Author: Marta Re Ferrè

Elisa Negri wins the “Digital Twin Young Scientist Award”

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

At the international DigiTwin 2024 conference, Elisa Negri, a researcher from the Politecnico di Milano, was awarded the “Digital Twin Young Scientist Award” for her pioneering studies on the use of Digital Twins in industrial production management, contributing to improvements in efficiency, sustainability, and circular economy practices.

 

DigiTwin is a prestigious international event that brings together companies from various sectors to share their experiences and needs in industrial applications, promoting the adoption of Digital Twin technology across diverse fields such as design, manufacturing, biomedicine, urban planning, energy, civil engineering, and more.

The 4th edition of DigiTwin, held from October 14 to 18, 2024, at the Politecnico di Milano, saw Elisa Negri, a researcher at the POLIMI School of Management, receive the prestigious “Digital Twin Young Scientist Award” for her significant contributions to the use of Digital Twins in managing production systems.

Since 2017, Elisa Negri has been conducting research on the role of “Digital Twins” in managing and controlling production systems.

These so-called “Digital Twins” are gaining increasing interest from both academic and industrial spheres due to their potential applications. They are virtual models that include data, algorithms, and carefully designed simulators that allow for “mirroring” real-world events in the digital realm. This enables the exploitation of data processing capabilities, scenario simulation, and the monitoring of deviations from predefined pathways.

Negri’s work is part of a research stream focused on demonstrating and quantifying how Digital Twins can simplify, enhance, and accelerate decision-making in managing production systems throughout their entire lifecycle—from design and commissioning to operations, maintenance, and eventual decommissioning, with a focus on circular practices.

The role of Digital Twins in decision-making is multifaceted, ranging from supporting monitoring activities to predicting future scenarios, optimizing parameters, and prescribing optimal actions.

The demonstrated benefits of using Digital Twins for production management include improved productivity (particularly through integrated management of production and maintenance), enhanced environmental and social sustainability (by reducing material and energy consumption and improving the working conditions of factory personnel), and the facilitation of circular economy practices in manufacturing.

Sustainability and Finance: EU accelerates, but gap between environmental and social impact remains

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

The Sustainable Finance Action Plan has boosted private investment in companies with an environmental purpose, but the lack of a social taxonomy is hampering progress on issues such as diversity and healthcare. A study highlights achievements and challenges for a truly sustainable future.

 

The European Union’s goal to become the first climate-neutral continent requires a significant redirection of financial flows toward sustainable activities. The 2018 Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, along with subsequent regulations, has played a key role in this process by introducing tools to classify and monitor sustainable economic activities. A study published in Finance Research Letters analyzes the impact of these policies on private markets, revealing promising results but also areas for improvement.

The research, conducted by Leonardo Boni, Assistant Professor at POLIMI School of Management, and Lisa Scheitza, researcher at the School of Business at the University of Hamburg, is part of the research activities developed by TIRESIA POLIMI research center, and is based on an analysis of private equity transaction data from 2007 to 2023.

The results show that the Action Plan significantly increased funding for companies with environmental purposes in EU countries. After 2018, the volume of transactions and the average deal value for companies in electric mobility, renewable energy, and the circular economy grew by 63.4% in deal size and 42.2% in total funding. However, investments targeting companies with social purposes, such as diversity or healthcare services, did not see the same growth.

Although the Action Plan has improved transparency and reduced perceived risks, challenges remain. Sustainability-focused tech companies, for example, still struggle to attract capital due to regulatory uncertainty and long development cycles. Additionally, the absence of a Social taxonomy that clearly defines standards for socially sustainable activities limits the potential of European policies in this area.

The study suggests expanding the regulatory framework to include a social taxonomy capable of ensuring a more equitable allocation of resources between environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. Strengthening regulatory support for tech companies could also accelerate sustainable innovation. Finally, stricter monitoring is essential to mitigate the risk of greenwashing, ensuring that sustainability funds are genuinely used for their intended purposes.

In summary, the study also has implications for the development of impact investing. While the EU has made significant progress in mobilizing private capital for environmental impact, achieving a balance between environmental and social impact requires further regulatory and strategic interventions.

