Effects of Trackless Tack Interface on Pavement Top-down Cracking Performance

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An Analytic Model for Estimating the Economic and Environmental Impact of Food Cold Supply Chain

Cold chain management has gained increasing interest among practitioners, researchers and academics; similarly, sustainability is also proving to be an increasingly critical topic in all supply chains and in cold chains in particular. In line with this, this study proposes a model to estimate the economic and environmental impacts in a food cold supply chain (FCSC). The model intended to estimate the total cost and CO2 emissions of a company operating in the cold supply chain, was carried out in Microsoft Excel™. Specifically, the model reproduces the main FCSC processes, i.e., Product collection, Backroom storage, Product delivery and Reverse logistics. For each process, we have exposed the implemented equations. Results show that the product delivery process is the most critical in both economic and environmental terms. Conversely, product collection and reverse logistics process contribute to the total cost and emission to a limited extent. The results obtained provide useful guidelines for supply chain managers to undertake operation decisions aimed at decreasing the economic and/or environmental impact of a FCSC

Economic and environmental sustainability dimensions of a fashion supply chain: A quantitative model

Paper aim: The paper presents a model to assess the economic and the environmental sustainability dimensions of a fashion supply chain and tests it on a company. Originality: The gap intended to fill is the lack of models in this context having this purpose, and, in general, the necessity to develop models and metrics allowing to quantitatively assess the economic and environmental dimensions of supply chains. Research method: The fashion supply chain has been divided into five processes. Hence, an analytic model was developed by considering the total costs incurring in each process (economic evaluation), and the annual kilograms of CO2 emitted (environmental perspective). The model was then applied to a case study. Data was obtained from interviews with the management. Main findings: Results show that from the economic perspective supply impacts the most, while from the environmental one the most polluting activity is production. Implications for theory and practice: The model is easy to apply and to understand and allows to identify the activities in the supply chain where the majority of costs/emissions are generated. It is therefore expected to be useful for undertaking operational decisions aimed at decreasing the economic or environmental impact of a fashion supply chain

Optimization of a perishable inventory system: A simulation study in a Ho.Re.Ca. company

The main goal of this paper is to describe the optimization of the inventory management process in a real context of perishable food products. The study involves one of the largest Italian HO.RE.CA. companies, located in the north of Italy and operating as a provider of the catering, commercial and welfare services. A simulation model was set up with the purpose of adapting three traditional reordering policies (i.e. Re-Order Point, Re-Order Cycle, and (s,S)) to a set of products belonging to company's assortment and evaluating the resulting economic outcomes. To this end, each policy was modelled on Microsoft ExcelTM, so as to compute the total cost of inventory management and determine of the minimum cost strategy. A comparison with the current company's performance and that achievable with the optimized policy is also proposed

A model for assessing economic and environmental sustainability dimensions of a fashion supply chain and a case study

Due to the recent attention gained by sustainability issues in the context of supply chains, the aim of this study is to present a model developed under Microsoft Excel™ for the assessment of the economic and environmental dimensions of a fashion supply chain, sector that deserves particular attention being one of the most polluting in the world. The assessment of the economic dimension is made through the evaluation of the total cost incurred in each process of the supply chain, while the environmental aspect is evaluated in terms of the carbon dioxide emissions generated. Specifically, in this paper the modelling of the warehouse function is detailed. To test the effectiveness of the model a case study is carried out on a fashion company based in the North of Italy; the key results are reported in the manuscript, showing where the majority of costs and emissions are generated. Information obtained from this tool can support the company's management in their operational decisions and show where to focus their attention to enhance the economic and environmental sustainability

A storage assignment simulation model for optimizing processes in an e-commerce warehouse of a fashion supply chain

