A Systematic Literature Review of the Solar Photovoltaic Value Chain for a Circular Economy

As the solar photovoltaic market booms, so will the volume of photovoltaic (PV) systems entering the waste stream. The same is forecast for lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles, which at the end of their automotive life can be given a second life by serving as stationary energy storage units for renewable energy sources, including solar PV. The main objective of this paper is to systematically review the “state-of-the-art” research on the solar PV value chain (i.e., from product design to product end-of-life), including its main stages, processes, and stakeholder relationships, in order to identify areas along the value chain where circular strategies could be implemented, thereby advancing the transition of the PV industry towards circularity. To achieve this goal, we conducted a systematic literature review of 148 peer-reviewed articles, published in English between 2000 and 2020. Results show the PV value chain has been studied from a forward flow supply chain perspective and mostly from a technological point of view, with little regard for circular design, circular business models, and PV reuse. This article thus takes an integrated value chain perspective, introduces some of the barriers to circularity that industry players face, and argues that these barriers represent future opportunities for incumbent and new entrants to innovate within a circular PV industry

Optimisation of Product Recovery Options in End-of-Life Product Disassembly by Robots

In a circular economy, strategies for product recovery, such as reuse, recycling, and remanufacturing, play an important role at the end of a product’s life. A sustainability model was developed to solve the problem of sequence-dependent robotic disassembly line balancing. This research aimed to assess the viability of the model, which was optimised using the Multi-Objective Bees Algorithm in a robotic disassembly setting. Two industrial gear pumps were used as case studies. Four objectives (maximising profit, energy savings, emissions reductions and minimising line imbalance) were set. Several product recovery scenarios were developed to find the best recovery plans for each component. An efficient metaheuristic, the Bees Algorithm, was used to find the best solution. The robotic disassembly plans were generated and assigned to robotic workstations simultaneously. Using the proposed sustainability model on end-of-life industrial gear pumps shows the applicability of the model to real-world problems. The Multi-Objective Bees Algorithm was able to find the best scenario for product recovery by assigning each component to recycling, reuse, remanufacturing, or disposal. The performance of the algorithm is consistent, producing a similar performance for all sustainable strategies. This study addresses issues that arise with product recovery options for end-of-life products and provides optimal solutions through case studies

Towards a Framework for Smart Manufacturing adoption in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Smart Manufacturing (SM) paradigm adoption can scale production with demand without compromising on the time for order fulfillment. A smart manufacturing system (SMS) is vertically and horizontally connected, and thus it can minimize the chances of miscommunication. Employees in an SME are aware of the operational requirements and their responsibilities. The machine schedules are prepared based on the tasks a machine must perform. Predictive maintenance reduces the downtime of machines. Design software optimizes the product design. Production feasibility is checked with the help of simulation. The concepts of product life cycle management are considered for waste reduction. Employee safety, and ergonomics, identifying new business opportunities and markets, focus on employee education and skill enhancement are some of the other advantages of SM paradigm adoption. This dissertation develops an SM paradigm adoption framework for manufacturing SMEs by employing the instrumental research approach. The first step in the framework identified the technical aspects of SM, and this step was followed by identifying the research gaps in the suggested methods (in literature) and managerial aspects for adopting SM paradigm. The technical and the managerial aspects were integrated into a toolkit for manufacturing SMEs. This toolkit contains seven modular toolboxes that can be installed in five levels, depending on an SME’s readiness towards SM. The framework proposed in this dissertation focuses on how an SME’s readiness can be assessed and based on its present readiness what tools and practices the SMEs need to have to realize their tailored vision of SM. The framework was validated with the help of two SMEs cases that have recently adopted SM practices