 

For more information: Analyzing the role of regulation in shaping private finance for sustainability in the European Union

How spillovers propagate among energy commodities during business-as-usual scenarios and crisis episodes, differentiating between short- and long-term effects

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

Fossil fuels dominate the transmission of shocks along the energy supply chain, with effects amplified during crises. A study examines how these spillovers affect commodity markets and highlights the importance of mitigation strategies to contain instability.

 

Fossil fuels often act as primary spillover transmitters to energy derivatives, with the interconnectedness among commodities intensifying significantly during energy crises.

A recent study published in the International Review of Financial Analysis by Mattia Chiappari, Francesco Scotti, and Andrea Flori from POLIMI School of Management of Politecnico di Milano analyzes the dynamics of shock transmission within energy commodities describing how spillovers impact commodities along the supply chain.

The study has two main goals: first, to determine if upstream fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, or downstream derivatives, such as gasoline, heating oil, and ethanol, are dominant in shock transmission; and second, to evaluate if these effects vary based on market conditions, especially in times of crisis like the 2014-2015 Global Commodity Crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Findings reveal that fossil fuels are typically the primary transmitters of shocks, while derivatives usually act as receivers, absorbing fluctuations. However, in times of severe crisis, even derivatives can shift roles and become transmitters, amplifying the impact across commodity markets. Within commodities, the oil supply chain drives the spillover transmission. Notably, the analysis of short-term shock frequencies shows that energy commodity markets can absorb shocks within few days, underscoring the efficiency with which these markets incorporate new information.

Key Insights:

– Fossil fuels play a pivotal role in transmitting market shocks, particularly during periods of crisis.

– Energy derivatives, by contrast, mainly absorb shocks but can amplify them during extreme market instability.

– The efficiency of energy markets in shock management opens potential strategies for mitigating the impacts of market crises.

 

For further insights, the full article is available here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521924005970?via%3Dihub

The role of digital technologies in the circular transition of the textile sector

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

 

Digital technologies are transforming the textile sector, an industry with a high environmental impact, towards a more circular and sustainable model. A study conducted by the POLIMI School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano explores how solutions such as IoT, blockchain and artificial intelligence can reduce waste, improve transparency and optimise processes throughout the product lifecycle, laying the foundations for a more responsible and innovative supply chain.

 

European textile consumption has the fourth highest impact on the environment and climate change. The textile industry faces resource-intensive and environmental issues due to the linear economy, which is based on a take-make-waste approach. Despite the growing awareness of these issues and the industry’s efforts to adopt Circular Economy (CE) practices aimed at reducing waste, reusing materials, and recycling products, the integration of circular principles throughout the entire product lifecycle remains fragmented. In addition, Digital Technologies (DT) like IoT, blockchain, and AI are widely acknowledged as promising enablers of this transition.

A study by Rabia Hassan, PhD student at the School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with Federica Acerbi, Paolo Rosa, and Sergio Terzi, examines the role of digital technologies in the circular transition of the textile sector across product lifecycle stages published in the Journal of the Textile Institute.

The study critically analyzes the literature to offer insights into the possible and efficient use of digital technologies in textile manufacturing from design to the disposal stage. The paper highlights technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D technologies, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital platforms, which are essential in enabling this transition. These technologies enhance supply chain transparency, optimize production processes, and promote recycling and reuse. For instance, IoT allows better materials tracking, blockchain ensures secure and transparent transactions, and AI can forecast trends and manage waste more effectively. The authors proposed a conceptual framework to include these technologies along the product lifecycle stages to assist firms in the textile industry in achieving circularity through digitalization.

Although the application of these technologies has advantages in the textile industry, there are some issues that this industry must meet while adopting them. Some of the challenges are high implementation costs, limited infrastructure, and the need for workforce training. Thus, the authors urge establishing strategic partnerships between IT suppliers and textile businesses, raising awareness about the need for proper government support for sustainable digitalization, and considering other forms of clients’ financing, including leasing and using new technologies as services.

Global IoT and Edge Computing Summit: Manufacturing Group article wins ‘Best Paper Award’

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

During the GIECS 2024, held on 24 September in Brussels, the paper was awarded the prestigious ‘Best Paper Award’.

