The first edition of the international Food Operations & Processing Simulation Workshop (FoodOPS2015) was held in Bergeggi, Italy, from September 21 to 23. The workshop was intended to extend a track managed in previous years (“Modelling and Simulation of Food Processing and Operations”) for the International Multidisciplinary Modelling & Simulation Multiconference (I3M) conference. The aim of the FoodOPS initiative was to promote the particular nature of the food sector, giving the possibility to present results and critical issues concerning processes design and operations management in food industry, using modelling and simulation as the methodological approach. Specific topics covered included:(i) Modelling and Simulation of food properties; (ii) Modelling and Simulation of food processing and (iii) Simulation of Food Supply Chain. . Food processing simulation grounds on the development of mathematical models to determine relationships between inputs and outputs of a given process, with the ultimate objective to gain insights for process improvements using the predictive capabilities of the models developed (Bakalis, Knoerzer and Fryer, 2015) ;). With the same aim, simulation models are used also for the analysis of food supply chains or food plants (Van der Vorst, Trompb, & van der Zeec, 2009). Food supply chains are becoming increasingly complex and their analysis includes issues from farm to fork, taking into consideration demand management, safety issues and sustainability of food sources for a growing population (Dani, 2015). This special issue collects the best papers presented at the first FoodOPS workshop during the 12th I3M conference, thus trying to propose the highest-quality contributions related to modelling and simulation in the food area. Overall, the first edition of the workshop received approx. 20 papers. Among them, 6 papers were accepted, after peer review, for publication in the special issue. The papers included in this special issue cover both food supply chain topics and food processing ones, all dealt with by simulation and modelling approaches. Among the papers dealing with food supply chain, the first paper, by Mosna et al., investigated a sustainability issue of the food supply chain. In particular, the authors evaluate, through the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, the suitability of flour food products wasted during the distribution phase of a food supply chain to be used as raw material for the production of animal feed. This is expected to avoid landfilling of food waste, which is nowadays the most adopted end of life option for flour food products. Their results show that the new scenarios lead to environmental benefits for all the considered impact categories. In the second paper, Laganà et al. analysed a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) coordination mechanism for the food supply chain. Their analysis is motivated by real issues arising in the food engineering field, relating to the timing and level of customer’s replenishment. Their VMI strategy is applied to a logistic system in the supermarket supply chain. The system includes a distribution centre and several retail outlets. An effective heuristic method for tackling the inventory-routing problem related to the coordination mechanism is discussed and numerical results are presented. Looking at the papers dealing with process modelling, Kotzur et al. studied the pneumatic conveying of food products. In particular, they developed a model to predict the breakage behaviour of particulate materials, considering two different particulate materials (salt and golden breadcrumbs) across a range of particle sizes, and evaluated the effect of different factors on the particle attrition. In the fourth paper, Armenzoni et al. developed a simulation model aimed at reproducing and optimizing the milking process of a cowshed, located near Parma (Italy), which provides milk to some dairy companies, for the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. The ultimate goal of the analysis was to reduce the time required for milking operations, thus optimizing the whole management of the farm processes. The model developed makes use of real data collected from the direct observation of the farm and is validated by comparing the results provided with the real performance of the milking activities. Two alternative configurations of the farm layout were also analysed and evaluated through simulation. The fifth paper, by Rinaldi et al., investigated two different geometries of spargers for beverage carbonation. The geometries were modelled by means of CFD technique, taking into consideration three different flow rates. The first geometry presented a radial inlet of liquid food while the second one a tangential one. Calculation allowed to study the effect of fluid velocities on mixing and to identify the best solution. CFD simulation is used also in the last paper, by Spanu et al., who analysed the gas flow in a packaging machine used to fill polymeric capsules with coffee. The final goal of the analysis was to optimize the geometry of some mechanical components in the machine’s sealing station, to reduce the inert gas consumption achieving an O2 residual less than 1% by mass at the centre of the capsule. Thanks to the variety of topics addressed (i.e. process modelling, plant simulation and supply chain modelling), this special issue aims at providing the scientific community with valuable information and knowledge in the food area, with a particular focus on the use of modelling and simulation for decision support in that field. Obviously, the value-added of a special issue is only as good as the contributions of the manuscripts it receives, and the quality of the feedback provided by its reviewers. We are therefore very grateful to all the authors, who supported this special issue through their contributions, and we are indebted to the reviewers, who helped us in managing the papers received in a timely manner and provided useful and professional reports about the papers. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to the Editor in Chief of International Journal of Food Engineering, which gave us the possibility of organizing the special issue and helped us in its successful completion.

Special Issue "selected Papers from the First International Food Operations & Processing Simulation Workshop - FoodOPS 2015 (September 21-23, 2015, Bergeggi, Italy)" / Bottani, Eleonora; F., Longo; R., Mercadé Prieto; Vignali, Giuseppe. - 12(9):(2016), pp. 805-806.

