Dynamic simulation methodology for implementing circular economy: A new case study

Purpose: Circular economy (CE) principles have evolved in response to natural resource depletion as a set of guidelines for eliminating the linear take-use-dispose model of product consumption. The consequences of shifting from a linear to a circular supply chain are difficult to visualize in the long term. This study aims to design a methodology for building a simulation model to implement CE strategies in any small and medium-sized enterprise SME to prove policies before implementing them in the real world. This paper applied the methodology in a biological cycle case study: a confectionery factory in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach: This study evaluated service-dominant logic, ecosystem services, system dynamics, and agent-based modeling to design the proposed methodology. A series of interviews with stakeholders were performed to assess the simulation model during the development phase. The circular economy indicator prototype (CEIP) was used as a circular maturity measure of the confectionery factory. The simulator was executed in Netlogo software, implementing a four-scenario analysis based on two CE policies for the caramel recycling process. Five state variables were proposed in this analysis: confectionery waste, recycled glucose, recycling utilization, costs of recycled glucose, and profit. Findings: The CEIP score of the confectionery factory was 52%, rated as a “good” product. Regarding scenario analysis, the first scenario had the highest profit improvement. Practical implications: The simulator allowed stakeholders to understand the operation of the recycling process and visualize all variables involved in the system. Originality/value: In the CE literature, little attention has been paid to proposing a methodology for designing a simulation model to implement CE strategies in any industry. Thus, this study implements a nine-step methodology based on services context and dynamic simulation tools to design a platform to evaluate and visualize the consequences of CE strategies implementation in the long termPeer Reviewe

Hybrid-fuzzy techniques with flexibility and attitudinal parameters for supporting early product design and reliability management

The main aim of the research work presented in this thesis is to define and develop novel Hybrid Fuzzy-based techniques for supporting aspects of product development engineering, specifically product reliability at the early phase of product design under the design for reliability philosophy and concept designs assessment problems when the required information is rough and incomplete. Thus, to achieve the above-stated aim, which has been formulated in the effort to filling the identified gaps in the literature which comprise of the need for a holistic, flexible and adjustable method to facilitate and support product design concept assessment and product reliability at the early product design phase. The need for the incorporation of the attitudinal character of the DMs into the product reliability and design concept assessment and finally, the need to account for the several interrelated complex attributes in the product reliability and design concept assessment process. A combination of research methods has been employed which includes an extensive literature review, multiple case study approach, and personal interview of experts, through which data were, collected that provided information for the real-life case study. With the new Hybrid Fuzzy-based techniques (i.e. the intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS model which is based on an exponential-related function (IF-TOPSISEF) and the Multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) method which is based on a generalized triangular intuitionistic fuzzy geometric averaging (GTIFGA) operator), a more robust method for the product reliability and design concepts assessment respectively have been achieved as displayed in the comparative analysis in the thesis. The new methods have provided a more complete and a holistic view of the assessment process, by looking at the product reliability and design concept assessment from different scenario depending on the interest of the DMs. Using the above methods, the thesis has been able to evaluated some complex mechanical systems in literature and in real-life including Crawler Crane Machine and Forklift Truck for design change with the purpose of gaining appropriate reliability knowledge and information needed at the early product design phase, and that can subsequently aid and improve the product design concepts after all such useful information have been added into the new design. With the application of the new methods, and their proven feasibility and rationality as displayed in the assessment results of the complex mechanical systems in literature and that of the real-life case studies, this thesis, therefore, can conclude that the Hybrid Fuzzy-based techniques proposed, has provided a better and a novel alternative to existing product reliability and design concepts assessment methods

Process Control Parameters Evaluation Using Discrete Event Simulation for Business Process Optimization