 

The Global IoT and Edge Computing Summit is a major international conference that aims to gather and present the most advanced research in the field of Internet of Things and computing continuum. The event brings together researchers, engineers, scientists and practitioners from around the world, providing an ideal platform to discuss the latest technological developments and industry trends.

The Summit provides an opportunity for leading experts in the field to share their studies through papers and presentations, allowing attendees of the most significant advances. A rigorous peer review process allows the organising committee to select the best contributions from researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of cloud, edge and IoT, promoting a deeper understanding of how continuous computing is shaping the future of the data exploitation.

This year, the paper written by Danish Abbas Syed, Walter Quadrini, Nima Rahmani Choubeh, Marta Pinzone and Sergio Gusmeroli from the Manufacturing Group of the POLIMI School of Management, was awarded as the best scientific paper. The paper, entitled “Approaching interoperability and data-related processing issues in a human-centric industrial scenario”, was recognised by the conference’s scientific committee for its relevance and originality.

The paper, first authored by our research fellow Danish Abbas Syed, is part of a new human-centric vision that will drive the future of industrial production. In line with  HumanTech ,the project financed by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) for the 2023-2027 period as part of the initiative “Departments of Excellence”, the paper explores the use of private mobile networks and distributed software architectures to solve latency issues and the management of data generated by process operators.

In particular, its content paves the road for the realisation of a computer network distributed among the different levels of a software architecture to monitor the state of fatigue of an operator engaged in manual assembly tasks. In its prototype version, realised at the MADE Competence Centre, the operator’s state of fatigue is indeed constantly monitored and, as his fatigue increases, a series of auxiliary operations is taken over by two collaborative robots, releasing the human actor from the most demanding workloads and thus enabling optimal condition recovery, while also preventing pain and inflammations related to the musculoskeletal system.

The technical-scientific community of the Alliance for IoT and Edge Computing Innovation (AIOTI), the organiser of the event, also expressed interest in the solutions proposed in the article and shared the need, highlighted in the paper, for appropriate frameworks in line with the ethical principles of transparency at the heart of the current debate at European level.

Innovation and Vision: the art of letting go to create revolutionary ideas

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

Creating an innovative vision is not limited to individual idea generation, but requires the ability to let go of initial insights in order to generate better collective solutions. The study, published in the Journal of Business Research, challenges traditional notions of innovation and shows that ‘letting go’ is as important as generating ideas.

 

What does it really take to create an innovative vision? It is not just having the right idea, but knowing how to let it go.

This is the crux of the study by Paola Bellis, Roberto Verganti and Federico Zasa, professors at the POLIMI School of Management of Politecnico di Milano, published in the Journal of Business Research, which explores how individual intuition and the ability to ‘let go’ are crucial to creating completely new product visions within a team.

The article ‘Who drives the creation of a novel vision? The role of individual insights and the ability to “let go’”, addresses two contrasting approaches that dominate the innovation literature.

One is that the vision is created by the creative leader, who drives the process and builds consensus from other team members. On the other, it is suggested that a vision can emerge from a balanced collaborative effort in which all members contribute equally.

However, the authors introduce a new perspective, emphasising that it is not so much who is the main initiator of the vision, but rather the ability of team members to give up early insights when necessary.

By analysing 26 top management teams, the researchers show how initial descriptions of a vision are transformed from mere individual ideas into shared concepts. This process, called sense-breaking, is as important as adding new insights: abandoning or modifying initial ideas allows collective creativity to evolve and grow.

This suggests that success in innovation comes not only from the brilliance of an initial idea, but also from the ability to collectively adapt and revise insights to make way for a larger, shared vision.

 

To read the complete article: Who drives the creation of a novel vision? The role of individual insights and the ability of “letting go”

Tackling the evolutionary nature of supply chain configuration in the transition to the circular economy

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

Supply chain transformation is a critical challenge for companies seeking a more sustainable business model. A new study proposes a strategic framework to help companies navigate this transition while maintaining flexibility and adaptability in an uncertain industry environment.

