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In the context of great changes in the food industry, the aim of this research is to investigate if and how the implementation of 4.0 enabling technologies can enhance the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the food sector. A systematic literature review, using a combination of 12 keywords, was carried out on Scopus database with defined inclusion and exclusion criteria in order to answer four selected research questions. Overall, 50 relevant papers were retrieved and analysed by Mendeley and Excel with descriptive statistics. VOSviewer was used for co-occurrence and co-authorship analysis. Results illustrate that the interest in the topic has grown, in particular in Italy, and resume the benefits achievable by the implementation of 4.0 technologies in food industries. Social impacts are new job positions, ergonomic design of workplaces, changes in educational institutions, improved nutrition and better animal welfare. Positive aspects are related even to economic growth, improving food chain performances and decreasing companies' costs. Finally, it allows energy, water, CO2 emissions and food savings. Overall, the work provides a helpful overview to food manufacturers and producers, recommending the introduction of I4.0 technologies to positively influence the sustainable development of the sector and remain competitive in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of the bark beetle outbreak in the forest “Alta Val Parma” (Corniglio, Parma, Italy) and strategies for its regeneration. Norway spruce plantations located in the Foresta Demaniale Alta Val Parma (Corniglio, province of Parma - Italy) experienced since 2004 a massive outbreak of Norway spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus). This outbreak has been triggered by the exceptionally warm and dry summer of 2003. In the following years bark beetle attacks repeated and spread, raising concern about the future of this kind of stands. A survey program has been carried out to help local administration to chose the correct managements strategies. Monitoring of Ips typographus population, carried out between 2007 and 2013, confirmed the presence of two generations per year, with values above the risk threshold in 2007 and just below though very high in 2011. In the affected area, six survey plots have been realized to test different management options with the aim of favoring a fast regeneration of the forest cover. The tested options showed the great difficulty in the establishment of natural generation either for the lack of mother plants in such pure stands or for competition with tall grasses. Sowing brought no significative results, while direct plantation of indigenous broadleaves was more effective, with almost half of the individuals still alive after three years. Our results confirm the great difficulty to rebuild the forest cover after strong ecological disturbances in these artificial forests. Hybrid management strategies and ad hoc silvicultural choices seem to be the only way to manage such kind of situations in a National park, where the priority is biodiversity conservation.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the paper is twofold: on the one hand, to design a testing protocol to measure performances of RFID devices. The protocol matches operational conditions in supply chain processes and is particularly tailored to the apparel industry. On the other one, the paper strives at benchmarking performances of inlays, fixed and handheld RFID readers, and printers when deployed in the apparel logistics and retail processes. DESIGN, METHODOLOGY, APPROACH: We developed a testing protocol that makes it possible to assess performances of RFID devices in simulated supply chain processes. The testing protocol has been designed by a panel of academicians, whose research activities are focused on RFID applications and logistics, and retail executives from the apparel industry. We applied the testing protocol to 7 inlays and hard tags, 3 fixed readers, 4 mobile handhelds, and 1 printer, all operating according to EPC class 1 gen 2 protocols and ETSI regulations. We measured and compared read rates, accuracies, and read times. FINDINGS: By simulating a real-world environment, test results give a direct insight of performances to be expected from different RFID devices. Therefore practitioners can find answers to how a specific piece of hardware - such as an inlay, reader or printer - performs, or which hardware would be the best choice for a company's specific application, such as logistics, inventory checking or store security. At the same time, researchers focused on the business value of RFID applications can validate RFID-reengineered business processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]