Author: Marta Re Ferrè

MAASive: a project to maximise resources in a value network

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MAASive project was created with this aim, to enhance the resilience of manufacturing companies in response to the challenges posed by rapidly evolving markets.

 

Nowadays, competition transcends individual companies and extends to their systems of companies – suppliers, buyers, technology and financial partners – referred to as ‘value networks’. Today’s value networks face the imperative of bolstering their resilience to navigate the increasingly volatile economic environment.

Horizon project MAASive (Manufacturing-as-a-Service to Increase Resilience in Value Networks) aims to develop new models to increase the resilience of value networks by leveraging Manufacturing-as-a-Service, a flexible sourcing approach that entails collaboration among value network members by sharing production capacity and harnessing digital technologies to achieve greater efficiency and reliability.

The primary objective is to maximise existing resources within value networks by providing industries with a tool kit that amalgamates established methods and technologies tailored to the MaaS framework, supplemented by new models and technologies developed as part of the project. Through an interconnected network, the tool kit facilitates seamless access for manufacturers to on-demand service providers, enabling swift and efficient use of production services and equipment.

Over 36 months, the project endeavours to build up European manufacturing companies’ resilience against unforeseen events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This type of service-oriented approach allows companies to quickly adapt to critical events and resume production even amidst unforeseen circumstances, mitigating interruptions in the supply of essential materials and components.
A large number of European companies under-utilise their production equipment, which hints at the substantial potential for increased production in the EU without the need of additional investment.

Politecnico di Milano will provide the conceptual foundations for the proposed models while contributing to the development of simulation models and supporting the dissemination of the project results.

The researchers from the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering involved are Margherita Pero, Antonio Masi, Franco Chiriacò and Adeline Athina Abou Ali.

The project is led by Aalborg University (Denmark). In addition to Politecnico di Milano, partners include: Hamburg University of Technology (Germany) École Centrale de Nantes (France), Kamstrup AS (Denmark), Arcelik AŞ (Turkey), Artico SA (Romania), Ilpea Plastik Ve Kaucuk Urunleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Turkey), Industrie Ilpea Romania Srl (Romania), Smartopt Bilisim Teknolojileri A.Ş. (Turkey), Txt E-Tech SRL (Italy), Etk Ems Skanderborg AS (Denmark).

Transforming Manufacturing for a Customer-Centric Future

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Over the past few years, there has been a significant transformation in the manufacturing industry known as Servitization; it is now a prominent trend for 2024. This shift represents a departure from the conventional focus on producing goods, towards a more service-centric approach.

 

Anna De Carolis, Junior Assistant Professor, Manufacturing Group
Claudia Aurisano, Research fellow, Manufacturing Group
School of Management, Politecnico di Milano

 

Servitization introduces services into the core business model, offering manufacturers a distinct mean to stand out in today’s highly competitive market.

Servitization is the process through which manufacturers transition from selling products to delivering comprehensive solutions that include not only the physical product but also a range of associated services. This strategic evolution is driven by the recognition that customers increasingly value outcomes and experiences over mere ownership of products. By providing a bundle of services alongside their products, manufacturers can better meet customer needs and foster long-term relationships.

For manufacturers, embracing servitization signifies a strategic pivot extending beyond mere product sales to the building of enduring customer relationships. This transition demands a reassessment of business models, internal processes, and a cultural shift within organizations. Manufacturers are evolving into solution providers, committed to meeting the growing needs of their customers across the entire product lifecycle. On the flip side, customers stand to gain from this transformation with enriched value propositions. Instead of engaging in one-off transactions, they gain access to a suite of services that optimize the performance, durability, and efficiency of their purchased products.

From a market perspective, servitization offers significant competitive differentiation. Manufacturers can distinguish themselves in a crowded marketplace by offering a distinctive blend of products and services. This approach fosters stronger customer relationships through ongoing support and value provision, leading to heightened loyalty. Moreover, it facilitates the evolution from a transactional model to a subscription-based or pay-per-use model, generating more predictable and recurring revenue streams. Additionally, by maintaining deeper engagement throughout the product lifecycle, manufacturers gain invaluable insights into customer behavior, enabling them to tailor services and products more effectively, thereby fostering enhanced customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, from an environmental standpoint, servitization encourages a focus on product longevity, repairability, and sustainability, aligning with the growing demand for eco-friendly and socially responsible practices.

