Sustainable consumption is interlinked with sustainable production. This chapter will introduce the closed-loop production, the circular economy, the steady state economy, and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) models of production. It will reflect on the key blockages to a meaningful sustainable production and how these could be overcome, particularly in the context of business education. The case study of the course for bachelor’s students within International Business Management Studies (IBMS) program at three Universities of Applied Science (vocational schools), and at Leiden University College in The Netherlands will be discussed. Student teams from these schools were given the assignment to make a business plan for a selected sponsor company in order to advise them how to make a transition from a linear to circular economy model. These case studies will illustrate the opportunities as well as potential pitfalls of the closed loop production models. The results of case studies’ analysis show that there was a mismatch between expectations of the sponsor companies and those of students on the one hand and a mismatch between theory and practice on the other hand. The former mismatch is explained by the fact that the sponsor companies have experienced a number of practical constraints when confronted with the need for the radical overhaul of established practices within the entire supply chain and students have rarely considered the financial viability of the "ideal scenarios" of linear-circular transitions. The latter mismatch applies to what students had learned about macro-economic theory and the application through micro-economic scenarios in small companies. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319656076 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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Irene Maldini’s PhD research discusses the quantity of clothing produced and consumed, its growth, and the environmental challenges associated with it. Moreover, Maldini examines how the field of design has reacted to this issue, reflecting critically on the gap between the expected and the actual effects of design strategies aimed at reducing clothing demand. Clothing personalization and durability have been central strategies to that end; however, this research points out that their expected effects are based on partial historical views and simplistic perspectives of clothing consumption. Therefore, the study proceeds in offering an alternative perspective on clothing consumption building on the systemic nature of the wardrobe.
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Lean Production (LP) can be regarded as a design approach in search of a theoretical foundation. In this paper we show that Lowlands’ Sociotechnical Design Theory (STSL) could function as such a foundation. To reach this goal, we first describe STSL as a system theoretical reformulation of Original Sociotechnical Theory (OSTS). Then, we introduce the Toyota Production System as the origin of LP and the challenge it poses for the academic field of organization design. This academic field should (1) assess LP’s success, (2) generalize it by embedding it in more abstract concepts and theories in order to be able to (3) re-specify it for different manufacturing and non-manufacturing contexts. Next, we give an exposition of STSL as a structural design approach based on developments in system theory. At last, we reformulate lean production in STSL terms and so show that LP is a subcase within the more general theory of STSL. We discuss the merits of both approaches and clarify some misunderstandings of lean both outside and inside the lean community. Embedding LP in the more general language of STSL should enable us to discover similarities and differences, to start a process of mutual learning, to integrate diverse design approaches in a theory of organizational design and to add content to redesign proposals of for example the health care system as proposed by Porter and Teisberg (2006) and Christensen et al. (2009). We quote extensively from the lean literature (to convince our sociotechnical friends) and embed both STSL and LP in the broader literature on organization design. We hope this adds a new perspective to the one given in the Operations Management literature on LP. Again, mutual learning is the goal.
The production, use, disposal and recovery of packaging not only generates massive volumes of waste, it also consumes raw materials, water and energy (Fitzpatrick et al. 2012). Simultaneously, consumers have shown an increasing interest in products incorporating sustainable and social attributes (Kletzan et al., 2006). As a result, environmentally friendly packaging, also called ecofriendly or sustainable packaging, has become mainstream. In this context, packaging is more than just ensuring the product's protection and easing transportation, it is also a communicative tool (Palmer, 2000) and it becomes associated with multiple drivers of the purchasing process. Consequently, companies face pressure to innovate responding to consumer demands, and focusing on sustainable solutions that reduce harmful materials and favour green alternatives for both, the product and the packaging. Although the above has triggered research on consumer choice for sustainable products and alternatives on sustainable packaging, the relation between sustainable packaging and consumer behaviour remains underexplored. This research unpacks this relationship, i.e., empirically verifies which dimensions (recyclability, biodegradability, reusability) of sustainable packaging are perceived and valued by consumers. Put differently, this research investigates consumer behaviour towards the functions of sustainable packaging in terms of product protection, convenience, reliability of information and promotion, and scrutinises the perceived credibility of the associated ethical responsibility claims. It aims to identify those packaging materials and/or sustainability characteristics perceived as more sustainable by consumers as well as the factors influencing actual consumer choice towards sustainable packaged products. We aim to gain more insights in the perceptual frame that different types of consumers apply when exposed to sustainable packaging. To this end, we will make use of revealed preference methods to measure consumer valuations of sustainable packaged products. This game-theoretic approach should provide a more complete depiction of consumers' perceptions and preferences.
