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This paper aims to provide a method and decision support tool to enhance swift reconfiguration of Plug&Produce (P&P) systems in the presence of continuously changing production orders.

The paper reviews different production scenarios and system design and configuration methods and more particularly specifies the need of decision support tools for P&P systems that integrate configuration and planning activities. This problem is then addressed by proposing a method that helps reduce the solution space of the reconfiguration problem and allows the timely selection of the most promising reconfiguration alternative.

The proposed method was found to be helpful in reducing the reconfiguration alternatives that need to be considered and in selecting the most promising one for different orders. The advantages and limitations of this method are identified, and an illustrative test case of the approach is presented, corroborating the method applicability in the absence of large queues in the system.

This paper addresses a less explored domain within the P&P systems research field, which is the system reconfiguration. It proposed a method to support system validation and reconfiguration jointly with an illustrative test case. This represents an original contribution to the P&P research field, and it can have impact in improving agility and decreasing the complexity of reconfiguration activities to cope with constantly changing production orders.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the determinants of the main phases of the innovation process in Portuguese manufacturing firms. The analysis will adopt as its main frame of reference an interactive model of the innovation process, on which empirical tests will be carried out, making use of tobit and probit models and simultaneous equation systems. It is broadly concluded that the relationships shown between the main variables that are typical of the innovation process in the context of Portuguese manufacturing firms are tenuous and unsystematic.

This roadmap is primarily concerned with the adaptive assembly technology situation in Europe, a topic of particular interest as assembly is often the final process within manufacturing operations. Being the final set of operations on the product, and being traditionally labour‐intensive, assembly has been considerably affected by globalisation. Therefore, unlike most technology roadmaps, this report will not focus solely on particular technologies, but will strive to form a broader perspective on the conditions that may come to influence the opportunities, including political aspects and scientific paradigms. The purpose of this paper is to convey a complete view of the global mechanisms that may come to affect technological breakthroughs, and also present strategies that may better prepare for such a forecast.

The paper describes a technological roadmap.

This paper provides a complete overview of all aspects that may come to affect assembly in Europe within the next 20 years.

The paper gives an original Evolvable Ultra Precision Assembly Systems FP6 project result which will be of general interest for strategic R&D.

Current major roadmapping efforts have all clearly underlined that true industrial sustainability will require far higher levels of systems' autonomy and adaptability. In accordance with these recommendations, the Evolvable Assembly Systems (EAS) has aimed at developing such technological solutions and support mechanisms. Since its inception in 2002 as a next generation of production systems, the concept is being further developed and tested to emerge as a production system paradigm. The essence of evolvability resides not only in the ability of system components to adapt to the changing conditions of operation, but also to assist in the evolution of these components in time. Characteristically, Evolvable systems have distributed control, and are composed of intelligent modules with embedded control. To assist the development and life cycle, a methodological framework is being developed. After validating the process‐oriented approach (EC FP6 EUPASS project), EAS now tackles its current major challenge (FP7 IDEAS project) in proving that factory responsiveness can be improved using lighter multi‐agent technology running on EAS modules (modules with embedded control). The purpose of this paper is to detail the particular developments within the IDEAS project, which include the first self re‐configuring system demonstration and a new mechatronic architecture.

The paper covers the development of a plug & produce system for FESTO AG. The work covers the background methodology and details its constituents: control system, architecture, design methodology, and modularity. Specific detail is reserved for the configuration approach which integrates several tools, and the commercially available control boards. The latter have been specifically developed for distributed control applications.

The paper details probably the first self‐configuring assembly system at shop‐floor level. This is one of the very first industrial plug & produce systems, in which equipment may be added/removed with no programming effort at all.

The paper reports the findings and development carried out within the framework of a single project. It also clarifies that the solution is not a general panacea for all the issues within assembly.

The implications are quite large as the work proves the validity of an approach that could change our way of designing and building assembly systems. In the words of an industrial partner, this is “a new way of engineering assembly systems”.

Should this approach be used in industry then the implications could be huge. It would, for example, mean that new services are created, whereby assembly system modules are leased to users through a network of depots, rather than bought at a high cost. The system modules also have a far longer lifespan, implying very good ecological solutions.

The highly original paper describes what is probably one of the very first projects to show that distributed control at shop‐floor level is viable and technologically feasible.