Overall, the sale of services linked to products is reshaping the manufacturing market by offering new revenue streams, strengthening customer relationships, driving differentiation, fostering innovation, and promoting a more customer-centric approach to business.

Servitization is critical for the manufacturing industry’s future success because it aligns with the changing expectations of modern consumers. In an era where customer experience and outcomes matter more than ever, manufacturers must evolve to remain competitive. This shift not only ensures the survival of traditional manufacturing firms but also positions them as leaders in an era where service excellence is paramount.

At Politecnico di Milano the Manufacturing Group of the School of Management aims to transfer its scientific knowledge to industrial companies, with services that favor the business’ evolution through the servitization model.

Our consultancy services in Business Development guide companies in creating value by identifying new services to complement their products or by transforming the product itself into a service, adopting a customer-centric business model focused on loyalty.

By leveraging scientific knowledge on service evolution, forward-thinking companies can easily adapt to the ever-growing needs of customers, diversifying their business models through digital technologies that enable them to ride the service economy wave.

Gender lens investing: reshaping financial landscapes

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Investment approach aiming at combining economic performance and positive impact for women

 

A report focused on advancing gender equality through impact investing and sustainable finance was released.  ‘Empowering women, building sustainable assets: Strengthening the depth of gender lens investing across asset classes’ was prepared by UN Women, in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano (TIRESIA project), Phenix Capital Group and Bocconi University – Axa Research Lab on Gender Equality.

The report explores the Gender Lens Investing (GLI) market through quantitative and qualitative analysis. The GLI approach places gender equality at the centre of investment decisions with the aim of reducing gender inequality through the strategic allocation of economic resources.

The report highlights the lack of consensus on the definition of equality and inclusion in the financial sphere, stressing the urgent need for better financial literacy. Improving financial education is a key step to incorporate gender issues into investment decisions.

Investors are increasingly aware of the importance of quantifying and reporting the impact of their investments, by adopting measurement practices that consider gender and equality issues, thus actively contributing to the success and positive impact of such initiatives.Top-down initiatives, including stricter regulations, are welcomed by the investment community, and foster the acceleration of gender and equality initiatives.

“We have not yet been able to make impact the main focus for financial institutions to generate value.” comments Mario Calderini, director of Tiresia.

The key findings of the report provide a detailed overview of the investment market targeting UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which promotes gender diversity. As of July 2023, invested capital reached the remarkable amount of USD 56 billion, reflecting the growing demand for SDG 5-related impact investment funds. Private equity is confirmed as the most mature impact strategy, as the asset class boasts the largest number of investment funds (41) and significant allocated capital. Investments in real assets – real estate and infrastructure – also saw an increase in initiatives in 2022, despite the limited number of funds.

This groundbreaking report not only reveals important findings, but also highlights the great contribution of Gender Lens Investing to society. By strategically allocating capital to address gender inequality, GLI offers a practical and potentially impactful solution to tackle the chronic underfunding of women’s empowerment and gender equality initiatives.As the world strives to achieve the ambitious goals set by the United Nations 2030 Agenda, this report proves the potential of Gender Lens Investing as a transformative force for positive change, breaking down barriers and paving the way for a more inclusive and fair future.

We have not yet been able to make impact the main focus for financial institutions to generate value.

“One of the most immediate reasons to explain why this has not happened is in the composition of the boards of large financial institutions: who was not sitting there? Women. I strongly believe that the impact revolution will depend on more inclusion, more women and more gender diversity in decision-making bodies.”

HumanTech Day 1

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One year after the start of work, the first HumanTech event took place on January 26. HumanTech is the project selected and funded by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) for the 2023-2027 period as part of the ‘Departments of Excellence’ initiative.

