Academic Profile
Full Professor in Academic Discipline IIND-05/A, Industrial Mechanical Plants, with research and teaching activities in the design, management and optimisation of production and logistics systems. His research combines quantitative models, simulation and digital technologies to address intralogistics, automated warehousing, food supply chains, packaging, environmental sustainability, reliability and maintenance. He is Director of the Food Supply Chain Center and the Warehousing Center at the University of Bologna, a Faculty member of Bologna Business School (BBS), and Coordinator of the University of Bologna degree programmes in Engineering Management.
Research Performance Metrics
- Scopus (source: scopus.com, August 2026): 184 publications; 5,408 citations; h-index: 41.
- Google Scholar (August 2026): i10-index: 112; 9,220 citations; h-index: 52.
Main Research Areas
- Intralogistics, warehousing, material handling, robotics and automation. Design and configuration of warehouses, order-picking systems, AS/RS and AVS/RS, storage assignment, throughput, space efficiency and robotic automation.
- Food supply chain and cold chain. Design and resilience of agri-food networks, perishable-goods logistics, traceability, distribution and catering.
- Circular packaging and sustainability. Reusable packaging, reverse logistics, closed-loop networks, Life Cycle Assessment and decarbonisation of distribution networks.
- Digital twins, AI and Industry 5.0. Cyber-physical twins, data-driven simulation, machine learning for warehouse design, collaborative robots and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).
- Reliability, maintenance engineering and spare parts management. Preventive and predictive maintenance planning, system reliability, and spare-parts planning and control.
- Optimisation of industrial facilities and logistics networks. Facility location, network design, routing, cross-docking, layout and decision-support systems.
Current Position and Affiliations
- Since December 2018, Full Professor of Industrial Mechanical Plants, University of Bologna. Department of Industrial Engineering; current Academic Discipline IIND-05/A (formerly ING-IND/17). Teaching and research in industrial logistics and industrial plants.
- Coordinator of the first- and second-cycle degree programmes in Engineering Management, University of Bologna.
- Director of the Food Supply Chain Center, University of Bologna.
- Director of the Warehousing Center, University of Bologna.
- Faculty member, Bologna Business School
- Member of the Italian Association of Professors of Industrial Mechanical Plants (AIDI).
Laboratories and Research Centres
- Head of the Physical Simulation Laboratory for Packaging and Logistics, active since 2025. The laboratory houses an innovative cyber-physical twin for packaging, equipped with a climatic chamber positioned above a six-axis vibration platform derived from aerospace technology. The system reproduces the vibration, temperature and humidity stresses experienced by a product-package system throughout its life cycle. The laboratory also houses a robotic palletising and depalletising cell equipped with an industrial articulated robot and a vision system for experimental research on packaging, material-handling robotics and end-of-line operations.
- Director and member of the Food Supply Chain Center, University of Bologna. The centre addresses sustainability, logistics and operations in agri-food and perishable-product supply chains. Its permanent laboratory monitors and simulates physical and environmental stresses on packaging and product-package systems. Research covers wine, olive oil, fruit and vegetables, chocolate, packaging and automatic machinery, institutional catering and other supply chains. Website: https://site.unibo.it/foodsupplychain/en
- Director and member of the Warehousing Center, University of Bologna. The centre conducts research on material handling and storage for production systems, with particular emphasis on automation, packaging, intralogistics virtualisation, digital twins, robotics, AI and machine learning.
- Member of CIRI-MAM, the Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Research in Advanced Mechanics and Materials. The centre forms part of the Emilia-Romagna High Technology Network and Technopoles. Website: https://centri.unibo.it/ciri-mam/it
International Research Committees and Networks
- Member of the Food & Wine Supply Chain Council (FWSCC).
- Member and co-founder of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Interdisciplinary Observatory on Food Transport (OITA).
- Former University of Bologna delegate to the European Technology Platform ALICE, Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe. Website: https://www.etp-logistics.eu/
Academic Career
- Since 2018, Full Professor. Academic Discipline ING-IND/17, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna.
- 2010–2018, Associate Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna.