The quest for manufacturing process improvement and higher levels of customer satisfaction mandates that organizations must be equipped with advanced tools and techniques in order to respond towards ever changing internal and external customer demands by maintaining the optimal process performance, lower cost and higher profit levels. A manufacturing process can be defined as a collection of activities designed to produce a specific output for a particular customer or market. To achieve internal and external objectives, significant process parameters must be identified and evaluated to optimize the process performance. This even becomes more important to deal with fierce competition and ever changing customer demands. This paper illustrates an integrated approach using design of experiments techniques and discrete event simulation (Simul8) to understand and optimize the system dynamic based on operational control parameter evaluation and their boundary conditions. Further, the proposed model is validated using a real world manufacturing process case study to optimize the manufacturing process performance. Discrete event simulation tool is used to mimic the real world scenario, which provides a flexible and powerful way to comprehensively understand the manufacturing process variations and allows controlled 'What-If´ analysis based on design of experiments approach. Finally, this paper discusses the potential applications of the proposed methodology in the cable industry in order to optimize the cable manufacturing process by regulating the operational control parameters such as dealing with various product configurations with different equipment settings, different product flows and work in process (WIP) space limitations

A Modeling, Optimization, and Analysis Framework for Designing Multi-Product Lignocellulosic Biorefineries

The objective of this research is to propose a methodology to develop modular decision analysis frameworks to design value chains for enterprises in the renewable fuels and chemicals sector. The decision support framework focuses on providing strategic decision support to startup and new product ventures. The tasks that are embedded in the framework include process and systems design, technology and product selection, forecasting cost and market variables, designing network capacities, and analysis of risks. The Decision support system (DSS) proposed is based on optimization modeling; systems design are carried out using integer programming with multiple sets of process and network configurations utilized as inputs. Uncertainty is incorporated using real options, which are utilized to design network processing capacity for the conversion of biomass resources. Risk analysis is carried out using Monte Carlo methods. The DSS framework is exemplified using a lignocellulosic biorefinery case study that is assumed to be located in Louisiana. The biorefinery utilizes energy crops as feedstocks and processes them into cellulosic biofuels and biobased chemicals. Optimization modeling is utilized to select an optimal network, a fractionation technology, a fermentation configuration, and optimal product recovery and purification unit operations. A decision tree is then used to design incremental capacity under uncertain market parameters. The valuation methodology proposed stresses flexibility in decision making in the face of market uncertainties as is the case with renewable fuels and chemicals. The value of flexibility, termed as “Option Value” is shown to significantly improve the net present value of the proposed biorefinery. Monte Carlo simulations are utilized to develop risk curves for alternate capacity design plans. Risk curves show a favorable risk reward ratio for the case of incremental capacity design with embedded decision options. The framework proposed here can be used by enterprises, government entities and decision makers in general to test, validate, and design technological superstructures and network processing capacities, conduct scenario analyses, and quantify the financial impacts and risks of their representative designs. We plan to further add functionality to the DSS framework and make available the tools developed to wide audience through an “open-source” software distribution model

Tracing the Scenarios in Scenario-Based Product Design: a study to support scenario generation

Scenario-based design originates from the human-computer interaction and\ud software engineering disciplines, and continues to be adapted for product development. Product development differs from software development in the former’s more varied context of use, broader characteristics of users and more tangible solutions. The possible use of scenarios in product design is therefore broader and more challenging. Existing design methods that involve scenarios can be employed in many different stages of the product design process. However, there is no proficient overview that discusses a\ud scenario-based product design process in its full extent. The purposes of creating scenarios and the evolution of scenarios from their original design data are often not obvious, although the results from using scenarios are clearly visible. Therefore, this paper proposes to classify possible scenario uses with their purpose, characteristics and supporting design methods. The classification makes explicit different types of scenarios and their relation to one another. Furthermore, novel scenario uses can be referred or added to the classification to develop it in parallel with the scenario-based design\ud practice. Eventually, a scenario-based product design process could take inspiration for creating scenarios from the classification because it provides detailed characteristics of the scenario

Description of Distributable Encapsulated Resource Package and Method for Orchestration of Distributed Automation Systems