Climate-related disasters are the most representative in terms of recurrence and impacts. To reduce them, risk transfer is a key strategy for climate risk management. However, this approach does not consider the socioeconomic vulnerability of each population group, limiting its effectiveness. The objective of this paper is to improve and increase the usefulness of risk transfer through the Differential Risk Transfer (DRT) approach.

A comprehensive and systematic review of the state of the art on Differential Approach (DA) is presented, and its connection with existing models of vulnerability to disasters is analysed. Through epistemic deliberations, an operational definition of Differential Risk Transfer (DRT), as well as its advantages are discussed. Finally, general guidelines are presented for the implementation of the DRT in a specific context.

The results confirm that DA presents a clear relation with the models for the study of disaster vulnerability. The small group discussions agree with the usefulness of DRT for improving climate-related risk management.

This paper argues for the inclusion of the DRT approach in the climate risk management strategies aiming to fill the disaggregated data gaps that limit the potentiality and accuracy of risk transfer schemes worldwide.

This innovative approach improves the accuracy of the risk transfer mechanisms through the recognition of the differences of ethnicity, gender and life cycle that increase socioeconomic vulnerability to climate-related disasters.

At the global level, disaster risk finance (DRF) is playing an increasingly prominent role in the international agendas for climate change adaptation. However, before implementing such agendas, it is essential to understand the needs and limitations of DRF in the subnational context where they need to impact. This research aims to gain insights into the perspectives of community and governmental actors in Colombia regarding DRF. Its goal is to promote the specific design of collaborative educational and technical assistance processes that consider their interests in the subject and the cultural diversity of the territories.

To achieve this, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the findings were organized to highlight key aspects that help to understand DRF perspectives in the Colombian context.

It was found that the most significant limitations of implementing DRF include a lack of knowledge on the topic, corruption that encourages a reactive approach and the absence of economic resources. Concerns have emerged regarding the possibility of climate risk insurance becoming a profit-driven enterprise and the potential development of dependency behaviors within community groups, leading to maladaptation and moral hazard. Similarly, the implementation of DRF through foreign funds has raised concerns about the loss of territorial sovereignty and autonomy.

This is one of the first studies that carry out this kind of research and contributes to the formulation of inclusive public policies for DRF in different contexts worldwide.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how gamification can influence entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of a group of users of an online platform provided by a private company.

A quantitative research strategy was used with a sample of 220 respondents. These respondents were tested before and after the gamification experience.

Main findings support literature suggesting a clear effect of attitudes towards behaviour and perceived behavioural control on EI, in line with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Once the basic assumptions of TPB were confirmed, the authors tested the effects of gamification comparing before and after results. Main findings highlight an increase of these effects after the gamification experience, aligned with the self-determination theory.

These findings suggest that gamification is able to influence entrepreneurial behaviours. This contributes to both companies and educators’ knowledge on training for EI with gamification and the use of online platforms to this effect. Recommendations are provided.

This is the first study that investigates the impact of gamification on EI and how gamification can influence the different relationships between the antecedents of EI.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model that defines the essential components shaping the new Digital Supply Chains (DSCs) through the implementation and acceleration of Industry 4.0.

The scope of the present work exposes a conceptual approach and review of the key literature from 1989 to 2019, concerning the evolution and transformation of the actors and constructs in logistics and Supply Chain Management (SCM) by means of examining different conceptual models and a state-of-the-art review of Industry 4.0’s concepts and elements, with a focus on digitization in supply chain (SC) processes. A detailed study of the constructs and components of SCM, as defined by their authors, resulted in the development of a referential and systematic model that fuses the inherent concepts and roles of SCM, with the new technological trends directed toward digitization, automation, and the increasing use of information and communication technologies across logistics global value chains.

Having achieved an exploration of the different conceptual frameworks, there is no compelling evidence of the existence of a conceptual SCM that incorporates the basic theoretical constructs and the new roles and elements of Industry 4.0. Therefore, the main components of Industry 4.0 and their impact on DSC Management are described, driving the proposal for a new conceptual model which addresses and accelerates a vision of the future of the interconnectivity between different DSCs, grouped in clusters in order to add value, through new forms of cooperation and digital integration.

This research explores the gap in the current SCM models leading into Industry 4.0. The proposed model provides a novel and comprehensive overview of the new concepts and components driving the nascent and current DSCs. This conceptual framework will further aid researchers in the exploration of knowledge regarding the variables and components presented, as well as the verification of the newly revealed roles and constructs to understand the new forms of cooperation and implementation of Industry 4.0 in digitalized SCs.