- 2001–2010, tenured University Researcher and subsequently Aggregate Professor (professore aggregato).
Other Academic, Scientific and Editorial Activities
- Founder, organiser and Chair of the International Workshop on Food Supply Chain, first held in 2011.
- Guest Editor of special issues for numerous international scientific journals.
- Author of scientific books published by international publishers; see the list of publications.
- Peer reviewer for international journals in production, logistics, reliability, operations research and industrial engineering.
- Member of the scientific committees of international conferences, including the International Conference on Industrial Logistics and the International Workshop on Food Supply Chain.
- Member of the Technical and Scientific Committee of the journals Logistica and Logistica & Management.
Institutional Roles in Research and Competitive Project Evaluation
- 2021–2026, member of the University Research Evaluation Committee (CVRA) and the University of Bologna Area 09 Panel.
- Member of the Departmental Research Committee.
- Departmental contact person for research assessment activities within the Italian Research Quality Assessment exercise (VQR, ANVUR).
- Until 2021, member of the University Quality Assurance Board for Research (PQA-RIC).
- Member of the Academic Board of the PhD Programme in Mechanics and Advanced Engineering Sciences (DIMSAI), University of Bologna.
- Until 2021, member of the University thematic group on Transport.
- Supervisor of DIMSAI doctoral candidates, research fellows, postdoctoral researchers and fixed-term researchers at the Department of Industrial Engineering.
- 2017–2020, member of the Evaluation Committee for FONDIMPRESA training plans submitted under Call 5/2017, which covered product and process technological innovation projects.
- Reviewer of scientific publications for leading international journals and publishers.
- Reviewer and evaluator of competitive research projects for the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR, formerly MIUR).
Teaching Activities
Lecturer for the following university courses:
- Industrial Logistics, University of Bologna, since 2008.
- Industrial Plants, University of Bologna, since 2003.
- Industrial Plant Safety, University of Bologna, academic year 2002/2003.
- Quality Management and Production System Safety, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 2002–2017.
- Engineering Economics and Management, Faculty of Industrial Chemistry, University of Bologna, 2002–2006.
Master’s and Professional Courses
- Teaching on university master’s programmes and executive programmes at Alma Graduate School, Bologna Business School, Cofimp and Efeso Bologna in logistics, safety and operations. These include the Executive Master in Supply Chain and Operations at BBS and the Executive Master in Circular Economy.
- Professional courses in industrial logistics and automation at Coesia-G.D, delivered as part of the University of Bologna’s professional education activities.
Competitive Research Projects as Participant or Coordinator
- R3PACK 2022–2026 Reduce, Reuse, Rethink PACKaging: novel fibre-based packaging and reuse schemes uptake. HORIZON-CL6-2021-CIRCBIO-01-03. Participant in the University of Bologna Research Unit; stated contribution: €233,325. The project aims to replace multilayer plastic food packaging with fibre-based solutions and to optimise reuse networks from economic, industrial and environmental perspectives. Website: https://r3pack.eu/
- FUTUREMED 2014–2015 Freight and passengers supporting infomobility systems for a sustainable improvement of the competitiveness of port-hinterland systems of the MED area. MED Programme 2007–2013. Head of the analysis, design and optimisation of logistics issues in the agri-food supply chain on behalf of the Institute for Transport and Logistics, a project partner. Activities included mapping food logistics flows in the Mediterranean and European countries.
- ARTUPIC 1998–2002 A Ready To Use Pizza Cheese: Process Optimisation, advanced technology and development of environmentally friendly procedure for the production of ready-to-use pizza-cheese. FP4 EC Programme FAIR, Cooperative Research No. FAIR-98-9557. Participant from 2001; the project involved Italian, Spanish and German partners.
National and Regional Competitive Projects as Participant or Coordinator
- ON FOOD 2022–2026 Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP, Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.3), the programme operated from 2022 to 2026 as a national initiative addressing food systems through an integrated approach. The partnership brought together 26 public and private organisations and involved more than 600 researchers working across seven thematic areas. Professor Manzini served as the University of Bologna lead for Spoke 2, Smart and circular food system and distribution, and as the national network lead for the work package Digital technologies and solutions for food waste management and reduction. Website: https://onfoods.it
- NEXTCAR Nutritional- and EXTernalities-driven food shopping CART. PRIN 2022 project funded by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR).
