Life cycle inventory data for the Italian agri-food sector: background, sources and methodological aspects

Purpose For the development of any life cycle assessment study, the practitioner frequently integrates primary data collected on-field, with background data taken from various life cycle inventory databases which are part of most commercial LCA software packages. However, such data is often not generally applicable to all product systems since, especially concerning the agri-food sector, available datasets may not be fully representative of the site specificity of the food product under examination. In this context, the present work investigates the background, sources and methodological aspects that characterise the most known commercial databases containing agri-food data, with a focus on four agri-food supply chains (olive oil, wine, wheat products and citrus fruit), which represent an important asset for the Italian food sector. Methods Specifically, the paper entails a review of currently available LCI databases and their datasets with a twofold scope: firstly, to understand how agri-food data is modelled in these databases for a coherent and consistent representation of regional scenarios and to verify whether they are also suitable for the Italian context and, secondly, to identify and analyse useful and relevant methodological approaches implemented in the existing LCI databases when regional data are modelled. Results Based on the aforementioned review, it is possible to highlight some problems which may arise when developing an LCI pertaining to the four Italian agri-food supply chains, namely: 1. The need for specific inventory datasets to tackle the specificities of agri-food product systems. 2. The lack of datasets, within the existing DBs, related to the Italian context and to the abovementioned supply chains. In fact, at present, in the currently available LCI DBs, there are very few (or in some cases none) datasets related to Italian wine, olive oil, wheat-based products and citrus fruit. The few available datasets often contain some data related to the Italian context but also approximate data with that of product systems representing other countries. Furthermore, the present study allowed to identify and discuss the main aspects to be used as starting elements for modelling regional data to be included in a future Italian LCI database of the abovementioned four supply chains. Conclusions The results of the present study represent a starting point for the collection of data and its organisation, in order to develop an Italian LCI agri-food database with datasets which are representative of the regional specificities of four agri-food supply chains which play an important role in the Italian economy.

Sustainability improvement in complex systems composed of products and services

Purpose A wide number of research efforts have been carried out over the last decades to assess and improve system sustainability. Different methods and tools are increasingly implemented in product systems; nevertheless its application to services and other systems, in which products and services are combined, is rather limited. In this work, an approach to improve the sustainability of systems composed of products and services (P + S systems) is proposed and implemented in two case studies. Methods The sustainability improvement of P + S systems is addressed integrating different methods and approaches. The flows between system approach is used to identify links between all systems involved. The life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) method is applied to simultaneously evaluate environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainability with a life cycle perspective. In addition, sustainable design principles are taken into account to propose effective improvement strategies. The systematic development of four phases is required to carry out the integration of these approaches: (i) identification of links between involved systems; (ii) sustainability assessment of the P + S system; (iii) application of sustainability strategies; and (iv) sustainability results comparison. Results and discussion Two different P + S systems are analysed. First, sustainability improvements in the service provided by a clothing boutique are proposed, taking into account that the store where the service is developed and the clothes acquired by the service provider are product systems involved in the service operation. Next, the sustainability of an itinerary exhibition is investigated. Products required for the exhibition space layout as well as the service used to transport all materials between different locations are taken into account. In each case, sustainability indicators obtained in both initial and alternative systems are compared, and variations detected due to strategies applied are analysed. Conclusions Sustainability of P + S systems is evaluated using a set of quantitative indicators, the relative incidence of each system is determined and more sustainable alternatives are projected. Thus, this research supposes an advance towards the sustainable design of complex systems composed of products and services, since effects due to the interconnection between systems are studied and criteria to carry out sustainability-oriented decision making are provided.

Engineer-centered enterprise and context-based knowledge: the sources of Chinese competitiveness in grid equipment

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the competitive source of Chinese firms in an industrial sector of complex product systems. It helps to reveal the organizational innovation developed by Chinese firms in coping with international competition and technological challenges. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a qualitative method of research. The evidences are mainly collected through interviews, field observation and document analysis. Findings A pattern of engineer-centered organization is the source of competitiveness of Nanrui (NR) Electric (NREC) in this study. The firm equips its front project teams, and now its overseas branches with developmental human resources and authorizes them the power of decision-making to leverage R&D projects. It is an emerging challenge to the traditional multi-national companies (MNC) pattern, and enables the Chinese firms to build their capabilities on context-based knowledge. Research limitations/implications As a single-case study paper, there are limitations about the external validity of its argument. Through the in-depth discussion of the NREC case, this paper aims to generate some clues for future study in the relevant academic community, which can be a useful step to formal theorizing and modeling. That is why the authors develop the paper on a single case. As future directions of research, comparative studies covering more cases not only within the power system control and protection industry but also among different complex technology products industrial sectors are really needed. Practical implications For innovative firms from developing countries like China, they need to develop institutional arrangements to incentivize engineers in the frontline, which may help them to build competence upon successful interaction with customers. During the era of globalization, such a pattern may generate special competitiveness over giant multi-nationals or global production networks (GPNs). Originality/value The research provides an instructive case on the Chinese rise in industrial sectors of complex product systems. Its findings can not only provide enlightenment for industrial catch-up in developing countries through organizational innovation but also help to initiate a reconsideration of the traditional theorizing of MNC and GPN.