 

The transition toward a circular economy (CE) is a complex and necessary shift for our industries. Companies are increasingly tasked with transforming their linear supply chains into closed-loop supply chains (CLSC), integrating reverse logistics and recovery processes. This transformation is a response to environmental concerns and a strategy to remain competitive in the rapidly evolving industrial landscape. The automotive sector, in particular, is at the forefront of this major change.

In the research paper “Strategic closed-loop supply chain configuration in the transition towards the circular economy of EV batteries: an evolutionary analytical framework”, by Chizaryfard Armaghan, Yulia Lapko and Paolo Trucco, the authors introduce an innovative framework that offers a big-picture, evolutionary approach to developing closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs). The paper has been recognized with the Outstanding Paper Award at the 2024 Emerald Literati Awards in the International Journal of Logistics Management. This recognition highlights the importance of interdisciplinary research in shaping closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) as we transition to a circular economy. By examining the dynamic interactions between technology innovation, product design, supply chain planning, and infrastructure development, the framework addresses the uncertainties and adaptive challenges faced in today’s unpredictable business environment, helping businesses navigate the complex journey from traditional linear models to circular ones.

It is especially relevant for industries like electric vehicles (EVs), where technology and markets are changing rapidly and unpredictably. Creating a CLSC for EV batteries isn’t just about small tweaks—it requires a comprehensive, long-term strategy that considers how technologies, market conditions, and relationships between organizations evolve together.

 

An Evolutionary view on Closed-Loop Supply Chain configuration

For those working in the field, this framework provides valuable insights and practical strategies to tackle the uncertainties and challenges that come with such a significant transformation.
Here are some key takeaways:

  • Bringing Together Short-Term and Long-Term Planning

Aligning immediate actions with future goals is crucial when developing a CLSC, especially in unpredictable technological and market landscapes. For example, companies dealing with EV batteries need strategies that account for the gradual increase in returned batteries and the evolving technologies for end-of-life management. When selecting suppliers, businesses should choose partners who can handle current low demands and scale up as returns and recycling technologies grow. This alignment ensures flexibility and the ability to adapt operations as market conditions change.

  • Building in Flexibility and Adaptation

Flexibility is at the heart of this framework. Supply chains must be adaptable, ready to evolve as technologies and markets do. Companies can develop transition strategies that allow for gradual changes instead of sudden overhauls. By adopting transitional configurations, businesses can slowly increase their involvement in processes like remanufacturing or recycling without overcommitting resources too soon. This approach reduces the risk of getting locked into less-than-ideal strategies and provides the agility to adjust as new information emerges.

  • Encouraging Collaboration and Co-Development

Navigating technological changes outside a company’s core expertise presents a dilemma: Should a company invest heavily to acquire new knowledge, collaborate with suppliers, or rely entirely on external partners? Co-developing technologies allows companies to maintain some control over innovation while sharing risks and benefits. This balance between independence and cooperation helps companies stay competitive during uncertain times. However, relying too much on suppliers for critical technologies can limit flexibility. Companies must carefully consider their long-term goals to ensure their supply chains remain resilient and adaptable.

  • Handling Path Dependencies and Avoiding Getting Stuck

Early decisions can set a course that’s hard to change later—a concept known as path dependency. If a company invests too heavily in a specific technology or supplier, it might struggle to pivot when new innovations arise. The framework suggests designing supply chains with flexibility in mind, avoiding choices that could lead to being stuck with outdated methods. By staying adaptable, companies can embrace new opportunities without being hindered by past commitments.

  • Leveraging Interconnected Strengths

Different parts of a supply chain often enhance each other. Improvements in one area can positively impact the entire system. For instance, a better battery design can make recycling processes more efficient and foster smoother collaboration with recycling partners. These interconnected strengths, or complementarities, are crucial for stability and progress. However, companies need to manage them carefully to avoid becoming too dependent on a specific technology or partner, which could limit future flexibility.

 

Putting the Framework into Action
To apply this framework, professionals working in the field may start by mapping out their current supply chain and pinpoint areas where flexibility and collaboration are needed. Develop strategies that allow for gradual improvements, setting short-term goals while keeping long-term objectives in focus. Establish systems to monitor technological and market changes so that the supply chain can respond effectively. This proactive approach helps avoid the pitfalls of path dependency and ensures the company remains agile.

