Pratiques collaboratives et démarche environnementale dans la supply chain : mythe ou réalité ?

L'objectif de cette recherche est d'éclairer la diversité des pratiques collaboratives et leur possible déclinaison dans une démarche environnementale commune aux acteurs de la collaboration. Plus particulièrement, il s'agit d'illustrer des pratiques collaboratives différentes et de décrire la manière dont est prise en compte la contrainte environnementale dans chacune d'entre elles. Nous nous appuyons sur sept monographies de collaboration appartenant à divers secteurs d'activité et étapes de la supply chain. Cette démarche exploratoire nous permet de poser l'hypothèse que les formes de proximité entre les acteurs déterminent des modes de collaboration spécifiques et des logiques de mise au vert de la chaîne particulières.Pratiques collaborative ; supply chain verte ; études de cas ; typologie

Superconducting-insulator transition in disordered Josephson junctions networks

The superconducting-insulator transition is simulated in disordered networks of Josephson junctions with thermally activated Arrhenius-like resistive shunt. By solving the conductance matrix of the network, the transition is reproduced in different experimental conditions by tuning thickness, charge density and disorder degree. In particular, on increasing fluctuations of the parameters entering the Josephson coupling and the Coulomb energy of the junctions, the transition occurs for decreasing values of the critical temperature T c and increasing values of the activation temperature T o . The results of the simulation compare well with recent experiments where the mesoscopic fluctuations of the phase have been suggested as the mechanism underlying the phenomenon of emergent granularityin otherwise homogeneous films. The proposed approach is compared with the results obtained on TiN films and nanopatterned arrays of weak-links, where the superconductor-insulator transition is directly stimulate

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT : PORTEE ET LIMITES - L'apport des théories des réseaux -

National audienceL'adoption de la démarche Supply Chain Management (SCM), centrée sur la logistique, apparaît comme un outil de performance pour la firme, puisque son ambition affichée est de répondre au triple objectif d'amélioration des niveaux de service, de réduction des coûts et de création de valeur, en gérant les relations, tant en amont qu'en aval, avec les fournisseurs et les clients. Pour les entreprises, la valeur correspond au bénéfice estimé en fonction du risque, et son évaluation repose sur la compréhension et l'interprétation des perceptions et des attentes des clients. Créer de la valeur nécessite l'identification des activités et des processus qui la structurent afin d'y consacrer les ressources, voire d'accroître la capacité des ressources sur ces activités ou processus. L'intérêt des travaux sur le SCM, et notamment des approches inter-organisationnelles, est de situer l'entreprise dans un environnement complexifié du fait de la multiplication et de la diversification des formes de relations entre les firmes. Dès lors, la création de valeur dépend également de l'optimisation des interactions avec les autres acteurs impliqués dans le processus de production, et non plus des seules décisions stratégiques d'une firme isolée. Aussi, le besoin d'informations ne concerne plus uniquement les clients et leurs attentes, mais de plus en plus l'ensemble des parties prenantes impliquées dans la chaîne et leurs stratégies, de façon à maîtriser au mieux l'incertitude et le risque lié. Si le concept de réseau émane pour sa part de préoccupations différentes en économie, il permet néanmoins d'éclairer également la diversité des relations entre des firmes participant au même processus productif. C'est notamment la mise en évidence d'ambitions stratégiques non exclusivement optimisatrices du réseau qui nous semblent intéressantes pour compléter les approches SCM. Au-delà des réflexions sur l'allocation des ressources, la reconnaissance des objectifs de création de ressources recherchés au travers du réseau ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour le SCM. Elle implique toutefois de renouveler l'analyse de la valeur qui sous-tend les approches SCM. En effet, la dimension relative de la valeur qui sous-tend ces analyses, valeur définie notamment par rapport aux attentes des clients, renvoie à des débats anciens en économie, qui conditionnent les représentations et les analyses de la production, de ses modalités et de ses objectifs, ainsi que la conception du rôle central ou non joué par le marché