Reconfiguration is critical to meet the current demands of manufacturing and production systems. Rapid reconfiguration can offer small batch sizes, customization and many product variants to the manufacturing companies. This thesis is to implement a novel concept of Resource Description and its Executable Capability. This is an implementation of theoretical concept by conceiving a use case scenario based on different stakeholders involved in the manufacturing system designing process. The stakeholders are vendors of physical production resource and system integrator who is the consumer of the physical production resource. The scenario is that the vendor provides the control software package along with resource and system integrator uses the software package to develop a control system. To implement this concept a set of requirements are extracted from resource description and its executable capability concept. Based on these requirements software packages are designed and test case resources are developed. These test case resources are then utilized to design a high-level control system. Realistic test case assembly system is developed and reconfigured. The obtained results present a realistic view of the concept of resource description in a limited scope. The qualitative analysis of test case scenarios proves the ease which can be achieved in reconfiguration of a manufacturing system if the concept of resource description is used in real-world environments

Stochastic multi-period multi-product multi-objective Aggregate Production Planning model in multi-echelon supply chain

In this paper a multi-period multi-product multi-objective aggregate production planning (APP) model is proposed for an uncertain multi-echelon supply chain considering financial risk, customer satisfaction, and human resource training. Three conflictive objective functions and several sets of real constraints are considered concurrently in the proposed APP model. Some parameters of the proposed model are assumed to be uncertain and handled through a two-stage stochastic programming (TSSP) approach. The proposed TSSP is solved using three multi-objective solution procedures, i.e., the goal attainment technique, the modified ε-constraint method, and STEM method. The whole procedure is applied in an automotive resin and oil supply chain as a real case study wherein the efficacy and applicability of the proposed approaches are illustrated in comparison with existing experimental production planning method

Participatory Scenario Generation: Communicating Usability Issues in Product Design through User Involvement in Scenario Generation\ud

Scenarios have proven to be a valuable tool in evaluating and communicating usability issues in consumer product design. Scenarios are explicit descriptions of hypothetical use situations. Realistic scenarios can serve as a valuable frame of reference to evaluate design solutions with regard to usability. To be able to achieve this required level of realism, involving users in scenario generation is essential. In this presentation we discuss how and where users can be involved in a scenario based product design process by means of examples of design projects that were executed by master students Industrial Design Engineering of the University of Twente. \ud \ud We distinguish direct and indirect scenario generation. In direct scenario generation the user is actively involved in a participatory scenario generation session: the scenarios are created together with users. Indirect scenario generation is an approach in which scenarios are created by designers based on common analysis techniques like observations and interviews. These scenarios are then offered to users for confirmation. Both types of user involvement in scenario generation can be aimed at either current use scenarios which describe the current situation or future use scenarios which include a new product design. \ud \ud The examples show that all strategies can be applied successfully to create realistic scenarios. Which strategy to choose depends among others upon risks and privacy issues, occurrence of infrequent events and availability of users. Furthermore, the variety of approaches shows that there is still a lot to explore with regard to benefits and limitations of the many techniques that can be applied in generating scenarios for consumer product design. We hope to contribute to this field by means of the research in our group and the work of students in the SBPD course\u

Towards Idea Generation for Fashion Product Design and Development in Bangladeshi Industry

New Product Development (NPD) has always been one of the most significant components for the fashion industry. Research has shown that investments in design can lead to the development of completely new trends or can transform an existing trend in such a way that can offer newer aspects in the industry in general. However, there is insufficient evidence on the most appropriate or effective role that design could play in the real-life scenario. Previous case-based research has identified alternative roles for designers in NPD, but there is only tentative evidence over such roles’ contribution to NPD outcomes. By using data on a large sample (c. 1300) of Irish manufacturing plants Bangladesh is now able to examine the effectiveness of three different levels of involvement of designers in NPD and their impact on NPD novelty and success. This analysis suggests that design is closely associated with enhanced performance regardless of the type of role it plays. However, from a practical point of view, the potential effects of involving design throughout the process appear to be much greater. It is important to note here that the relationship between design and NPD outcomes is also strongly moderated by contextual factors; for example, its significance is only evident for organizations which also engage in in-house R&D. Also, while both small and larger plants do gain from using design as functional specialism and in some stages of the NPD process, the additional benefits of a continuous involvement of design throughout the process are only evident in larger plants. Finally, while discourse and perceptions over design's role in NPD has certainly changed over time, suggesting a much more widespread and strategic use of design, providing a more static picture, showing that design engagement with the NPD process has not changed significantly over the last two decades