- T.R.A.Y.S. 2021 Tridimensional Robotic Assortment Yard System. Emilia-Romagna Regional project led by and awarded to E80 Group. The project studied and developed a mechatronic and software system for assembling and handling mixed pallets according to bin-packing, stability and product-flow optimisation criteria. The University of Bologna Unit was responsible for sustainability.
- INTRACE 2020–2022 Indoor Traceability: indoor traceability for the proactive management of logistics flows. Project carried out within the BI-REX Competence Center, focusing on indoor traceability and proactive control of logistics flows.
- ECOPACK LAB 2016–2018 Infrastructure Laboratory for Advanced Technologies for the Design of Sustainable Food Packaging. Emilia-Romagna POR-FESR 2014–2020 project.
- SO.FI.A from 2013 Sustainability of Food Supply Chains. National AGRIFOOD Technology Cluster, Project 4. Coordinator of the University of Bologna Unit for the project on recovering and reusing agri-food by-products and waste to produce high-value-added molecules, new foods and energy; reference: MIUR Directorial Decree No. 257 of 30 May 2012.
- GENERATOR Industria 2015, Energy Efficiency. Application EE01_00054, led by Prastel; historical contribution to the Department reported in the attached CVs: €182,000.
- Agritech LAB Advanced Technology Laboratory for Innovative Agricultural Machinery. Emilia-Romagna Regional project under Regional Executive Resolution No. 1631/2009; historical contribution to the Department reported: €202,000.
Commissioned Research, Consultancy and Third Mission
Principal investigator and coordinator of numerous commissioned research and consultancy projects between the Department of Industrial Engineering and companies including Caterpillar, E80 Group, IKEA, Alstom, CNH Industrial, Granarolo, Coesia Group and G.D, Acma, CPR System, One Express, CAMST, Bonfiglioli Group, FERCAM, Due Torri, Chimar, Allegrini Vini, Conad, Giorgio Gori - DHL Group, Arcese Trasporti and Packaging Imolese, among others.
- Organiser and moderator of the study day “Logistica, Innovazione e Sfide lungo la filiera agroalimentare” [Logistics, Innovation and Challenges along the Agri-food Supply Chain], held at FICO Eataly World on 10 June 2022 as part of the 6th International Conference on Food & Wine Supply Chain.
- Founder of the International Conference on Food & Wine Supply Chain, which held its sixth edition in 2022.
Editorial Activities
- Guest Editor, Sustainability in Food Supply Chain and Food Industry, Sustainability, 2017; special issue comprising 18 contributions.
- Guest Editor, Sustainable Food Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Operations and Technology, International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, 2012–2014.
- Guest Editor, Decision models for the design, optimization and management of warehousing and material handling systems, International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, 2013–2015.
- Editor and author, Warehousing in the Global Supply Chain: Advanced Models, Tools and Applications for Storage Systems, Springer, 436 pp., ISBN 978-1-4471-2273-9.
- Co-author, Maintenance for Industrial Systems, Springer London, 479 pp., ISBN 978-1-84882-574-1.
Awards and Distinctions
- Recognition as one of the Top 5 cited articles 2006–2010 from the Journal of Food Engineering for the paper on food product traceability, as reported in the University of Bologna CV.
- Top Researcher, Class A, under the University of Bologna Research Assessment, CUN Area 09: from 2015 to the present; previously ranked Class A by the OR/RFO Panel of the University Research Observatory from 2008 to 2014.
- Medal awarded by the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, for the Food Supply Chain and First International Workshop on Food Supply Chain 2011 initiatives (official designation to be verified).
Technology Transfer and Impact
Third-mission activities include projects with companies and public organisations in the agri-food, automotive, large-scale retail, ceramics, intralogistics and transport sectors, including robotics and automation. Applications include warehouse design and virtualisation, material-handling automation, digital twins, packaging, Life Cycle Assessment, maintenance, flow optimisation and decision-support systems.