PHENIX A Circular Economy Business Model Case

The aim of the R2π project is to find and analyze sustainable business models for circular economy in a variety of industrial sectors. Then, it aims to develop propositions that will support such business models. This report develops the case of Phenix, a French company in the food sector, illustrative of a successful circular business model. Phenix was created in 2014 by two entrepreneurs, Jean Moreau and Baptiste Corval and went through a steady growth, now having 18 regional offices in France and 3 international ones in Copenhagen, Lisbon and Madrid. The company’s global mission is to “unleash the potential of waste”. With an initial focus on food-waste, Phenix has set up a digital platform that works as an intermediary connecting waste “suppliers” (mainly retailers) and waste receivers (mostly charities). Through this service, Phenix prevents food close to expiration date from being wasted, and turns such waste into food donations. Beyond its matchmaking platform, Phenix also provides partners with a secured supply chain. Phenix achieves ‘triple bottom line’ value creation, by helping retailers to reduce the cost of food waste (economic benefit), enabling charities to get free access to food donations (social benefit), and helping society to reduce the overall amount of food waste produced in our economic system (environmental & circular economy benefit). It is, therefore, an example of a “mission-driven platform”, built on a hybrid model that combines business, social and environmental value creation. Presently, Phenix works with more than a thousand supermarket clients, has 100 full-time employees and helps to distribute over 40 000 meals per day. Phenix business model is circular by design. The organization offers a service to secure the recovery of unsold food products. Doing so, it organizes a circular sourcing for charities and helps retailers managing their products end-of-life. Because Phenix acts as a service provider, it does not generate waste but rather helps other organizations reduce their own. As a multisided platform, Phenix has developed a distinct pricing scheme to address each side of the platform. Phenix revenue model is based on monetizing the supply-side of the platform, through a fixed commission on the waste-management gains achieved by distributors using the platform. On the other side of the platform (demand side), Phenix organizes free access to food for social charities, thus achieving a social benefit and facilitating the growth of the platform. The French legal framework offered a favorable context for the development of a profitable business model for Phenix. As part of this regulatory framework, an existing tax incentive introduced in 1981 under the “Coluche law” providing for a 60% tax deduction for food retailers and producers who donate foodstuffs instead of generating waste. Through its secured supply chain, Phenix organizes traceability, secures savings for retailers and can charge a commission on the total savings on waste management, making the business model viable. As a fast growing and profitable start-up, the company is currently exploring different opportunities for geographical diversification in other European and non-European countries. The company is also currently engaged in processes of horizontal diversification to expand its services to new types of waste, and explores how to improve its current offer through digital solutions. While the company strategic position appears quite robust, few points of attention need to be considered: the business model remains dependent on favorable regulations, it remains labor intensive and new market acquisitions require large investments. Yet, new technology such as big data or IoT can radically improve the model’s cost-efficiency. Lobbying skills and network effects can protect the regulatory framework and diversification strategy to other resources (non-food wastes) and new skills (consulting) can strengthen the business model. Beyond the strategic analysis of the company, this case study has significant implications for public regulators. It first highlights the central role of public regulation in the innovation process. And it illustrates the hypothesis of Porter and Van der Linde, according to which properly crafted environmental regulations not only help to reduce environmental externalities, but they can also lead to profits for innovative companies (Porter & Linde, 1995). Overall our results points toward a mix between a regulatory framework and private dynamics of innovation to create successful circular business model. On the innovation side, the case shows how mission-driven platforms can reconfigure stakeholder relations in a given business ecosystem and improve operational efficiency of these relations in order to decrease waste and increase re-useThis project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 73037

A new diamond biosensor with integrated graphitic microchannels for detecting quantal exocytic events from chromaffin cells

The quantal release of catecholamines from neuroendocrine cells is a key mechanism which has been investigated with a broad range of materials and devices, among which carbon-based materials such as carbon fibers, diamond-like carbon, carbon nanotubes and nanocrystalline diamond. In the present work we demonstrate that a MeV-ion-microbeam lithographic technique can be successfully employed for the fabrication of an all-carbon miniaturized cellular bio-sensor based on graphitic micro-channels embedded in a single-crystal diamond matrix. The device was functionally characterized for the in vitro recording of quantal exocytic events from single chromaffin cells, with high sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio, opening promising perspectives for the realization of monolithic all-carbon cellular biosensors

Achille Campanile e l'umorismo

Questo lavoro prende spunto dalla constatazione che molto spesso i testi scolastici non menzionano affatto Achille Campanile. Obiettivo primario dell’elaborato è pertanto quello di rilanciare un autore frequentemente sottovalutato dai critici italiani, mettendo in evidenza l’originalità e l’unicità della tecnica narrativa di una delle personalità cardine della letteratura umoristica contemporanea. Infatti, se a tratti la produzione letteraria campaniliana potrebbe richiamare certi aspetti delle correnti coeve allo scrittore - primo tra tutti il movimento futurista - essa non si rispecchia pienamente in nessuna di esse. Dopo aver passato in rassegna i testi dei principali teorici del comico di fine Ottocento e inizio Novecento, fulcro del genere comico-umoristico, l’intento della mia indagine è collocare Campanile nel panorama degli scrittori e delle correnti comico-umoristiche a lui contemporanei, attraverso l’analisi di passi tratti da alcune delle sue opere. Sono dapprima oggetto d’esame i meccanismi dei quali l’autore si è servito per far scaturire il riso nel lettore (o, nel caso di testi teatrali, nello spettatore), al fine di porre in rilievo le peculiarità e le caratteristiche della narrativa dell’autore. L’analisi procede poi per nuclei tematici e si conclude con il raffronto tra romanzi e testi teatrali di Campanile

Secondary minerals in minothems at Fragnè Mine (Turin, Italy)

The Fragnè mine, Chialamberto (TO), is located in the Lanzo valley. The study area is part of the structural complex historically indicated as "area of calcschists and greenstones" or "Piedmont area" formed by mesozoic ophiolitic units of the Piedmontese Ligurian Basin by the tectonic-metamorphic evolution related to the alpine orogenesis (Falletti et al., 2009). The mineralizations are characterized by massive pyrite and Cu-rich pyrite that occurs in greenschist (prasinite) and amphibolite schist. The underground works development is around 5 km, tunnels that branch off into different levels. In this work, we describe secondary minerals of minothems (Carbone et al., 2016) not yet described in the Fragnè mine and found usually inside natural caves characterized by different mineralogical associations. The results show that all samples are characterized by secondary Fe-rich minerals typical of acid mine drainage areas. Blisters are composed only by schwertmannite, war-clubs by schwertmannite and goethite with low crystallinity, and hair by epsomite and hexahydrite minerals. Jelly stalactites and jelly stalagmites are characterized by schwertmannite in association with bacterial masses, instead stalactites and stalagmites by jarosite and goethite. The results shows that a mineralogical transformation occurs from soft to hard minothems: schwertmannite tends to transform into goethite, probably due to ageing processes of schwertmannite or local pH variations, related to bacterial activity, since schwertmannite is a metastable phase which over time tends to turn into goethite (Jönsson et al., 2005)