The wide spread of e-commerce and in general B2C systems brought new challenges to supply chains which had to reconsider part of their systems whilst maintaining the same goal: a high level of customer satisfaction. One of the main functions affected by these challenges is the logistics activity, including warehouse management and transports. Indeed, they now have to face higher orders at the same time, to manage picks demand in specified periods, to increase journeys for reaching various customers geographically dispersed. Optimization and synchronization are essential. To this end and according to the steps of the Deming Cycle, this paper presents the case of a warehouse located in northern Italy whose storage activity was firstly simulated and then successfully implemented so as to optimize the picking activity and consequently the subsequent processes of the outbound flow. Improvements were assessed through determined key performance indicators, monitored before and after the implementation of the new strategy

Assessment of the economic and environmental sustainability of a food cold supply chain

Based on environmental and economic factors, reverse logistics (RL) issues have attracted attention among both academia and practitioners. This study investigates the issue of economic and environmental sustainability evaluation in a food cold supply chain (FCSC), which carries out four main different processes, i.e. product collection, backroom storage, products delivery and RL. For the RL process, which is taken as an example, we have detailed the equations implemented in an analytic model to carry out the computation of the economic and environmental sustainability, while for the remaining processes, we present and discuss only the main results obtained. The model was developed under Microsoft Excel™ and is intended to assess the total cost and CO2 emissions of an important company operating as a cold chain logistics service provider. Results of the model show that the highest total cost and environmental impact are due to the product delivery process. Moreover, the results proposed indicate quite clearly the specific activity component where the FCSC managers should intervene to remove or decrease possible inefficiencies and optimize or increase the sustainability of a FCSC

Capacitated vehicle routing problem with time windows: A linear model and a case study of express courier

Given the importance gained by the e-commerce field in the recent years, this study investigates the issue of minimizing the delivery travel time of a real company located in the South of Italy and operating as a courier, express and parcel (CEP) service provider. The scenario under examination consists of a depot, three vehicles and several customers served by the CEP company. A Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (CVRPTW) model is formulated to optimize the deliveries to the customers for the targeted company and solved under the commercial software IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimization Studio. As outcomes, the model returns a simulated path covered by the vehicles and computes the corresponding travel time. Results show that with the proposed formulation, the time windows (TWs) of all customers are respected. Because the analysis is grounded on a real company, the results are expected to provide practical indications to logistics and supply chain managers, to maximize the performance of their delivery system

Hydrogen peroxide is a neuronal alarmin that triggers specific RNAs, local translation of Annexin A2, and cytoskeletal remodeling in Schwann cells

Schwann cells are key players in neuro-regeneration: They sense "alarm" signals released by degenerating nerve terminals and differentiate toward a proregenerative phenotype, with phagocytosis of nerve debris and nerve guidance. At the murine neuromuscular junction, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a key signal of Schwann cells' activation in response to a variety of nerve injuries. Here we report that Schwann cells exposed to low doses of H2O2 rewire the expression of several RNAs at both transcriptional and translational levels. Among the genes positively regulated at both levels, we identified an enriched cluster involved in cytoskeleton remodeling and cell migration, with the Annexin (Anxa) proteins being the most represented family. We show that both Annexin A2 (Anxa2) transcript and protein accumulate at the tips of long pseudopods that Schwann cells extend upon H2O2 exposure. Interestingly, Schwann cells reply to this signal and to nerve injury by locally translating Anxa2 in pseudopods, and undergo an extensive cytoskeleton remodeling. Our results show that, similarly to neurons, Schwann cells take advantage of local protein synthesis to change shape and move toward damaged axonal terminals to facilitate axonal regeneration

Economic evaluation of automated guided vehicles usage in a food company

Nowadays, companies are more and more attracted and interested by the possibility of automating processes which can be easily carried out by devices or machines instead of employees, allowing saving in costs, higher productivity and flexibility. Among the most spread ways of automating processes, more precisely in this specific case the flow of materials, the Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) stand out. But the main question that everyone asks is the following: is it convenient or not? In this paper, the answer is provided for a company operating in the food context, which intends to automate the transport of raw ingredients from the kitchens where they are produced and prepared to the filling lines; to this end, an economic feasibility study is carried out, taking into account three different levels of automation for three different lines. Results from all the three scenarios demonstrate the convenience in terms of achievable revenues, saved hours and manpower, and will support the management in their operational decisions