In het project CW4.0 onderzoeken MKB’ers uit de houtindustrie en Smart Industry samen met de Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA), kennispartners TNO, HMC en Bouwlab R&Do en partners in hospitality hoe zinvolle toepassingen te maken van resthout, met behulp van Industry 4.0-principes. Hoogwaardig hout blijft momenteel ongebruikt, omdat het te arbeids-intensief is grote hoeveelheden ongelijkmatige stukken hout van verschillende grootte en houtsoort te verwerken. Waardevol resthout wordt zo waardeloos afval, tegen de principes van de circulaire economie in. CW4.0 richt zich op de ontwikkeling van geautomatiseerde processen voor houtverwerking gebaseerd op Industry 4.0 technologieën - met behulp van digitale ontwerptools en industriële robots. Uit eerdere projecten van HvA en partners is gebleken dat deze processen het gebruik van resthout levensvatbaar kunnen maken, in het bijzonder voor toepassingen in de hospitality sector, bijvoorbeeld voor receptiebalies, hotelmeubilair en interieurdelen. CW4.0 wordt dan ook uitgevoerd in samenwerking met hospitality-ontwerpers en hotelketels. Het onderzoek concentreert zich op 1) het creëren van een digital twin (=digitale kopie van een beoogd object of proces, om dit te onderzoeken zonder het eerst te hoeven bouwen) van een ‘upcycle houtfabriek’; 2) het realiseren en beproeven van secties van de fabriek; 3) het ontwerpen en prototypen van hospitality toepassingen en 4) het evalueren van de business case van deze toepassingen en de fabriek in het algemeen. Na afloop is er kennis beschikbaar voor houtindustrie om afval te verminderen, voor Smart Industry om hun digitale technologieën toe te passen voor upcycling van materialen, en voor horecapartners om waardevolle toepassingen te creëren van resthout. Het project is een belangrijke stap in de opschaling van industriële robotproductie met circulaire materialen. Het legt een nieuwe, belangrijke verbinding tussen Smart Industry en de circulaire transitie, gericht op het aanpakken van urgente maatschappelijke uitdagingen verband houdend met materiële schaarste en de mondiale milieucrisis.
One of the major challenges for microsystem-based (MEMS -based) devices producing companies in general, and Bronkhorst High-Tech in particular, is to determine as early as possible in the production process which devices perform within specifications and if so by how much. Being able to separate the devices that do not comply as early as possible in the assembly flow would prevent spending time, money and materials on unsellable products. Being able to further separate good devices in multiple “performance bins” would bring even more cost and waste reduction by enabling Bronkhorst to pre-select finished products for different customer requirements. In this project we specifically focus on a micromachined flow sensor which is considered for a scale-up in production volumes in the near future. The ability to separate out badly performing devices translates to the challenge of finding a suitable test method, yielding the following research question: what are the success factors that would allow our MEMS partners to correlate product performance with measurements (tests) performed early in the production cycle? An answer makes it possible to implement the planned production scale-up of this MEMS device but also to reduce costs and waste typically associated with production failures. The device selected in this project is taken as an example for a broad range of chip-based MEMS devices with similar challenges. Therefore, we plan to use an applied research approach, looking at theoretical models of both device and production process, performing correlation measurements and delivering our recommendations on how to best tackle these production issues. It is our intention to thus generate expertise (knowledge & data) as well as a network on which we build a consortium around a future PPS (public-private partnership) where these challenges form a common theme.