Synthesis method of strategy for multi-robot systems from local automatons under probabilistic model checking

Through innovatively introducing the receding horizon into probabilistic model checking, an online strategy synthesis method for multi-robot systems from local automatons is proposed to complete complex tasks that are assigned to each robot. Firstly, each robot is modeled as a Markov decision process which models both probabilistic and nondeterministic behavior. Secondly, the task specification of each robot is expressed as a linear temporal logic formula. For some tasks that robots cannot complete by themselves, the collaboration requirements take the form of atomic proposition into the LTL specifications. And the LTL specifications are transformed to deterministic rabin automatons over which a task progression metric is defined to determine the local goal states in the finite-horizon product systems. Thirdly, two horizons are set to determine the running steps in automatons and MDPs. By dynamically building local finite-horizon product systems, the collaboration strategies are synthesized iteratively for each robot to satisfy the task specifications with maximum probability. Finally, through simulation experiments in an indoor environment, the results show that the method can synthesize correct strategies online for multi-robot systems which has no restriction on the LTL operators and reduce the computational burden brought by the automaton-based approach.

Possible ecological advantages from use of carbonless magnesia refractory bricks in secondary steelmaking: a framework LCA perspective

In the present paper, two types of magnesia-based refractory bricks for the wear lining of a steel ladle furnace are considered, with the aim of comparing their ecological performances. The adopted methodology is the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach from cradle-to-gate of the two brick product systems, in accordance with the European and International Standard EN ISO 14044:2006, and the chosen methodology for the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) is ReCiPe 2016, considering the midpoint impact categories and the hierarchist perspective. The conducted study is part of a European industrial research project aimed at investigating the possibility of cleanliness improvement of the steel produced in secondary steelmaking, by reducing the refractory contamination in the steel ladle furnace. The compared refractory bricks consist of a reference, currently used, MgO-C type and a more innovative "carbonless" one, containing magnesia and MA sintered spinel as principal components, on the basis of recipe data provided by the industrial partners of the project. The results attained so far in industrial practice are preliminary, because of the lack of a full-ladle lining experimentation, even though the application of the conceived innovative bricks in the upper part of the slag line of the ladle presents promising aspects. The results of the LCIA comparison between the two brick product systems highlight better performances for all the impact categories, except for "Human carcinogenic toxicity" and markedly for "Mineral resource scarcity." Besides these results, a general framework for shifting the ecological analysis to the steel production is provided. Calculations, referred to the production of one tonne of steel, are therefore performed, involving scenario assumptions not only regarding the refractory consumption but also the forecast operational features of the steel ladle with the "carbonless" lining. In this second set of results, it is clear how the principal contribution to almost all the impact categories is the electrical energy consumption of the ladle, while the contribution from the brick product systems remains important for the above-mentioned worsened impact categories, whose magnitude is strongly dependent on the refractory consumption.

Applications of Systems Engineering Technical Process Flows on Enterprise Systems

Systems engineering (SE) and SE management is the objective of all SE efforts, which defines the transformation of specific customer needs into a system product, service, or enterprise systems. Enterprise systems of systems engineering apply systems engineering fundamentals to the design of an enterprise. It is created by knowledge, principles, and processes tailored to the design of enterprise systems. Enterprise is a complex, socio-technical system that includes interdependent resources of people, information, and technology to reach a common goal. Enterprise systems is complex that a system configuration can be controlled among the different stakeholders. There are four different steps in enterprise systems process; it includes technology planning (TP), capabilities-based engineering analysis (CBEA), enterprise architecture, and enterprise analysis and assessment. This is the main reason that the enterprise work is developed and established at HAVELSAN Inc., Information and Security Technology Division. SE and technical processes for enterprise projects require establishing a systematic taxonomy and SE process customization. This chapter presents the work done on SE for enterprise projects at HAVELSAN. The chapter presents the results of the study of similarities and differences of the various applications of systems engineering of product systems oriented against enterprise systems.

APPLICATION OF LPG DURING GRINDING OF METALS FROM THE POSITIONS OF MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES

One of the most important aspects of improving the quality of abrasive treatment is the improvement of the lubricating and cooling liquids used. The article describes the mechanism of processes occurring in the circle–blank contact, determined from the position of physicochemical mechanics of materials. Data on influence of rheological characteristics of “LPG + dispersion product” systems and physical and chemical properties of LPG on cutting properties of abrasive tool are presented. The behavior of this colloidal system by viscosity is described. Dependencies characterizing coagulation of metal particles between each other and with cutting profile of grinding wheel in “tool–workpiece” contact under conditions of turbulent flow of LPG and dispersion products are obtained.