Special Issue "selected Papers from the First International Food Operations & Processing Simulation Workshop - FoodOPS 2015 (September 21-23, 2015, Bergeggi, Italy)"

BOTTANI, Eleonora;VIGNALI, Giuseppe
2016-01-01

Abstract

The first edition of the international Food Operations & Processing Simulation Workshop (FoodOPS2015) was held in Bergeggi, Italy, from September 21 to 23. The workshop was intended to extend a track managed in previous years (“Modelling and Simulation of Food Processing and Operations”) for the International Multidisciplinary Modelling & Simulation Multiconference (I3M) conference. The aim of the FoodOPS initiative was to promote the particular nature of the food sector, giving the possibility to present results and critical issues concerning processes design and operations management in food industry, using modelling and simulation as the methodological approach. Specific topics covered included:(i) Modelling and Simulation of food properties; (ii) Modelling and Simulation of food processing and (iii) Simulation of Food Supply Chain. . Food processing simulation grounds on the development of mathematical models to determine relationships between inputs and outputs of a given process, with the ultimate objective to gain insights for process improvements using the predictive capabilities of the models developed (Bakalis, Knoerzer and Fryer, 2015) ;). With the same aim, simulation models are used also for the analysis of food supply chains or food plants (Van der Vorst, Trompb, & van der Zeec, 2009). Food supply chains are becoming increasingly complex and their analysis includes issues from farm to fork, taking into consideration demand management, safety issues and sustainability of food sources for a growing population (Dani, 2015). This special issue collects the best papers presented at the first FoodOPS workshop during the 12th I3M conference, thus trying to propose the highest-quality contributions related to modelling and simulation in the food area. Overall, the first edition of the workshop received approx. 20 papers. Among them, 6 papers were accepted, after peer review, for publication in the special issue. The papers included in this special issue cover both food supply chain topics and food processing ones, all dealt with by simulation and modelling approaches. Among the papers dealing with food supply chain, the first paper, by Mosna et al., investigated a sustainability issue of the food supply chain. In particular, the authors evaluate, through the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, the suitability of flour food products wasted during the distribution phase of a food supply chain to be used as raw material for the production of animal feed. This is expected to avoid landfilling of food waste, which is nowadays the most adopted end of life option for flour food products. Their results show that the new scenarios lead to environmental benefits for all the considered impact categories. In the second paper, Laganà et al. analysed a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) coordination mechanism for the food supply chain. Their analysis is motivated by real issues arising in the food engineering field, relating to the timing and level of customer’s replenishment. Their VMI strategy is applied to a logistic system in the supermarket supply chain. The system includes a distribution centre and several retail outlets. An effective heuristic method for tackling the inventory-routing problem related to the coordination mechanism is discussed and numerical results are presented. Looking at the papers dealing with process modelling, Kotzur et al. studied the pneumatic conveying of food products. In particular, they developed a model to predict the breakage behaviour of particulate materials, considering two different particulate materials (salt and golden breadcrumbs) across a range of particle sizes, and evaluated the effect of different factors on the particle attrition. In the fourth paper, Armenzoni et al. developed a simulation model aimed at reproducing and optimizing the milking process of a cowshed, located near Parma (Italy), which provides milk to some dairy companies, for the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. The ultimate goal of the analysis was to reduce the time required for milking operations, thus optimizing the whole management of the farm processes. The model developed makes use of real data collected from the direct observation of the farm and is validated by comparing the results provided with the real performance of the milking activities. Two alternative configurations of the farm layout were also analysed and evaluated through simulation. The fifth paper, by Rinaldi et al., investigated two different geometries of spargers for beverage carbonation. The geometries were modelled by means of CFD technique, taking into consideration three different flow rates. The first geometry presented a radial inlet of liquid food while the second one a tangential one. Calculation allowed to study the effect of fluid velocities on mixing and to identify the best solution. CFD simulation is used also in the last paper, by Spanu et al., who analysed the gas flow in a packaging machine used to fill polymeric capsules with coffee. The final goal of the analysis was to optimize the geometry of some mechanical components in the machine’s sealing station, to reduce the inert gas consumption achieving an O2 residual less than 1% by mass at the centre of the capsule. Thanks to the variety of topics addressed (i.e. process modelling, plant simulation and supply chain modelling), this special issue aims at providing the scientific community with valuable information and knowledge in the food area, with a particular focus on the use of modelling and simulation for decision support in that field. Obviously, the value-added of a special issue is only as good as the contributions of the manuscripts it receives, and the quality of the feedback provided by its reviewers. We are therefore very grateful to all the authors, who supported this special issue through their contributions, and we are indebted to the reviewers, who helped us in managing the papers received in a timely manner and provided useful and professional reports about the papers. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to the Editor in Chief of International Journal of Food Engineering, which gave us the possibility of organizing the special issue and helped us in its successful completion.
2016
Special Issue "selected Papers from the First International Food Operations & Processing Simulation Workshop - FoodOPS 2015 (September 21-23, 2015, Bergeggi, Italy)" / Bottani, Eleonora; F., Longo; R., Mercadé Prieto; Vignali, Giuseppe. - 12(9):(2016), pp. 805-806.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2825609
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