 

One year after the start of the HumanTech-Humans and Technology project, the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano promoted the ‘HumanTech – Day 1’ event. Professors and researchers shared studies and ongoing research on human-technology interaction to inspire, raise awareness and stimulate new ideas. The aim is to redefine the complex relationship between technology, people and society to enable a sustainable digital transition of industrial systems.

After the welcome speeches of Raffaella Cagliano, Head of the Department, and Federico Caniato, coordinator of the HumanTech project, three  members of the project’s Scientific Board shared and discussed their perspectives on the topic: Prof.Katharina Hölzle, Director of the Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management, IAT – Universität Stuttgart; Prof. Torbjörn H. Netland, Chair of Production and Operations Management, ETH Zürich; and Prof. Viola Schiaffonati, Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, Politecnico di Milano.

In the second part, moderated by Prof. Guido Micheli, the new laboratories developed and funded within the project were presented: ‘Cognitive Ergonomics in Cyber Physical Systems Laboratory – CORE Lab’, headed by Prof. Matthias Klumpp; ‘Behavioural Research in Immersive Environment Laboratory – BRIEL Lab’, headed by Prof. Lucio Lamberti; and ‘HumanTech DataHub’, headed by Prof. Carlotta Orsenigo.

The CORE laboratory focuses on the study of cognitive ergonomics and, by means of advanced devices and sensors, conducts experimental studies on human cognitive and physiological reactions in the interaction between people and technology during work activities typical of production and logistics contexts in real or realistically reproduced settings.

The BRIEL laboratory supports research activities on the analysis of behavioural, cognitive and emotional factors in economic behaviour, by conducting experimental research that leverages neuroscience applied in physical, digital and immersive contexts that are highly similar to real work and technology use environments.

The HumanTech Data Hub is a platform where all data in support of the HumanTech research programme can be securely collected and stored, offering a single, simplified tool for data access and processing.

The laboratories are available to researchers of the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering (DIG) and are open to collaborations with companies and institutions.

After the rich poster session with more than 50 research papers, in the afternoon, at MADE Competence Centre Industry 4.0 and PoliHub, participants were able to watch the experiments in the laboratories, get to know the equipment and explore the potential of the laboratories, thanks also to parallel seminars held in the same areas, and conclude with reflections on the proposal of a HumanTech Manifesto.

It was a day full of reflections and stimuli, to involve and promote collaboration between different departmental research groups and imagine, together and synergistically, new development scenarios.

 

Event video and photo:

Sustainability and health aspects in the development of the agri-food sector in Africa

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The course of IHEA foundation organised by the Politecnico di Milano was concluded at Addis Ababa

 

The intensive course “Sustainability and health aspects in the development of selected value chains of the agri-food sector in Ethiopia”, promoted by Fondazione IHEA – Italian Higher Education with Africa and organized by the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with the Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health of the Università di Padova and the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture of the Addis Abeba University, was concluded at Addis Ababa.

The course provided PhD students, young researchers and professionals with an integrated training on the role of agri-food section in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the Ethiopian context, the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship, and aspects of food safety and animal health for the development of global value chains.

Federica Ciccullo, professor at the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Niso Randellini, PhD student, and Sandra Cesari de Maria, project manager at Food Sustainability Lab, collaborated for the Politecnico di Milano.

 

Food Policy. Three new neighborhood hubs against waste in the city, over 615 tons of food recovered in 2023

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At Palazzo Marino, on the occasion of the National Day of Prevention against Food Waste, the new actions for the strengthening of collection points and the new involvement of the city’s markets were presented.

 

 

Milan, 5 February 2024 – The Administration’s commitment in the fight continues to waste: on the occasion of the National Day for Prevention against Food Waste, which is celebrated today, the deputy mayor with responsibility for Food Policy and Agriculture Anna Scavuzzo presented the initiatives implemented in synergy with the city’s partners after the victory of the first edition of the Earthshot Prize 2021, a prestigious international award dedicated to the best solutions to protect the environment.
A set of actions that are the result of a year of collective work which involved 36 bodies in the sector and 12 partners including public and private entities, research bodies and companies in workshops, comparisons, needs analyzes and co-planning tables.