Digitization of the work environment for sustainable production

Global pandemics, devastating wars and natural disasters with increasing frequency and impact are disrupting previously carefully balanced manufacturing networks. All industrial companies are required to examine their operations and adjust accordingly. The increasing cost of resources require enterprises to re-design their value creation processes to be more sustainable, to optimize the supplier network to become more resilient and to accelerate digitizing of operations to enhance operational effectiveness. This year's WGAB research seminar is themed around Digitization of the work environment for sustainable production and seeks to contribute solutions to the current challenges. The scientific discourse aims to advance the sustainable and data-based organization of value creation processes. Exemplary efforts for the sustainable production of 3D printed footwear and the circular supply chain of energy production will be discussed. With advances in sensory data collection in cyber-physical production systems (CPPS), there are new opportunities for sensing the status of manufacturing systems, which enable advanced data analytics to contribute to a sustainable production. Intelligent processes enable sustainable value creation and bi-directional knowledge exchange between humans and machines. With people at the centre of the CPPS, production systems shall be both adaptive and personalized for every worker. People need to be involved in the technological and organizational changes. Simulating the migration from a linear economy to a circular economy supports the trend of regionalized production networks. Digital assistance systems are tested to back up resilient manufacturing. We would like to thank all authors for their efforts in preparing the contributions, which are valuable inputs to the discourse to solve the current challenges

Flying toward sustainability: A meta-analysis of consumer willingness to pay for emission reduction in air travel

Air travel contributes a substantial share of global greenhouse gas emissions and is projected to rise further in the coming years. Given the urgency of climate change mitigation, reducing or offsetting emissions within the aviation sector is imperative. To successfully design and implement emission reduction projects, airlines and policymakers must understand consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainability in air travel. Several studies have been conducted in recent years with this objective; however, they encompass diverse contexts and circumstances, resulting in considerable variation in the reported WTP values and no clear way to explain the differences. Therefore, this thesis undertakes a meta-analysis to establish a comprehensive understanding by standardising the findings and identifying key factors that influence WTP. The meta-analysis employs weighted least squares regression models and includes two sampling methods, drawing from the results of 31 primary studies. The findings reveal that consumer WTP can be up to 160% higher for a credible offsetting scheme compared to one lacking credibility. Additionally, the results indicate that framing the offset as “per flight” rather than “per tonne CO2” also increases WTP, although there is no discernible correlation of WTP with the offset being voluntary or mandatory. Higher income, more education, and pro-environmental attitudes were all found to increase WTP, while age and gender do not appear to have a consistent influence. The results presented in this thesis yield significant insights that can be applied to the design of effective carbon offsetting schemes, thereby enhancing the sustainability of aviation in the future

ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks: a literature review

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a complex and vibrant process, one that involves a combination of technological and organizational interactions. Often an ERP implementation project is the single largest IT project that an organization has ever launched and requires a mutual fit of system and organization. Also the concept of an ERP implementation supporting business processes across many different departments is not a generic, rigid and uniform concept and depends on variety of factors. As a result, the issues addressing the ERP implementation process have been one of the major concerns in industry. Therefore ERP implementation receives attention from practitioners and scholars and both, business as well as academic literature is abundant and not always very conclusive or coherent. However, research on ERP systems so far has been mainly focused on diffusion, use and impact issues. Less attention has been given to the methods used during the configuration and the implementation of ERP systems, even though they are commonly used in practice, they still remain largely unexplored and undocumented in Information Systems research. So, the academic relevance of this research is the contribution to the existing body of scientific knowledge. An annotated brief literature review is done in order to evaluate the current state of the existing academic literature. The purpose is to present a systematic overview of relevant ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks as a desire for achieving a better taxonomy of ERP implementation methodologies. This paper is useful to researchers who are interested in ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Results will serve as an input for a classification of the existing ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Also, this paper aims also at the professional ERP community involved in the process of ERP implementation by promoting a better understanding of ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks, its variety and history

Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Production Systems and Logistics (CPSL 2021)

Proceedings of the CPSL 202

Proceedings of the Conference on Production Systems and Logistics: CPSL 2022

[no abstract available