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PLA.NET

PLAnning supply NETworks

Research

Our presence in Research

We aim to expand knowledge in supply chain design, planning, and management to support the transition to more sustainable and digitally integrated networks, addressing current and future global societal challenges through research that develops solutions and strategies to improve supply chain operations and outcomes.

Research Directions

Supply Chain Design & Planning

  • Supply chain strategy and design
  • Supply chain planning
  • Global supply chain management
  • Supply chain innovation
  • Supply network relationships
  • Supply chain management, new product development and marketing interface

Sustainable and Circular Supply Chains

  • Sustainable and circular transition in supply chains
  • Supply chain impact on human and society
  • Business model innovation for sustainable supply chains
  • Supply chain servitisation
  • Manufacturing-as-a-service
  • Infrastructural system transition

Supply Chains and Emerging Technologies

  • Emerging technologies in supply chains
  • Supply chain technology adoption
  • Data-driven and digital business models
  • Industry 4.0, RFId and extended enterprise
  • AI ethics

Performance & Quality Management

  • (Sustainable) performance measurement and management
  • Process modeling and improvement
  • Quality management
  • Japanese techniques & six sigma

Featured Publications

2026
Xu, J., Karaosman H., and Xiao, L. (2026). Hearing the unheard: theorising the moral fabric against labour precarity”. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-09-2025-0940
Masi, A., Pero, M., and Abdelkafi, N. (2026). Supply chain antecedents and consequences of servitization: a systematic literature review. Production Planning & Control. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2024.2437042
Ciccullo F, Catellani E and Pero M (2026). A sustainable performance measurement-based methodology for choosing food waste reduction and valorization options, Benchmarking: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-07-2024-0625
Fani, V., Ciccullo, F., Bandinelli, R. and Pero M (2025). Cultivating trust: An empirical exploration of blockchain’s adoption within the Italian wine supply chain. Electron Markets. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-025-00782-y
Bianchi, F., de Leo, G., Pero, M., Rossi M., and Miragliotta G. (2026) Hydrogen mobility: activating the transition towards the future. Journal of Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-025-01245-8
2025
Karaosman, H., Marshall, D., and Ward, I. (2025). For the many not the few: introducing just transition for supply chain management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-07-2023-0587
Patrucco AS, Selviaridis K, Ciccullo F. (2025), Supply Chain Integration for Collaborative Innovation Projects: Unraveling the Role of Project Complexity and Project Management Methods, Journal of Business Logistics. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbl.70031
Burini, B., Xu, J., Pero, M., and Sandberg, E., (2025). Reverse supply chain configurations in the fashion and textile industry, Sustainable Production and Consumption, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2025.04.016
Scheiwiller, EMG., Karaosman H., Marshall D (2025)., Vague concepts and issue washing: women’s empowerment in fashion supply chains. International Journal of Procurement Management. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPM.2024.139688
León-Bravo, V., Borrello, B., Ciccullo, F. and Caniato, F. (2025), Unpacking Proximity for Sustainability in Short Food Supply Chains. Business Strategy and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.4079
2024
Luzzini, D., Longoni, A., Difrancesco, R. M., & Savaget, P. (2024). Driving systemic change research within the PSM community. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pursup.2024.100923
2023
Karaosman, H. and Marshall, D. (2023). Impact pathways: just transition in fashion operations and supply chain management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-05-2022-0348
Karaosman, H., Marshall, D., and Villena, V. H. (2023). Chrysalis of crisis: Covid-19 as a catalyst for awakening power and justice in a luxury fashion supply chain. International Journal of Operations & Production Management.. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPM-05-2022-0320
Masi, A., Pero, M., and Abdelkafi, N. (2023). Supply chain antecedents of servitization: A study in ETO machinery companies. International Journal of Production Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2023.108808
Xu, J., Pero, M., Fabbri, M. (2023). Unfolding the link between big data analytics and supply chain planning. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 196, 122805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122805
Xu, J. and Pero, M. (2023). A resource orchestration perspective of organizational big data analytics adoption: evidence from supply chain planning. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management.. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-04-2022-0118