Looking Ahead

This evolutionary framework offers a powerful tool for navigating the shift toward closed-loop supply chains in a circular economy. By emphasizing long-term planning, flexibility, collaboration, and mindful decision-making, it provides practical guidance for building resilient and adaptable supply chains.

As industries evolve and the importance of CLSCs grows, this framework will be invaluable for companies aiming to stay ahead, especially in sectors like electric vehicles where uncertainties are high. By embracing these insights, businesses can create supply chains that meet today’s needs and are prepared for tomorrow’s challenges.

 

Read the full paper:

Chizaryfard A., Lapko Y., Trucco P., “Strategic closed-loop supply chain configuration in the transition towards the circular economy of EV batteries: an evolutionary analytical framework”,
The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 34, No. 7, 2023, pp. 142-176

Alessandro Paravano has been awarded with “PMI Young Researcher Award 2024”

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

At the Project Management Institute Global Summit 2024 in Los Angeles, the largest in-person signature event of the year for project professionals dedicated to elevating our world through project success, with over 4,000 attendees, Alessandro Paravano was awarded the prestigious PMI Young Researcher Award.

 

The PMI Young Researcher Award, an annual global award based on a rigorous and competitive selection process, recognises and celebrates emerging leaders in the academic field of project, programme and/or portfolio management with potential achievements that have the potential to significantly impact the discipline and practice of project management.

The PMI committee recognised that the research of Alessandro Paravano, a Post-Doc at the POLIMI School of Management at the Politecnico di Milano, is outstanding for its rigorous contribution to the theory and practice of project management, amply documented in peer-reviewed papers. His ability to bridge the gap between theoretical advancements and their successful implementation in practice demonstrates his exceptional capacity to contribute to both academic knowledge and industry success.

The research makes significant contributions to the fields of project management and space economics by advancing the understanding of complex project value. Traditionally, project value has been assessed at the individual project level, focusing on short-term outcomes and direct economic returns for stakeholders. The author redefines and extends the project success conceptualisation, by shifting the focus to project ecologies, which consider the interconnectedness of projects and the broader context they inhabit. This shift enables a more comprehensive understanding of the long-term socio-economic transformations that complex projects, particularly in the space sector, can catalyse.

The study expands the traditional view of project success to include both tangible and intangible forms of value.

For instance, the value of complex space projects in responding to global challenges is explored and demonstrated like climate change through satellite technology or to advance human knowledge by studying life in extreme conditions. His research highlights how the value generated by these projects extends well beyond their immediate financial impact, creating lasting societal benefits.

The approach of the study is grounded in Value Theory and Systems Architecting, which allows him to analyse the dynamic and multidimensional nature of project value. He underscores the critical role of relationships between actors within project ecologies—such as stakeholders, end-users, and organisations—and how these relationships shape the evolving value of a project over time. This perspective challenges the traditional project management focus on individual project success metrics, advocating for a broader view that captures the transformative potential of projects at an industry or societal level.

Furthermore, the research provides novel insights into the Space Economy, a rapidly growing sector driven by technological innovation, commercialisation, and new stakeholders. He contributes to the limited academic literature in this domain by demonstrating that space projects, often seen through a technical or economic lens, hold the capacity to transform industries, enhance human life, and even reshape societal structures in the long term. This work thus bridges the gap between theoretical research and practical application, offering policymakers and industry leaders new tools to assess better and leverage the value of complex space projects.

 

More details: https://www.pmi.org/about/awards/research-academic

 

16 lecturers from the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano among the world’s best researchers according to the Stanford-Elsevier rankings

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè
A prestigious award that recognises the global scientific impact of our faculty in the academic research landscape.

 

 

In the latest update of the international database of scientific authors with relevant citations, compiled by Stanford University in collaboration with Elsevier, 14 faculty members from the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano are included in the 2% of the most cited researchers in the world in the year 2023 and 6 professors are recognised for their scientific contribution throughout their careers, up to 2023, for a total of 16 professors.