“The commitment of the Administration and the City of Milan continues – said the deputy mayor with responsibility for Food Policy Anna Scavuzzo – to combat waste and food poverty, a dual objective that is achieved with a synergistic action that sees in neighborhood hub a very concrete response: the impetus that the Earthshot Prize gave us allowed us to invest resources and co-plan how to use them together with the many subjects active on the Food Policy tables. Once again a good team effort that consolidates a highly effective food aid device in Milan“.

For the British Consul General in Milan, Catriona Graham, “as highlighted by the awarding of the Earthsot Prize, Milan’s Food Policy continues to prove itself at the cutting edge. We hope this partnership will help the City advance the impact of its work to reduce food waste – a critical challenge shared across our planet.”

With the aim, therefore, of reducing food waste and increasingly innovating the methods of recovering food for the most vulnerable, three new neighborhood hubs against food waste will be created in Milan by 2024: this is the Food Hub Cuccagna (Municipality 4), the Selinunte Hub (Municipality 7) and the widespread Hub (Municipality 2), which are added to those already active in the city (Isola Hub, Municipality 9; Lambrate Hub, Municipality 3; Centro Hub , Municipality 1; Gallaratese Hub, Municipality 8 and finally the Foody Zero Waste Hub, created within the Milan fruit and vegetable market).

The experience of neighborhood hubs – launched in 2019 by the Municipality of Milan together with Fondazione Cariplo, Programma QuBì, Assolombarda and Politecnico di Milano to encourage the recovery and redistribution of food surpluses with a territorial network of third sector entities, which they in turn send the food to people and families in difficulty – continues to grow, thus increasing the collection and storage centers for food from various merchants and large-scale retail outlets from five to eight.

“The expansion of the network of neighborhood hubs for the fight against food waste for the benefit of the most vulnerable citizens is an important result for Milan which demonstrates a constant and joint commitment of the Cariplo Foundation, in synergy with the Municipality and all the actors of the city ​​food system. The Food Policy model of Milan, aimed at connecting and enhancing skills, represents a point of reference at an international level as demonstrated by the many awards received in recent years, not least the Earthshot Prize“, explained Carlo Mango, director of the Research area of ​​the Cariplo Foundation.

“The Report of the Waste Watcher International Observatory shows how the total value of food wasted in Italy is over 13 billion euros per year. Continuously growing values, which show how important, in terms of social stability, attention to sustainability and care for the weakest families, initiatives such as ‘Zero Waste’ and the neighborhood hubs that Assolombarda, together with the Polytechnic, the Municipality of Milan and the Cariplo Foundation, have been implementing for several years now – said Adriana Pontecorvo, Group Vice President Food by Assolombarda – An even more central social function in recent months. Ours is an initiative that every year is enriched not only by new centers for the recovery and redistribution of food surpluses, but also by a strong push for innovation , with an increasingly precise mapping of surpluses and an ever-increasing number of companies joining this virtuous example of public-private collaboration. The ‘Zero Waste Hub’ brand, created pro bono by the Armando Testa agency, will increasingly enhance the commitment of the donors of surpluses and the many supporters of the project“.

The anti-waste alliance is also expanding thanks to a greater involvement of municipal markets in which the aim is to collect around 200 kg of surplus fresh produce per day in 20 city markets, a work that adds to that carried out within the Foody Zero Waste Hub. Eco delle Città APS, Associazione Banco Alimentare della Lombardia ‘Danilo Fossati’ ODV, Magma srl ​​Social enterprise, Recup APS, Comunità nuova non-profit organisation, Fondazione Arché and Caritas Ambrosiana.

“Contributing to the reduction of food waste remains among Sogemi’s primary objectives. We are therefore proud to support the initiatives of the Food Policy of Milan, this year with the recovery of over 401 tons of food for the meals of approximately 10,600 people. A result obtained thanks to the precious collaboration and commitment of producers and wholesalers and of the bodies that carry out the collection. The Milan Agri-Food Market represents a strategic node for the Milanese food system and for the entire supply chain, it is therefore essential to continue to support projects and actions of solidarity and food sustainability“, added Cesare Ferrero, President of Sogemi, Milan Agri-Food Market.

