcing, indicando anche quelle che sono le tipologie di contratto utilizzabili per tale scopo e i controlli attuabili dal committente durante l’esecuzione del contratto. La prima parte si conclude, dopo aver illustrato i vantaggi e i rischi legati a tale strategia, con un aspetto che ben si ricollega al caso pratico: la strategia di outsourcing ha maggiore probabilità di successo se il rapporto tra committente e fornitore si trasforma in un rapporto di partnership, dove si ha una condivisione di obiettivi , di conoscenza e di esperienze. Nella seconda parte, dopo aver ampiamente parlato della storia della Pagani Automobili S.p.A e delle sue straordinarie vetture, viene messa in risalto la strategia di esternalizzazione estrema di questa azienda (ben il 95% delle componenti viene prodotto esternamente) e quella che è la sua applicazione, che è al di fuori dall’ordinario e che spesso si allontana parecchio dalle nomali logiche di outsourcing. Tutto ruota intorno alla figura di Horacio Pagani, titolare dell’azienda, che oltre a essere un grandissimo designer/ingegnere ed essere un esperto assoluto dei materiali compositi, si occupa personalmente della scelta dei migliori fornitori, instaurando con loro dei rapporti che vanno al di la del semplice rapporto committente - fornitore. Pagani è molto esigente e controlla il lavoro dei partner in maniera “maniacale”, spingendoli ad ottenere il massimo e ad andare anche oltre le loro possibilità. In sintesi, nella parte successiva alla storia si descrivono i core business (progettazione, assemblaggio e materiali compositi) della Pagani e quelli che sono i suoi principali fornitori: alcune grandi multinazionali ben note a tutti, come Pirelli e Mercedes-Benz, e alcune piccole-medie imprese poco note ai più, come Aspa S.r.l e Salt Interios

Dual-Beam Actuation of Piezoelectric AlN RF MEMS Switches Monolithically Integrated with AlN Contour-Mode Resonators

This work reports on piezoelectric Aluminum Nitride (AlN) based dual-beam RF MEMS switches that have been monolithically integrated with AlN contour-mode resonators. The dual-beam switch design presented in this paper intrinsically compensates for the residual stress in the deposited films, requires low actuation voltage (5 to 20 V), facilitates active pull-off to open the switch and exhibits fast switching times (1 to 2 μs). This work also presents the combined response (cascaded S parameters) of a resonator and a switch that were co-fabricated on the same substrate. The response shows that the resonator can be effectively turned on and off by the switch. A post-CMOS compatible process was used for the co-fabrication of both the switches and the resonators. The single-chip RF solution presented herein constitutes an unprecedented step forward towards the realization of compact, low loss and integrated multi-frequency RF front-ends

Hybrid Ultra-Compact 4th Order Band-Pass Filters Based On Piezoelectric AlN Contour-Mode MEMS Resonators

This work reports on the design, fabrication and testing of a new class of hybrid (filter design using combined electrical and mechanical coupling techniques) ultra-compact (800×120 μm) 4th order band-pass filters based on piezoelectric Aluminum Nitride (AlN) contour-mode microelectromechanical (MEM) resonators. The demonstrated 110 MHz filter shows a low insertion loss of 5.2 dB in air, a high out-of-band rejection of 65 dB, a fractional bandwidth as high as 1.14% (hard to obtain when only conventional electrical coupling is used in the AlN contour-mode technology), and unprecedented 30 dB and 50 dB shape factors of 1.93 and 2.36, respectively. All these are achieved in an extremely small footprint and by using just half the space that any other 4th order filter would have taken. In terms of nonlinearities, the 110 MHz filter shows a 1 dB compression point higher than +63 dBmV and input third order intercept point (IIP3) values well beyond +153 dBmV. This new hybrid design represents a net improvement over the state of the art and constitutes a very promising solution for intermediate frequency (IF) filtering in many wireless communication systems

Channel-Select RF MEMS Filters Based On Self-Coupled A1N Contour-Mode Piezoelectric Resonators

This paper reports experimental results on a new class of single-chip multi-frequency channel-select filters based on self-coupled aluminum nitride (A1N) contour-mode piezoelectric resonators. For the first time, two-port AlN contour-mode resonators are connected in series and electrically coupled using their intrinsic capacitance to form multi-frequency (94 – 271 MHz), narrow bandwidth (~0.3%), low insertion loss (~4 dB), high off-band rejection (~60 dB) and extremely linear (IIP3 ~110 dBm) channel-select filters. This novel technology enables multi-frequency, high-performance and small form factor filter arrays and makes a single-chip multi-band RF solution possible in the near future

Monitoring Etna volcanic plumes using a scanning LiDAR

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Dual Beam Actuation of Piezoelectric AlN RF MEMS Switches Integrated with AlN Contour-mode Resonators

