A well-configured spare parts supply chain (SC) can reduce costs and increase the competitiveness of spare parts retailers. A structured method for configuring spare parts SCs should be used to determine whether to centralise or decentralise inventory management, also considering hybrid configurations. Moreover, such a method should define whether or not to switch the production of spare parts from Conventional Manufacturing (CM) technologies to Additive Manufacturing (AM) ones. Indeed, AM is considered the next revolution in the field of spare parts, and the adoption of AM technologies strongly affects the characteristics of SCs. However, the choice between centralisation and decentralisation is not the subject of much scientific research, and it is also not clear when AM would be the preferable manufacturing technology for spare parts. This paper aims to assist managers and practitioners in determining how to design their spare parts SCs, thus defining both the spare parts SC configuration and the manufacturing technology to adopt through the development of a decision support system (DSS). The proposed DSS is a user-friendly decision tree, and, for the first time, it allows comparison of the total costs of SCs characterised by different degrees of centralisation with both AM and CM spare parts.

The cement industry is highly energy-intensive, consuming approximately 7% of global industrial energy consumption each year. Improving production technology is a good strategy to reduce the energy needs of a cement plant. The market offers a wide variety of alternative solutions; besides, the literature already provides reviews of opportunities to improve energy efficiency in a cement plant. However, the technology is constantly developing, so the available alternatives may change within a few years. To keep the knowledge updated, investigating the current attractiveness of each solution is pivotal to analyze real companies. This article aims at describing the recent application in the Italian cement industry and the future perspectives of technologies. A sample of plant was investigated through the analysis of mandatory energy audit considering the type of interventions they have recently implemented, or they intend to implement. The outcome is a descriptive analysis, useful for companies willing to improve their sustainability. Results prove that solutions to reduce the energy consumption of auxiliary systems such as compressors, engines, and pumps are currently the most attractive opportunities. Moreover, the results prove that consulting sector experts enables the collection of updated ideas for improving technologies, thus giving valuable inputs to the scientific research.

Logistics is a vital activity for the economic growth of an organization as it manages the flow of materials and information within, into, and out of the organization, as well as reverse flow. Like many other industrial processes, logistics has also been impacted by the rise of Industry 4.0 technologies, which has highlighted the significance of Logistics 4.0. However, Logistics 4.0 is mainly focused on economic benefits, while overlooking environmental and social concerns. To address this, a method is proposed that takes into account the three goals of sustainable development when selecting the best technology for internal material handling activities. Firstly, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to examine the application of 4.0 technologies in logistics processes and their impact on economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Secondly, based on the findings of the review, a three-level analytic hierarchy process was proposed to identify the optimal 4.0 technology for internal logistics. To demonstrate the practicality of the proposed method, it was tested on three companies. The results showed that additive manufacturing, exoskeletons, and collaborative robots are the most suitable options for achieving sustainable development goals within Logistics 4.0.

The layout re-arrangement of fashion production lines realizing many small batches is rarely deployed according to well-known engineering procedures. In fact, it would often appear too complex to call a plant engineer for the proper layout design of such small production lines. Rather, it is preferred to apply empirical methodologies when considering, generally, factory know-how, general business needs, safety requirements, and so on. In the present work, the results of a fashion manufacturing line re-layout were compared by analysing the current situation with the solutions provided by a “homemade” company design, both through a systematic layout planning approach and a broader lean reengineering activity. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of each solution, the different alternatives were compared with the help of a discrete event simulator, analysing productivity, transportation times and costs. The result of the case study showed a slight advantage with the lean approach in considering such efficiency indicators. In addition, the lean production methods allowed the designers to identify some inefficiencies that other approaches could not see, since the latter did not focus on production in a holistic way.