21 research outputs found

    'Smart' connected Africa leverages technology to promote growth but will ICT be Africa's saving grace in development?

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    Okechukwu Okorie explores the potential impact ICT could have on development in African countries

    A systems dynamics enabled real-time efficiency for fuel cell data-driven remanufacturing

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    Remanufacturing is a viable option to extend the useful life of an end-of-use product or its parts, ensuring sustainable competitive advantages under the current global economic climate. Challenges typical to remanufacturing still persist, despite its many benefits. According to the European Remanufacturing Network, a key challenge is the lack of accurate, timely and consistent product knowledge as highlighted in a 2015 survey of 188 European remanufacturers. With more data being produced by electric and hybrid vehicles, this adds to the information complexity challenge already experienced in remanufacturing. Therefore, it is difficult to implement real-time and accurate remanufacturing for the shop floor; there are no papers that focus on this within an electric and hybrid vehicle environment. To address this problem, this paper attempts to: (1) identify the required parameters/variables needed for fuel cell remanufacturing by means of interviews; (2) rank the variables by Pareto analysis; (3) develop a casual loop diagram for the identified parameters/variables to visualise their impact on remanufacturing; and (4) model a simple stock and flow diagram to simulate and understand data and information-driven schemes in remanufacturing

    A review of data driven approaches for circular economy in manufacturing

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    This paper seeks to examine the area of circular economy, providing an overview of the development of data driven circular approaches in manufacturing, particularly Industry 4.0, from the point of view of Reuse, Remanufacturing, Redistribution and Recycle. This paper also aims to develop a working framework for future circular economy research. The Design, methodological approach of this paper focuses on a comprehensive review of literature covering over 51 research papers. These papers are analysed using pie charts and bar charts to understand current trends in circular economy and circular economy related research and future research directions in the field. Findings show that research on circular economy has been steady and gradual with 2014 and 2015 having the most papers on the subject with 43% of the papers from engineering related research. Research which links circular strategies and their application within Industry 4.0 to digital technologies is still a very new area of research and, as such, is an area for further studies. Although papers on Circular Economy and Circular Economy Approaches exists, however, there are no papers that offer an overview of the development of circular approaches within manufacturing. The contribution of this paper is to provide a summary of current trends in circular economy research in manufacturing, within focus on Industry 4.0. A review of this development has been provided in the form of illustrative charts and graphs that identifies these trends. From this a framework for future circular economy research as it relates to manufacturing was developed

    Response of supplemental cassava root sievate - cassava leaf meal based diets on carcass and cost benefits of kano brown goats Capra aegagrus

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    The experiment was conducted to determine the organ weight characteristics, carcass yield and cost benefits of Kano Brown goats fed cassava root sievate and cassava leaf meal (CRSCLM) based diets as supplement to (Pennisetum  purpureum) using 36 Kano Brown goats of 8 to 10 months of age.Four diets T1, T2, T3,and T4, were formulated at the levels of 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% CRSCLM respectivelyin a completely randomized design. Each animal received a designated treatment diet in the morning for 97 days. Feed offered was based on 3.5% body weight per day; the animals in addition were fed a kg wilted chopped P. purpureum later in the day as basal diet to enhance rumination and fine chewing. Results on  carcass indices showed significant (p0.05) response on live weight at slaughter, empty carcass weight, warm carcass weight, dressing percentage, shoulder, leg, loin, end and shank with T4having relatively best results. The dressing percentage was numerically (49.59%) best at T4. On the offal weights, head and full guts were significantly (p0.05) improved for T4and T1goats. The organ characteristic proved the safety of using CRSCLM through the significantly (p0.05) lower organ weights at T4goats. Cost per kg feed, feed cost/weight gainand cost/benefit ratio were positively influenced (p0.05) at T4with expected income of 4.79 / 1 invested. It could therefore be concluded that Kano Brown goats fed 60% CRSCLM had the best carcass and organ yields at a reduced feed cost. Keywords: Pennisetum purpureum, Kano brown goats, Cassava leaf meal, Cassava root sievate,

    Environmental impact assessment of different strategies for the remanufacturing of user electronics