Finally, the entire management of the neighborhood hubs will be improved through the digitalisation of the supply chain which will allow for better mapping of surpluses and available resources and shared and integrated logistics capable of optimizing the storage, collection and distribution system, and of finally also reduce the environmental impact.

 

The numbers

Over 615 tons of food recovered in 2023 alone, of which 574 tons from the five Neighborhood Hubs currently active in Milan, to which are added 41 tons from uncovered markets. Hundreds of thousands of surpluses that were redistributed among approximately 27,000 vulnerable people, equivalent to approximately 1,230,000 meals.

“Over the last year, the Neighborhood Hub network has made it possible to increase the quantity of redistributed surpluses, guaranteeing fresh and dry food to an ever-increasing number of people in need in the city of Milan. As a scientific partner of the initiative, in this new year we will work to strengthen and innovate the system, integrating new partners, resources and services, and monitoring their impacts“, declared Raffaella Cagliano, Director of the Department of Management Engineering of the School of Management of the Polytechnic of Milan.

“Our work in the area focuses on three types of poverty: energy, education and food, in support of a Just Transition. Pursuing this aim, we wanted to respond promptly and actively to the co-planning process promoted by the Municipality of Milan for the relaunch of Neighborhood hub – commented Angela Melodia, Head of Development and Innovation and Social and Cultural Redevelopment Projects of the Snam ETS Foundation -. We are convinced that it is essential to proceed with social interventions and inclusive initiatives towards the final beneficiaries, the vulnerable people, placing our resources and our skills at the service of the network actors and the partners involved, with whom we wish to create a system with a view to continuous innovation, with the common objective of generating an increasingly positive social impact“.

The subjects involved in the new neighborhood hubs
The three neighborhood hubs that will be active by 2024 follow a now consolidated model of public-private partnership which involves numerous actors. In particular:
– the Cuccagna Food Hub has as its project leader the Cuccagna Social Enterprise Shipyard Consortium Association, to which are added Emergency Ong onlus, Recup Social Promotion Association, Economy and Sustainability Association, Community Association Il Gabbiano ODV and Acra Foundation;
– Diffuse Hub will see the collaboration of Comin Coop Solidarity Society, Milano Positiva Aps, T12 Lab Association, Parish of Santa Maria Assunta in Turro, Terza Settimana Odv, Mutuo Soccorso Milano Aps;
– Hub Selinunte, a future logistics hub for food distribution, will finally be managed by Coopi international cooperation onlus.

The partners of the Neighborhood Hubs
Supporting bodies: QuBi Program, Fondazione Milan, Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Milano and Fondazione Snam.
Managing bodies: Banco Alimentare della Lombardia, Terre des Homme Italia, Ibva Solidando.
Foody Zero Waste Hub: Sogemi, Cariplo Foundation, University of Milan, Lombardy Food Bank, Recup, Southern Milan Red Cross, Eco dalle Città, Caritas Ambrosiana, Italian Red Cross Milan Committee
Technical sponsors: Avis Milan, SoDe social delivery , Armando Testa.
The brands involved: Lidl, Esselunga, Carrefour, Coop Lombardia, Il Gigante, Natura Sì, Iper La grande i, Unes, Getir, Pam, Erbert, Conad, Glovo, with 37 total sales points.

Two scientists of the School of Management in the Thinkers50 Radar Class 2024

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The annual list of the 30 up-and-coming thinkers in the field of management worldwide includes Tommaso Buganza and Daniel Trabucchi for their studies on platforms.

 

Tommaso Buganza and Daniel Trabucchi are the professors of the School of Management who have been included in the Radar Class 2024 of Thinkers50, the ranking of emerging personalities in the world of management drawn up by Thinkers50, the British organization that every two years presents also the Distinguished Achievement Awards, known as “The Oscars of management thinking” according to the Financial Times.