This work reports on piezoelectric Aluminum Nitride (AlN) based dual-beam RF MEMS switches that have been monolithically integrated with AlN contour-mode resonators. The dual-beam switch design presented in this paper intrinsically compensates for the residual stress in the deposited films, requires low actuation voltage (5-20 V), facilitates active pull-off to open the switch and fast switching times (1 to 2 µsec). This work also presents the combined response (cascaded S-parameters) of a resonator and a switch that were co-fabricated on the same substrate. The response shows that the resonator can be effectively turned on and off by the switch. A post-CMOS compatible process was used for fabrication of both the switches and the resonators. The single-chip RF solution presented herein constitutes an unprecedented step forward towards the realization of compact, low loss and integrated multi-frequency RF front-ends

Lidar depolarization measurement of fresh volcanic ash from Mt. Etna, Italy

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Vertical profiling of Saharan dust with Raman lidars and airborne HSRL in southern Morocco during SAMUM

Three ground-based Raman lidars and an airborne high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL) were operated duringSAMUM 2006 in southern Morocco to measure height profiles of the volume extinction coefficient, the extinction-to-backscatter ratio and the depolarization ratio of dust particles in the Saharan dust layer at several wavelengths. Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun photometer observations and radiosoundings of meteorological parameters complemented the ground-based activities at the SAMUM station of Ouarzazate. Four case studies are presented. Two case studies deal with the comparison of observations of the three ground-based lidars during a heavy dust outbreak and of the ground-based lidars with the airborne lidar. Two further cases show profile observations during satellite overpasses on 19 May and 4 June 2006. The height resolved statistical analysis reveals that the dust layer top typically reaches 4–6 km height above sea level (a.s.l.), sometimes even 7 km a.s.l.. Usually, a vertically inhomogeneous dust plume with internal dust layers was observed in the morning before the evolution of the boundary layer started. The Saharan dust layer was well mixed in the early evening. The 500 nm dust optical depth ranged from 0.2–0.8 at the field site south of the High Atlas mountains, Ångström exponents derived from photometer and lidar data were between 0–0.4. The volume extinction coefficients (355, 532 nm) varied from 30–300Mm−1 with a mean value of 100Mm−1 in the lowest 4 km a.s.l.. On average, extinction-to-backscatter ratios of 53–55 sr (±7–13 sr) were obtained at 355, 532 and 1064 nm

Assessment of different manufacturing techniques for the production of bioartificial scaffolds as soft organ transplant substitutes

Introduction: The problem of organs’ shortage for transplantation is widely known: different manufacturing techniques such as Solvent casting, Electrospinning and 3D Printing were considered to produce bioartificial scaffolds for tissue engineering purposes and possible transplantation substitutes. The advantages of manufacturing techniques’ combination to develop hybrid scaffolds with increased performing properties was also evaluated.Methods: Scaffolds were produced using poly-L-lactide-co-caprolactone (PLA-PCL) copolymer and characterized for their morphological, biological, and mechanical features.Results: Hybrid scaffolds showed the best properties in terms of viability (>100%) and cell adhesion. Furthermore, their mechanical properties were found to be comparable with the reference values for soft tissues (range 1–10 MPa).Discussion: The created hybrid scaffolds pave the way for the future development of more complex systems capable of supporting, from a morphological, mechanical, and biological standpoint, the physiological needs of the tissues/organs to be transplanted

Choline PET/CT in recurrent prostate cancer

PurposeBiochemical recurrence (BR) occurs in up to 40% of patients with prostate cancer (PCa) treated with primary radical prostatectomy (RP). Choline PET/CT may show, in a single-step examination, the site of tumor recurrence earlier than traditional imaging methods, particularly at low prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, thus influencing subsequent treatment. Methods/patientsPatients with recurrent and non-metastatic prostate cancer (nmPCa), who were assessed with choline PET/CT, were included in the analysis. Based on imaging results, the following therapeutic strategies were chosen: radiotherapy to the prostatic bed, androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), and chemotherapy or stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) to either the pelvic lymph nodes or distant metastases. We assessed the impact of age, PSA levels, Gleason score (GS), and adjuvant therapy on oncological outcomes.ResultsData from 410 consecutive nmPCa patients with BR who underwent RP as primary treatment were analyzed. One hundred seventy-six (42.9%) patients had a negative choline PET/CT, and 234 (57.1%) patients resulted positive. In the multivariate analysis, only chemotherapy and PSA at recurrence were significant independent prognostic factors on overall survival (OS). In the PET-positive subgroup, the number of relapses, PSA post-prostatectomy, and chemotherapy impacted on OS. PSA (post-surgery and at recurrence) affected progression-free survival (PFS) in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, GS, the number of relapse sites, and PSA (post-surgery and at recurrence) were significant prognostic factors for disease-free survival (DFS).ConclusionCholine PET/CT provides better accuracy than conventional imaging for the assessment of nmPCa with BR after prostatectomy, thereby enabling salvage strategies and improving quality of life