To assess the impact of publications, the ranking uses bibliometric data extracted from Scopus, one of the largest databases of scientific citations.

The list of 14 professors from the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano included in the top 2% of the world’s most cited researchers in the year 2023, divided into 22 subject areas and 174 thematic sub-categories:

  • Tommaso Agasisti
  • Enrico Cagno
  • Massimo G. Colombo
  • Antonio Ghezzi
  • Luca Grilli
  • Josip Kotlar
  • Giorgio Locatelli
  • Marco Macchi
  • Elisa Negri
  • Giuliano Noci
  • Lucia Piscitello
  • Paolo Rosa
  • Massimo Tavoni
  • Sergio Terzi

The list of 6 faculty members included in the top 2% of the world’s most cited researchers throughout their careers until 2023:

  • Tommaso Agasisti
  • Enrico Cagno
  • Vittorio Chiesa
  • Massimo G. Colombo
  • Giorgio Locatelli
  • Carlo Vercellis

These results provide an overview of the School of Management’s research impact at an international level, demonstrating a significant ability to influence the scientific debate across disciplinary areas. The research conducted ranges from topics related to business management and management engineering to technological innovation and sustainability. The award reflects not only the high quality of the academic contributions produced, but also the relevance of the lines of research, which continue to generate value for the scientific community and the industrial and managerial world.

 

To consult the complete database:
Ioannidis, John P.A. (2024), “August 2024 data-update for ‘Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators’”, Elsevier Data Repository, V7, doi: https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/7

The role of 4.0 technologies in improving sustainability at logistics facilities

Posted on | by Marta Re Ferrè

The research analyses how 4.0 technologies can improve sustainability at logistics facilities, identifying opportunities for efficiency increase and environmental impact reduction. The study highlights several areas for improvement, considering economic, social and environmental implications.

 

With the increasing complexity of supply chains, the need to reduce delivery times and to address ever more demanding customers’ requirements, logistics managers are increasingly relying on a combination of warehouse solutions where manual activities coexist with automation, also supported by 4.0 technologies, in order to balance flexibility and efficiency. These developments also have environmental and social implications, and there is growing pressure from stakeholders to consider the impact of such 4.0 technologies on the sustainability of logistics facilities.

These implications are the focus of a study recently published in the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) entitled “Reviewing and conceptualising the role of 4.0 technologies for sustainable warehousing”.

The study is the result of an international collaboration between the POLIMI School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, with the participation of Prof. Sara Perotti and Eng. Luca Cannava, the University of Saarland in Germany, with the contribution of Prof. Eric H. Grosse, and the Bayes Business School in London, involving Prof. Jörg M. Ries.

Starting from a careful analysis of the scientific literature, the study develops a conceptual model to assess the sustainability impact of 4.0 solutions applied at logistics facilities, evaluating the economic, environmental and social perspectives, as well as the impact in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by examining the application of 4.0 technologies in the different warehouse processes (e.g. receiving, storage, picking, packaging and shipping).

This systematic approach has made it possible to identify areas of intervention to make the warehousing processes more sustainable (e.g. in terms of reducing both consumption and carbon footprint), and to improve the operators’ working conditions according to a human-centric approach.

In particular, the research shows how the benefits of 4.0 technologies can only be achieved through an efficient integration within warehouse processes, whose effectiveness is closely linked to the processes involved. With regard to the spillovers associated with the adoption of 4.0 technologies, there are still major challenges related to the environmental and social impacts of such innovations.

Finally, the study identifies four main areas of development and opportunities for the future:

  • “Opportunities from a processual perspective”: related to the nature of warehouse processes, with a focus on picking activities;
  • “Opportunities from a technological perspective”:technological opportunities, including those related to the application of artificial intelligence solutions;
  • “Opportunities from a measurement perspective”:opportunities related to measurement/quantification both in terms of environmental KPIs and metrics related to the activities carried out by the operator, with a focus on the data collection and processing phases;
  • “Opportunities from a sustainability perspective”: opportunities related to sustainability, particularly in contexts where automation and operators coexist.

 

To read the complete article: Reviewing and conceptualising the role of 4.0 technologies for sustainable warehousing