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    Over the years, the innovation and development of electrical and electronic equipment have been on a steep rise. Millions of electronics are being sold or discarded every year in the form of waste. Sustainable IT (Green IT or Circular Computing) is one of the most environment-friendly methods of reusing discarded or waste user electronics. The remanufacturing of a computer refers to the disassembly, repair, and upgrade of the original computer to give it a new life, along with a warranty that is as good as a new product. The goal of this work includes studying and assessing the total environmental impact of refurbishing a computer using life cycle assessment (LCA) integrated with discrete event simulation (DES), to compare two business models: (1) a case of centralized remanufacturing where the plants are in the Middle East, which is the hub for receiving waste electronics and distributing remanufactured goods; (2) a case of decentralized remanufacturing where the plants are situated in each continent for over a range of computer models. The environmental assessment was conducted using the openLCA software in combination with the WITNESS Horizon software for the DES. The results show that decentralized remanufacturing is a much more environmentally friendly option for the remanufacturing of computers, and the decentralized remanufacturing operation has a better throughput as well as efficiency, as compared to the centralized remanufacturing operation. The centralized remanufacturing scenario has a climate change impact of 1035.19 kg of CO2-Eq, as compared to the decentralized remanufacturing scenario with an impact of 816.12 kg of CO2-Eq. In terms of the impact on the marine life, decentralized remanufacturing was found to have 0.28 kg of N-Eq impact, as compared to centralized remanufacturing (0.22 kg of N-Eq). However, this does not give us a complete picture, as the environmental impact of the computer in its previous life remains unknown. Multi life cycle assessment is the assessment process that can be used to get a clearer picture of the ecological footprint of the computer during its multiple life cycles

    A triple bottom line examination of product cannibalisation and remanufacturing: a review and research agenda

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    Increased momentum in support of a Circular Economy (CE) has motivated the exploration of alternative production and value-retention processes that allow for the decoupling of environmental impacts from economic growth. Remanufacturing, a key value retention process, can enable significant economic, environmental and social (also known as triple-bottom line) advantages. Given their competitive value proposition, remanufactured products are often blamed by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for cannibalising the sale of newly manufactured products. Thus, remanufacturing is often viewed as high-risk, and potentially even a threat to conventional manufacturing activities by many OEMs, often triggering both active and passive countermeasures to protect market share. In many cases, such actions lead to reduced access to cores for remanufactures; they can also work against the uptake of remanufacturing activities that are essential for transitioning to a CE. To achieve a CE, remanufacturing activities must be scaled; however, without a clear understanding of the relationship between remanufacturing and product cannibalisation, OEMs may continue to avoid and/or interfere in remanufacturing systems. Further, in alignment with systems-thinking for CE, we posit that broadly-considered integration of CE dimensions is critical but lacking within the literature. To this end, this systematic review paper aims to clarify and organize the existing scientific literature about product cannibalisation and remanufacturing. We examine these contributions through an expanded Triple Bottom Line lens that aligns with the recognized dimensions of CE: social, environmental, economic, management, policy, and technology. A comprehensive content assessment revealed a predominant economic lens to the research, with statistical analysis, game theory, and numerical experiments as the primary methodologies employed. In addition, opportunities to more comprehensively explore social, policy, management, and technology perspectives as they relate to product cannibalisation and remanufacturing were identified. We develop and apply a new framework for considering product cannibalisation and price competition in the broader context of sustainability and the transition to CE. Finally, in addition to identifying a comprehensive range of stakeholders that need to be engaged, we recommend a future research agenda that explores the specific challenges, interactions, and relationships between product cannibalisation, remanufacturing, and the six dimensions of CE

    Manufacturing in the time of COVID-19: an assessment of barriers and enablers

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    Pandemics and other forms of epidemic outbreaks are a unique case of manufacturing risk typified by high uncertainty, increasing propagation and long-term disruption to manufacturers, supply chain actors as well as the end-users and consumers. For manufacturing the COVID-19 disruption scope has been largely two-fold; an endogenous disruption of manufacturing processes and systems as well as extreme shifts in demand and supply caused by exogenous supply chain disruption. Existing literature on disruptions in manufacturing suggests that pandemics are qualitatively different from typical disruptions. There is no literature available to manufacturing practitioners that identify the barriers and enablers of manufacturing resilience, especially with regards to pivoting of the manufacturing sector in response to a pandemic. This study draws on an extensive survey collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents were employees of manufacturing firms in all regions of the world who had engaged in manufacturing during the pandemic or had opted out from manufacturing due to various identified reasons. By collating their responses, we offer to practitioners and policymakers an analysis for identifying a best-practice framework for pivoting successfully as a response to major manufacturing disruptions
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