Business Engineering 4.0: The Transformation of a University Course in Response to Industry 4.0, Sustainable Development Goals, & Covid-19 in South Africa

The rising waves of Industry 4.0, Sustainable Development Goals and COVID-19 have resulted in repercussions that have challenged the status quo. In preparation, Action Design Research (ADR) was used in Engineering Education as an adaptive mechanism. This research paper follows a 5-year development journey of a Business Engineering course at a South African university. The paper discusses the adaptations and refinements in response to the waves above and how they were integrated in the content, presentation and assessments of the course. Furthermore, this paper extracts generalizable findings for Engineering Education and reflects on the design of the next cycle of the course in anticipation of further waves

Designing a Lean and Green framework for the reduction of GHG emissions in the South African manufacturing industry

MEng (Industrial Engineering), North-West University,Potchefstroom CampusLean and Green is a hybrid philosophy that combines the operational efficiencies of Lean with the environmental consciousness instilled by Green philosophy. However, the South African manufacturing industry experiences challenges in addressing their GHG emissions. Therefore, this study aims to conceptualise and guide GHG reduction using Lean and Green. This is achieved by designing a Lean and Green framework for GHG reduction in the South African manufacturing industry. Within the paradigm of design science research (DSR), a qualitative systematic literature review (SLR) and applied thematic analysis (ATA) were used to code quotations (design elements) from various literature sources in Atlas.ti. From these elements, five themes were categorised and used to create a literature-based conceptual Lean and Green framework. Deployment of design science research and surveys, built-in verification and validation further developed the framework to increase relevance to the South African manufacturing industry. Finally, this study presents a Lean and Green GHG reduction framework for the South African manufacturing industry. This framework provides researchers and practitioners with the essential elements and themes for achieving GHG reduction within the Lean and Green paradigm.Master