Tommaso Buganza is full professor of Leadership and Innovation and co-founder of LEADIN’Lab, the Laboratory for Leadership, Design, and Innovation. Daniel Trabucchi is senior researcher in the LEADIN’Lab. Together they founded Symplatform, a yearly international conference on digital platforms that aims to match scholars and practitioners. They are co-founders and scientific directors of the Platform Thinking HUB, a community of innovation leaders focusing on platforms.

It is for their research work in this area that they have been placed on the radar.

Announced every January, the Thinkers50 Radar identifies a cohort of 30 up-and-coming thinkers whose ideas will make an important impact on management thinking in the future, according to their prediction.

Thinkers50 highlights the up-and-coming thinkers and supports them in showcasing the ideas that will shape management in the coming years.

 

For more information: https://thinkers50.com/radar-2024/

 

Financial Times European Business Schools Ranking 2023: POLIMI Graduate School of Management is among the best business schools in Europe

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The Politecnico di Milano Business School is second at European level among those belonging to a technical university according to the FT European Business School Rankings 2023

 

POLIMI Graduate School of Management – the business school that is part of the Politecnico di Milano School of Management – is once again this year confirmed as one of the top business schools in Europe. According to the Financial Times European Business Schools Rankings 2023, published today, the Politecnico Business School remains stable in second place in Europe among schools belonging to a technical university (namely, Politecnico di Milano), behind only Imperial College Business School (UK). In the general rankings, the Milanese business school ranks 36th out of the 90 classified, thus celebrating its continued presence in the top 40 on the occasion of the 13th year since it entered the rankings for the first time (2010).

“Confirmation of our position at the top of the Financial Times’ European rankings is our reward for the commitment we have made in recent years to renewing our portfolio and the content of our programmes to give our students and the companies with which we collaborate a valuable range of training that distinguishes us in the education landscape”, declared Vittorio Chiesa and Federico Frattini, respectively President and Dean of POLIMI Graduate School of Management. It is a satisfaction that even exceeds our enthusiasm for featuring in the rankings for so many years: above all, we are proud that the basis of this result is our students’ appreciation. Since 2020, around 3,200 people have chosen our Masters and almost 600 companies have been involved as partners in extra-curricular activities. The strength of these connections with the entrepreneurial and productive fabric is demonstrated by post-graduation results that satisfy us even more than any international recognition.”

The excellence of the POLIMI Graduate School of Management’s training courses is also confirmed by the other criteria which, to varying degrees, affect the final score. The EMBA (Executive Master in Business Administration designed for professionals whose career has been under way for at least 6 years) rises to 47th place in the relevant rankings, gaining 7 positions on 2022. There is also improvement in the Salary Increase rating, which is the level of a manager’s pay three years after graduation and the relative difference compared to the pre-Master period: on average, after completing their Master degree, the salary of POLIMI Graduate School of Management alumni increases by 62% for Executive MBAs and almost doubles (+95%) for MBAs, aimed at those with over 3 years of work experience. Among the professors, the level of representation of women (41%) is also good.

Today, the employment rate of a Full-Time MBA student from POLIMI Graduate School of Management three months after graduation is 88%. Over 80% of those who attended an Executive MBA had a career upgrade within two years of completing the Master, while 20% embarked on a career abroad and 6% founded a start-up.

POLIMI Graduate School of Management’s educational portfolio includes approximately 40 Masters degrees, including 7 MBAs and Executive MBAs, over 300 executive open programmes and numerous custom-designed training courses for companies. Each year, it collaborates with more than 100 companies, creating over 180 tailor-made training programmes, providing more than 4,000 hours of training and involving over 30,000 employees.

The Financial Times European Business Schools Rankings 2023 is available here.

BUDD-E project wins digital health innovation award

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Agenas awards guide-robot for the blind developed by Politecnico di Milano and Ospedale Niguarda.

 

Budd-e, the robot serving the blind, won the ‘Digital Health Innovation’ award.

Budd-e is a special self-driving robot that aims to guide blind people inside structured spaces such as hospitals, sports and shopping centres and museums.

Designed and developed by Politecnico di Milano researchers and tested and validated at Ospedale Niguarda, Budd-e is able to learn the routes within the hospital and accompany blind people from the entrance to the destination ward or clinic and back.

