Mechanized Blueberry Harvesting: Preliminary Results in the Italian Context

This study reports some preliminary results on mechanical blueberry harvesting for the fresh market of cv. Cargo® in the Piedmont region (northwest Italy). The investigated area is one of the most productive areas of Italy, which specializes in fresh blueberry production. The automatization of harvesting operations could represent a competitive advantage for the area’s blueberry supply chain but could limit the quality of fresh-picked berries. A prototype machine and a commercial harvester (Easy Harvester®) were compared with manual picking, considering the harvesting efficiency, labor productivity, harvesting cost and farm rentability. In this context, the labor cost for manual harvesting exceeds EUR 2.00 per kg of saleable product. The prototype allowed a 39% cost reduction, and the Easy Harvester® reduced it by about half. Nevertheless, these positive performances do not consider the reduction in the net sale price of EUR 0.40 due to the selection costs in the warehouse. In this study, we highlight that the transition to mechanical harvesting requires the transformation of several farming and packhouse operations, such as new crop varieties, field configurations and cultivation techniques. However, a possible technical improvement of the Easy Harvester® could represent an opportunity for Italian farms in the planning of berry production and marketing, involving all of the supply chain actors. Further research on the use of mechanization in the sector must continue and be supported.

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Blueberry Mechanized Harvesting: Preliminary Results in the Italian Context

10.20944/preprints202104.0522.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Luca Brondino ◽

Stefano Massaglia ◽

Nicole Roberta Giuggioli ◽

Cristiana Peano

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Sale Price ◽

Technical Improvement ◽

Preliminary Results ◽

Crop Varieties ◽

Italian Context ◽

The Cost ◽

Warehouse Operations ◽

New Crop

The object of this work is to report some preliminary results on the mechanical harvesting of blueberry fruits of cv. Cargo® in the Piedmont region, one of the most productive areas of Italy that is specialized for fresh blueberry production. The automatization of harvesting operations could represent a competitive advantage for the investigated area’s blueberries supply chain, but could act as a limitation to maintaining the quality of fresh berries. A prototype machine and a commercial harvester (Easy Harvester®) were compared to manual picking, considering harvest efficiency (share of loss), labor productivity and harvesting cost. In the indicated context, the cost of labor exceeds 2.00 euros per kg of sellable product. The use of the prototype allowed a 37% re-duction of this cost, and the use of the Easy Harvester® allowed a reduction of about two thirds. It should be emphasized that these positive performances do not consider two other aspects: the re-duction in the marketable volume (attributable to losses in the harvest and post-harvest phase), and the reduction in the net sale price by 0.30 euros due to the sorting/selection costs in the ware-house. In this study, we highlight how the transition to mechanical harvesting requires the trans-formation of several farming and warehouse operations, such as new crop varieties, new field configurations, and new packaging processes. However, a possible technical improvement of the Easy Harvester® machine could represent an opportunity for Italian companies in the planning of the production and marketing of berries, involving all actors of the supply chain. Further research on the use of mechanization in the sector must still be continued and supported.

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Preliminary Results of the Skull Base Inventory: A Quality-of-Life Instrument for Skull Base Pathologies

Journal of Neurological Surgery Part B Skull Base ◽

10.1055/s-0035-1546674 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 76 (S 01) ◽

Author(s):

Soroush Larjani ◽

Eric Monteiro ◽

Allan Vescan ◽

Gelareh Zadeh ◽

Fred Gentili ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Skull Base ◽

Preliminary Results ◽

Life Instrument

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The Effect of Logistics Service Quality of 3PL, Companies on Supply Chain Performance through Trust

Journal of Korea Service Management Society ◽

10.15706/jksms.2019.20.4.004 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 73-88

Author(s):

Yong Taek Kim

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Service Quality ◽

Supply Chain Performance ◽

Logistics Service ◽

Logistics Service Quality

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Adoption of blockchain in the supply chain to improve quality of product and customer service in manufacturing sectors

2020 International Conference on Mainstreaming Block Chain Implementation (ICOMBI) ◽

10.23919/icombi48604.2020.9203060 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gurucharan S.B. ◽

Harshavardhan V. ◽

Shraddha P. Gokarnkar ◽

B. Ravishankar

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Customer Service ◽

Improve Quality ◽

Manufacturing Sectors

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A Study on the Effects of Transaction Authenticity on the Quality of Relationships and Transaction Performance in the Supply Chain

The Academy of Customer Satisfaction Management ◽

10.34183/kcsma.20.2.5 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 91-118

Author(s):

Chan Kwon Park ◽

Chae Bogk Kim

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Quality Of Relationships

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Supply Chain Integration: Establish the Appropriate Challenges in Improving Integrated SC in an Innovative Approach of IBS

Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal ◽

10.21834/e-bpj.v1i3.294 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Ani Saifuza Abd Shukor ◽

Muhammad Fadhil Muhammad ◽

Shamsida Saidan Khaderi ◽

Faridah Muhammad Halil

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

System Integration ◽

Publishing House ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Poor Quality ◽

Supply Chain Integration ◽

Project Environment ◽

The Poor ◽

International Publishing

The shift to an integrated IBS construction approach requires enhanced supply chain integration to improve the productivity as well as the poor quality of human behavioual aspect in IBS project. This paper is to identify the challenges at each tier between players to facilitate supply chain integration among the IBS players. Findings adopted from semi-structured interview revealed the critical attitude issues of human factors, lack of interaction and sharing knowledge between interdisciplinary people. The findings of this study is useful to improve integration of supply chain and enhance innovation and sharing interaction between players in the IBS Malaysian construction project environment.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Construction Environment; Industrialised Building System; Integration and Supply Chain

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The Efficiency of Cooperation between the Participants in the Supply Chain in the Tourism-Related Branch of Industry in Relation to Client Satisfaction

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11174716 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (17) ◽

pp. 4716 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Katarzyna Kozicka ◽

Sebastian Kot ◽

I Gede Riana

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Consumer Satisfaction ◽

Client Satisfaction ◽

Related Services ◽

Specific Product ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Statistical Relevance ◽

Tourism Supply Chain ◽

Theoretical Considerations

Managing a tourism supply chain is predominantly focused on managing a tourism-specific product that can be perceived as all kinds of goods and services utilized by tourists during their trips. The predominant goal of this article is to empirically identify the level of engagement of entities operating in the tourism-oriented branch of industry concerning the satisfaction of end-customers with the offered tourism-related services and products. Within the scope of this study, the statistical relevance of elements of active cooperation within a tourism-specific supply chain was analyzed. Empirical examinations covered the assessment of the cooperation within the framework of the tourism-oriented supply chain and its impact on consumer satisfaction. A research questionnaire was utilized to meet examination-specific goals. Theoretical considerations and the analysis of branches of industry in relation to the available statistical data showed that tourist-oriented supply chain covers various entities, the engagement of which may have a factual impact on the efficiency of managing the entire chain, as well as on the overall client satisfaction, improving tourism sustainability. The obtained results clearly showed that the examined entities considered the analyzed cooperation aspects to be very important with regard to the supply chain management. Said aspects included the total length of cooperation within the framework of a particular supply chain, which, according to the examined entities, directly translated into the quality of cooperation—to either significant or very significant extent, as well as making it much easier to solve certain problems that were strictly connected with the provision of tourism-oriented services. Yet another aspect of cooperation that was touched upon was the transfer of the so-called know-how between the entities engaged in a given supply chain. As proven by the examination, 70% of the surveyed entities claimed that it was of significant or very significant importance. The last analyzed aspect of cooperation were relations between the supply chain-specific partners and their impact on the satisfaction of end customers. According to over half of the sample (61.54%), decent relations between supply chain participants affected the satisfaction of end customers to a notable extent.

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Disentangling Individual Phases in the Hunted vs. Farmed Meat Supply Chain: Exploring Hunters’ Perceptions in Italy

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10010174 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 174

Author(s):

Maria Elena Marescotti ◽

Eugenio Demartini ◽

Michael Gibbert ◽

Roberto Viganò ◽

Anna Gaviglio

Keyword(s):

Supply Chain ◽

Production Process ◽

Emerging Market ◽

Final Phase ◽

Game Meat ◽

Wild Game ◽

Wild Boar Meat ◽

Training Activities ◽

Final Consumer

The growing body of literature concerning the hunted wild game meat (HWGM) supply chain is mainly focused on the final consumer, while little is known about upstream production processes. Even though the hunter plays a central role here, it is not well understood how hunters themselves perceive their role in the various phases of the production process. The present study explores Italian hunters’ perception of the HWGM supply chain and compares it to their perception towards the conventional farmed meat supply chain. We distinguish several phases of this production process and find that the final phase related to on-site game dressing is considered problematic, perhaps because hunters perceive themselves as less skilled than professional butchers. The results, in fact, show that hunters prefer hunted products over farmed meat, but that they consider hunted wild boar meat less safe compared to farmed pork. Findings from this study provide a rare glimpse from the inside of the supply chain and reveals the needs for a broad risk assessment analysis on the Italian game meat supply chain. Considering the development of the Italian emerging market of the HWGM, our results also highlight the relevance of training activities on hunters in order to increase the safety and quality of the final product.

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