Simulation-Based Business Case for PSS: A System Dynamics Framework

Many potential business benefits have been widely associated with the implementation of PSS. Still, several significant challenges for transitioning to PSS persist, especially in regards to materializing the business benefits. To tackle such difficulty, this paper suggests a theory-driven concept of a business case for PSS implementation and management, based on a System Dynamics simulation framework. With a maturity-oriented theoretical perspective and the associated capability concepts, the study provides insights into how the development of PSS capabilities can potentially affect corporate performance over time. The paper's preliminary results identify the potential for managers and other decision-makers to use the business case simulator to assessing PSS-related business benefits and responding to multiple implementation scenarios and strategies

Additive Manufacturing Cost Analysis Compared to Conventional Production Methods

Additive manufacturing has been identified as a technology that could revolutionize the production processes and change currently employed production strategies. However, additive manufacturing is still mainly used in the production of prototypes, in which high flexibility and low costs for specific tooling are required. The trend is that the additive manufacturing gradually becomes part of the production processes for final products as it reaches higher levels of quality, such as dimensional accuracy, finishing and tolerances, besides lower production costs, moving closer to those existing in the large-scale production. In this scenario, this paper aims to analyze and compare costs for a standard piece produced by additive manufacturing and conventional production methods, analyzing the feasibility of implementing the technology as an essential part of production processes. This research also provides the establishment of a standard piece, its design features and typical production volumes - from which periodic analysis should be conducted to evaluate costs, given the increasing scale and the learning curve consolidation in the production of additive manufacturing equipment.A manufatura aditiva tem sido apontada como a tecnologia capaz de revolucionar os processos produtivos das empresas e de alterar as estratégias de produção atualmente empregadas. No entanto, hoje a manufatura aditiva ainda é essencialmente utilizada na produção de protótipos, em que se requer alta flexibilidade e baixos custos de ferramental específico. A tendência é que a manufatura aditiva passe a ser gradativamente utilizada como parte dos processos produtivos de produtos finais à medida que atinja maiores níveis de qualidade, tais como precisão dimensional, acabamento e tolerâncias, além de menores custos de produção, aproximando-se mais daqueles existentes na produção em larga escala. Neste cenário, este artigo visa analisar e comparar custos de produção para uma peça padrão produzida por meio de manufatura aditiva e por métodos convencionais de produção, analisando a viabilidade de implementação da tecnologia como parte essencial dos processos produtivos de empresas. A pesquisa proporciona também o estabelecimento de um padrão – peça padrão, suas características de projeto e volumes típicos de produção – a partir da qual análises periódicas possam ser realizadas ao longo dos próximos anos para avaliação de custos, com o aumento da escala e a consolidação da aprendizagem na produção dos equipamentos de manufatura aditiva

Embracing Circular Economy: a journey seen through the perspective of Sustainability Maturity

Circular Economy has been progressively acknowledged as a promising and consistent approach to maximizing value by increasing resource productivity, while minimizing resource consumption and related waste. Manufacturing companies operating on a linear fashion are faced with a wealth of potential business benefits derived from a circular economy. However, this transition requires a systemic change mindset, encompassing a wide array of organizational processes and functions: from strategy and business models to take-back and end-of-life management. With a view to supporting the transition of manufacturing companies towards Circular Economy, this article presents a maturity-based approach that supports manufacturing companies to develop and implement strategic roadmaps and action plans for the transition. An analysis of twelve key management practices to manage the transition towards Circular Economy is presented and briefly discussed. Industrial applications of the proposed maturity approach indicate that the maturity approach can effectively strengthen companies’ abilities to embrace the beneficial prospects of the Circular Economy.<br/

Process-related key performance indicators for measuring sustainability performance of ecodesign implementation into product development

Developing products with improved environmental performance is regarded as a crucial component of companies’ commitment towards sustainable development. The potential benefits derived from ecodesign are constantly highlighted in the literature, and go beyond the pure environmental dimension. However, the primary focus has been positioned on evaluating those benefits in terms of product-related environmental performance, which leaves an open potential for capturing performance from a broader managerial perspective. Consequently, the major challenges tackled by this paper relate to the limited focus on process-oriented perspectives that cover all dimensions of the triple bottom line and offer a systematized view on ecodesign performance measurement. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive set of process-related key performance indicators for product development, based on a three-step systematic literature review, followed by systematization of indicators and a critical analysis. A total of 787 indicators were identified and classified according to the sustainability dimensions, product development phases and units of measurement. The results point to a relevant asymmetry in the number of indicators proposed for each sustainability dimension, with large dominance of economic indicators. A critical analysis is presented and discussed in terms of the main organizational functions addressed, emphasizing a potential growth trend towards multi-dimensional indicators in recent years. The paper indicates that product development performance is still being mainly discussed in terms of product physical characteristics, along with a broad assortment of topics - from very specific document-related measures to high-level strategic dimensions - without focusing on environmental aspects, which is mainly due to the intangible and uncertain nature of product development processes

Ship Routing with Pickup and Delivery for a Maritime Oil Transportation System: MIP Modeland Heuristics

This paper examines a ship routing problem with pickup and delivery and time windows for maritime oil transportation, motivated by the production and logistics activities of an oil company operating in the Brazilian coast. The transportation costs from offshore platforms to coastal terminals are an important issue in the search for operational excellence in the oil industry, involving operations that demand agile and effective decision support systems. This paper presents an optimization approach to address this problem, based on a mixed integer programming (MIP) model and a novel and exploratory application of two tailor-made MIP heuristics, based on relax-and-fix and time decomposition procedures. The model minimizes fuel costs of a heterogeneous fleet of oil tankers and costs related to freighting contracts. The model also considers company-specific constraints for offshore oil transportation. Computational experiments based on the mathematical models and the related MIP heuristics are presented for a set of real data provided by the company, which confirm the potential of optimization-based methods to find good solutions for problems of moderate sizes

Measuring the implementation of ecodesign management practices: a review and consolidation of process-oriented performance indicators

Ecodesign plays an important role in manufacturing companies’ quest for improved sustainability performance. However, many ecodesign efforts are geared towards tackling single-issue discrete improvements, in contrast to operationalizing, measuring and acting upon the consistent improvement of ecodesign implementation and management. To enable a systematic and streamlined integration of ecodesign practices into the product development processes, adequate mechanisms are needed to capture and measure performance improvements, and thereby achieve consistent improvements in a company’s efforts towards enhanced sustainability performance. In face of this challenge, this paper aims at providing organizations with a set of process-oriented indicators to supporting and enhancing ecodesign implementation and management. This research was grounded on a 2-phase approach to (i) cross-analyze performance indicators from literature against ecodesign practices at the process level and (ii) propose, evaluate and consolidate new indicators. After being subjected to the evaluation of 8 experts in ecodesign, a repository is presented with 27 indicators from literature and a set of 114 newly proposed indicators for companies to customize, adapt, mix and derive according to their needs, strategic drivers and overall context