The project is proposed as a solution to improve accessibility and quality of life for blind people. It was funded by Politecnico di Milano through Polisocial Award 2021, which finances high social impact research with the 5×1000 donated to our university.

The ‘Digital Health Innovation’ initiative is organised by Agenas – National Agency for Regional Health Services, in collaboration with SICS – Italian Society for Scientific and Health Communication. Budd-e was awarded in the category ‘Project innovativeness in relation to the use of ICT – concreteness – sustainability and replicability’.

 

Find out more
Budd-e official website
On Frontiere: interview Marcello Farina

Transforming agrifood value chains: the Ploutos Sustainable Innovation Framework

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After three years of dedicated work, the Ploutos project, funded under the Horizon 2020 programme, successfully concluded in September 2023.

 

This initiative was designed to reshape the agri-food value chain, with a primary focus on fostering the transition towards more sustainable systems.

At its core, the project aimed to develop a Sustainable Innovation Framework (SIF) that took a systemic approach to the agri-food sector, leveraging on three key innovation streams: sustainable collaborative business model innovation, data-driven technology innovation and behavioural innovation.

To put theory into practice, the project realised 11 innovation pilots, representing a diverse array of ecosystems across 13 different countries. Adopting a multi-actor approach, these SIPs engaged various stakeholders to implement, test, and assess new innovative solutions and methodologies, including the SIF. In this process, practical insights and valuable lessons were derived, contributing to the continuous transformation of agri-food systems.

The Ploutos SIF was developed by a team of researchers from the Food Sustainability Lab of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano led by Prof. Raffaella Cagliano. The initial version of the framework was designed at the early stages of the project based on theories and frameworks from the academic and grey literature, which were evaluated together with a panel of experts (representatives of the agrifood sector, universities and research centres, and government organisations). This preliminary version was then enhanced through an iterative cycle encompassing application, evaluation, and refinement, conducted together with the pilots and the experts. In addition to this, a set a practical recommendations and hands-on tools was developed, making the application of the SIF easily replicable.

According to the Ploutos SIF, the innovation process in the agrifood sector starts with the forming phase and is driven by a combination of supply push (e.g., policies), market pull (e.g., changes in consumers’ preferences) and technology push (e.g., introduction of more sustainable agri-food technologies).

The actual process starts when multiple actors come together and agree on a common mission. During this phase, an initial understanding of the changes needed in terms of business models, technologies and behaviours is developed. Integration of the three innovation streams is of paramount importance since sustainability is a systems-level problem that cannot be addressed with siloed approaches.

The second stage of the innovation process, called baseline assessment, requires defining clear sustainability priorities, identifying relevant key performance indicators linked to such priorities and assessing the baseline sustainability performance.

Focusing on the core of the process, the innovation phase, the SIF suggests following an iterative sequence of “understand – define – ideate – prototype – evaluate” to be performed for each innovation stream. One should start from the business model and develop a preliminary version that provides clear answers to questions such as: “How are resources procured and transformed to deliver value?”, “How do products or services meet customer needs and respond to societal challenges?”, “Who are the critical partners and collaborators in value creation?”.

Once a promising business model has been ideated, resources can be allocated to the technological innovation. Key aspects of technological innovations for the agrifood sector include data sharing principles (i.e., ensuring that data are not used against the farmers), interoperability (i.e., connecting different smart farming devices, databases, and information systems), and integration of different technologies, such as traceability systems and carbon credit platforms, to tap into additional revenue streams.

The new business model and the technological innovation will then trigger behavioural interventions to ensure they are successfully adopted. Behavioural innovations can be very wide in scope, going from technology adoption to consumer empowerment and creation of resilient ecosystems.

Solutions developed in each stream are then improved and fine-tuned through iterative cycles until the innovation process is completed.

The last phase of the SIF is the final evaluation that allows to assess the contribution of the proposed innovations to the key sustainability priorities.

The Ploutos SIF was followed by all the 11 pilots and allowed to achieve or even exceed most of the targets set by the pilots, proving to be an effective and easy-to-apply framework for a wide spectrum of agrifood innovations.