A Systematic Literature Review on Data and Information Required for Circular Manufacturing Strategies Adoption

Abstract

In the extant literature, circular economy (CE) is considered a driver for sustainable development of the manufacturing sector, being it an industrial paradigm aiming at regenerating resources. CE is transferred to manufacturing companies through the adoption of different Circular Manufacturing (CM) strategies (e.g., recycling, remanufacturing, etc.). Nowadays, manufacturers are struggling to implement these strategies to limit their resource consumption and pollution generation. To enable their adoption, the extant literature unveiled the importance to control along the entire value chain different types of resource flows (i.e., material, energy, and information). Nevertheless, while for material and energy management some advancements were achieved, information management and sharing remains one of the major barriers in adopting these strategies. The present work, through a systematic literature review, aims to identify the relevant information and data required to support the manufacturer’s decision process in adopting and managing the different CM strategies to pursue the transition towards CM. Furthermore, based on the results obtained, this research proposes a theoretical framework. It elucidates the four main areas to be managed by manufacturers in adopting CM strategies and it provides to the manufacturer an overview of what should be updated and upgraded inside the company to embrace CM strategies.

Riding the Digital Product Life Cycle Waves towards a Circular Economy

“…Product tracking is a requirement for the remanufacturer to know if the returned product was already remanufactured once or multiple times. This reconciliation process can be simpler and faster with product-tracking with IoT devices [40], and can achieve reconciliation when products are returned at the returns warehouse instead of via manual intervention by tracking products shipped and returned. Furthermore, product lawsuits, can be handled more easily by scanning legal and contractual documents using natural language processing (NLP) in case of product failures and lawsuits.…”

“…In the after sales phase, the biggest challenge is the need for better forecasting models [40] to reduce the uncertainties in returns and demand. When the historical sales data of product distribution are known, the data can be used for forecasting when these products are likely to be returned, and provides valuable information to schedule and manage the remanufacturing and returns plant operations.…”

Addressing the Challenges to Sustainable Initiatives in Value Chain Flexibility: Implications for Sustainable Development Goals

“…A well-defined understanding of flexibility parameters and challenges will help organizations adjust their resources in a decisive way for sustainable supply chain management. For the manufacturing sector, the SDGs are not only the potential drivers impacting the daily work routine but also the introductory ethos for the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of sustainability (Acerbi et al, 2021 ; Sassanelli et al, 2020a ). Another challenge to the TBL of sustainability and flexibility on supply chains is the pandemic environment created due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.…”

PLM Solutions in the Process of Supporting the Implementation and Maintenance of the Circular Economy Concept in Manufacturing Companies

“…CE is defined as "the set of organizational planning processes for creating, delivering products, components, and materials at their highest utility for customers and society through effective and efficient utilization of ecosystem, economic, and product cycles by closing loops for all the related resource flows" [2]. The main goal of CE is to extend the product lifecycle by "slowing, narrowing and closing the resource loops through biological, technical and information cycles" [3]. It can be achieved by extending the traditional perception of manufacturing processes in a production plant towards product lifecycle management, including preparation for reuse, remanufacturing, recycling, or final safe disposal already at the production stage [4].…”

“…Several barriers limit the propagation of CE in the industry. The conducted research indicates that these barriers may be economic and financial in nature (due to limited financial possibilities and support for companies), social (due to the lack of consumer awareness), institutional (due to limited government support), technological and informational (caused by limited information and knowledge sharing and fear of change), and process-related, for example, in the supply chain (due to the lack of network support and the limited creation of appropriate partnerships) [3]. The last two barriers can be overcome or mitigate through intelligent implementation and the use of well-known PLM systems.…”