Abstract
This paper presents an integer linear programming (ILP) model to minimise the total energy-cost of a flake ice production unit in food retail stores. This work is based on a real problem in a Portuguese food retail company, where flake ice in necessary throughout the day in order to maintain fresh fish on the shelves at ideal temperature conditions and humidity levels. The proposed approach aims to provide an energy-efficient scheduling of the production to periods with a lower energy cost, as well as to reduce water consumption, by producing the exact quantities required at the right time, minimising waste. The model was tested on a set of real-world instances from the retail company, and on a set of randomly generated instances. The procedure used to create these instances is presented in the paper. For the sets of tested instances, the results show that the model is strong when compared to the lower bounds provided by the linear programming relaxation of the model. The results from the set of real instances show that it is possible to achieve an energy-efficient scheduling of the production which translates in an average annual cost savings of 34.3% for the stores.

Abstract
Purpose - The design of retail backroom storage areas has great impact on in-store operations, customer service level and on store life-cycle costs. Moreover, backroom storage in modern retail grocery stores is critical to several functions, such as acting as a buffer against strong demand lifts yielded by an ever-increasing promotional activity, stocking seasonal peak demand and accommodating e-commerce activities. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to design retail backroom storage area. Furthermore, the authors aim to draw attention to the lack of literature on this topic, while clarifying the relationship between this promising research stream and the considerable body of research regarding the design and operations of conventional warehouses, as well as retail in-store operations. Design/methodology/approach - The key literature on backrooms, grocery retail, in-store operations, warehouse design and operations was reviewed. This allowed an understanding of the gap in the literature regarding the design of backrooms. Moreover, a case study methodological approach was conducted in a Portuguese retailer to extend the literature review. Findings - Despite having functions similar to conventional warehouses, backroom storage facilities have particularities that deserve a distinct analysis. Thus, the authors stress these differences and demonstrate how they influence the development of a novel backroom design framework. Originality/value - This paper fills a gap by proposing a framework to design backroom areas. Furthermore, this research may help practitioners to better design backroom areas, since this process currently lacks a formal and standardized procedure.

Abstract
This research proposes new approaches to deal with the production planning and scheduling problem in brewery facilities. Two real situations found in factories are addressed, which differ by considering (or not) the setup operations in tanks that provide liquid for bottling lines. Depending on the technology involved in the production process, the number of tank swaps is relevant (Case A) or it can be neglected (Case B). For both scenarios, new MIP (Mixed Integer Programming) formulations and heuristic solution methods based on these formulations are proposed. In order to evaluate the approach for Case A, we compare the results of a previous study with the results obtained in this paper. For the solution methods and the result analysis of Case B, we propose adaptations of Case A approaches yielding an alternative MIP formulation to represent it. Therefore, the main contributions of this article are twofold: (i) to propose alternative MIP models and solution methods for the problem in Case A, providing better results than previously reported, and (ii) to propose new MIP models and solution methods for Case B, analyzing and comparing the results and benefits for Case B considering the technology investment required.

Abstract
The Douro Valley of Portugal is a well-known wine region producing Port wine since the end of the 18th century, with quality table wines becoming increasingly important over the last 20 years. Port wine production is the most important economic sector of the region and Vintage Port is the top quality Port wine type, produced only from the best vintages. The purpose of this research was to examine how the variability of annual weather influences the quality of Vintage Port. A weather and climate data set for the period 1980-2009 and a consensus ranking that combined a collection of vintage chart scores into a ranking were used to characterize both the weather and the vintage quality. In order to more precisely model the weather influences on the quality of the vintages it was necessary to partition the growing season into smaller growth intervals in which several heat and precipitation variables were evaluated. The heat-related variables were defined according to the phenology of grapevines, using a partition of the growing season based on accumulated temperature, rather than on calendar dates. Precipitation variables were calculated using broad periods corresponding to the dormant, vegetative and maturation stages of the grapevines. A logistic regression model was used as a tool to identify the weather variables that help to explain the relationships between yearly weather characteristics and vintage quality. The results show that several weather characteristics are strongly associated with better quality vintages: growing season mean temperatures above the region's average, warm winters, cool July through veraison and cool temperatures during ripening. In summary, although the weather is not solely responsible for determining a vintage quality, it plays an important role on it; therefore, its understanding can provide invaluable management insights to growers and producers.

Abstract
The proliferation of new technologies is revolutionizing the public transport sector, allowing Operators to replace complex and expensive infrastructures by travellers' mobile devices and online management channels and platforms. This paper aims to present the Seamless Mobility platform, a disruptive solution based on these new channels, which main goal is to facilitate and promote public transport usage for travellers, as well as reducing operational costs for public transport companies. The Seamless Mobility platform integrates three main components: (i) mobile payments, (ii) route planner, and (iii) social network. The payment component is based on the pay-as-you-go concept with check-in and check-out requiring the reading of the corresponding QR Code station. The route planner combines information from published schedules with real-time information to identify the nearest stops, the next departures, or the best route for a scheduled trip. The social network component allows real time sharing among travellers of public transport information, related to several aspects of the service (e.g. noise, skilfulness of drivers). To test the concept, a mobile application, called OneRide, was developed. This application was tested by users in real environment, in the city of Porto, Portugal. The results show that users considered the system extremely useful, since it is more convenient than traditional systems. It was also clear that users valued the integration of additional and complementary services with mobile payments, such as information about their journey, maps and schedules. Regarding the social component some users found it difficult to understand the concept, but once they understood they considered it very useful. The use of the QR Codes to perform the payment has shown to be one of the main challenges to be addressed, since lighting conditions, position and distance to the QR Code influences the reading process. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract
Nowadays, mobile phones are ubiquitous systems of our society. Nevertheless, the adoption of this technology to perform mobile payments, namely in public transport, was only implemented in a few number of transport networks. Thus, this paper aims to understand which are the main factors that may influence the adoption of mobile payments in public transport. For this purpose, a survey was applied to different groups of population. The study was conducted on the public transport networks of a medium-sized metropolitan area (Oporto-Portugal) and of a big-sized metropolitan area (Beijing-China). The evaluation results of the current services of purchase and validation of public transport tickets almost never show significant statistical differences (p>0.05) for the traditional variables used by the literature. This is particularly true for age. Nevertheless, some mobility factors can sometimes play an important role in the assessment of ticketing systems. Moreover, although the high differences between the ticketing systems in both cities, Chinese and Portuguese have a similar opinion about the systems implemented in their cities. Still, Chinese reveal a higher motivation to adopt the new ticketing system. In general, such system is greatly accepted by the respondents and the potential market is expected to be high (30-68%). Although this technology cannot replace the traditional systems, it can contribute to increasing the overall efficiency of the transport networks. The improvement of the passengers' appraisal, the reduction of operational and the maintenance costs of transport operators are the network impacts most expected. Convenience and time saving are the main advantages mentioned while questions about privacy, interaction and reliability are stated as the main concerns to adopt it. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.