Tedaldi, G. and Miragliotta, G. (2023). Early adopters of Manufacturing-as-a-Service (MaaS): state-of-the-art and deployment models. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-01-2022-0052
Amico, C. Cigolini, R., Brambilla, M. (2023). Transitioning the apparel supply chain to circular economy: a quantitative approach. Production Planning & Control. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2023.2294301
Ziegler, D. and Abdelkafi, N. (2023). Exploring the automotive transition: A technological and business model perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138562
Abdelkafi, N., Xu, J., Pero, M., Ciccullo F., and Masi, A. (2023). Does the combination of sustainable business model patterns lead to truly sustainable business models? Critical analysis of existing frameworks and extensions. Journal of Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-023-01140-0
Franceschetto, S., Amico, C., Brambilla, M., Cigolini, R. (2023). Improving Supply Chain in the Automotive Industry With the Right Bill of Material Configuration. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 51(1), 214–237. doi: 10.1109/EMR.2023.3241761
2022
Cigolini, R., Franceschetto, S. and Sianesi, A. (2022). Shop floor control in the VLSI circuit manufacturing: a simulation approach and a case study. International Journal of Production Research, 60(18), 5450–5467. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2021.1959954
Tedaldi, G. and Miragliotta, G. (2022). The role of Engineering-to-Order machinery manufacturers in future Cloud Manufacturing supply chains: a business case and a strategic perspective. Production Planning and Control.. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2020.1837942
Cannas, V. G., Masi, A., Pero, M., and Brunø, T. D. (2022). Implementing configurators to enable mass customization in the Engineer-to-Order industry: a multiple case study research. Production planning & control. https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2020.1837941
Gastaldi, L., Lessanibahri, S., Tedaldi, G. and Miragliotta, G. (2022). Companies’ adoption of Smart Technologies to achieve structural ambidexterity: an analysis with SEM. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121187
Abdelkafi, N., Pero, M., Masi, A., & Capurso, I. (2022). Revisiting the servitization-sustainability link: a case study in the professional printing supply chain. Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clscn.2022.100061
2021
Xu, J., Pero, M., Ciccullo, F. and Sianesi, A. (2021). On relating big data analytics to supply chain planning: towards a research agenda, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-04-2020-0129
Ciccullo, F., Cagliano, R., Bartezzaghi, G., and Perego, A. (2021). Implementing the circular economy paradigm in the agri-food supply chain: The role of food waste prevention technologies. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105114
Past publication (- 2020)
Ciccullo, F., Pero, M., Caridi, M., Gosling, J., & Purvis, L. (2018). Integrating the environmental and social sustainability pillars into the lean and agile supply chain management paradigms: A literature review and future research directions. Journal of cleaner production, 172, 2336-2350.
Abdelkafi, N., and Pero, M. (2018). Supply chain innovation-driven business models: Exploratory analysis and implications for management. Business Process Management Journal, 24(2), 589-608.
Shrouf, F., and Miragliotta, G. (2015). Energy management based on Internet of Things: practices and framework for adoption in production management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 100, 235-246.
Miragliotta, G. (2006). Layers and mechanisms: A new taxonomy for the bullwhip effect. International Journal of production economics, 104(2), 365-381.
Cigolini, R., Cozzi, M., Perona, M. (2004). A new framework for supply chain strategies: conceptual models and empirical test”, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 24(1), 7-41.
Perona, M., and Miragliotta, G. (2004). Complexity management and supply chain performance assessment. A field study and a conceptual framework. International journal of production economics, 90(1), 103-115.
Caridi, M, and Sianesi, A. (2000). Multi-Agent Systems in Production Planning and Control: An Application to the Scheduling of Mixed-Model Assembly Lines. Internatioonal Journal of Production Economics, 68, 29-42.
Brandolese, A. and Cigolini, R. (1999) “A new model for the strategic management of inventories subject to peaks in market demand”, International Journal of Production Research, 37(8), 1859-1880.
Arosio, M. and Sianesi, A. (1993). A heuristic algorithm for master production schedule generation with finite capacity and sequence dependent setup. International Journal of Production Research, 31 (3).
Book / Book chapter
Sianesi, A. (2021). Production Systems Management: Planning, scheduling, control, measurement and improvement. Mondadori Universita: Milano, Italy.
Cigolini R. and Franceschetto S. (2021). Case studies in Supply Chain Management. Mondadori Università.
Abdelkafi, N., Beckers, R., Bolla, R., Rodriguez-Ascaso, A., Wetterwald, M. (2021). In Understanding ICT Standardization: Principles and Practice, Sophia Antipolis: ETSI 2021, 2nd Edition.