Towards Sustainable Production Processes Reengineering: Case Study at INCOM Egypt

Abstract

INCOM Egypt has undergone automation in some processes where critical aspects of its operations are transformed and automated. This paper presents an overview of INCOM Egypt processes using Ould Riva and analyses the process of ‘handling a product’. It aims to demonstrate effective automation of the production of wires and cables process accompanied to Industry 4.0 while considering environmental and economic sustainability goals that were inhibited by COVID-19 restrictions. Ould’s Riva method is used to analyse the production process of wires and cables to propose improvements for automating the process. Business process modelling is utilised to study the processes for clearer understating. The flow of information within the process is also analysed to integrate the production process with other processes and supply chains, which helps to identify which production activities can be automated and mainstreamed into the information flow to achieve environmental and economic sustainability. The context of INCOM Egypt, as a case study, is presented along with the Riva model of its operations. The paper identifies the before, i.e., As-Is process, and after, i.e., To-Be Process, automation of the ‘handle a product’ process using the Role Activity Diagram (RAD). The process involved redesigning and improving different activities to increase resource-use efficiency to participate in achieving the goals of sustainability. The focus of this paper is to investigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on sustainability and to examine the accomplishments of process automation of wire production towards environmental and economic sustainability. The results of the research reveal a relationship between business process modelling and sustainability. Moreover, automation of processes (Industry 4.0) is found to reduce the negative effect of COVID-19 on production. A triangulation between process modelling, process automation (Industry 4.0), and sustainability was determined. Each one is reinforcing and impacting one another. The RAD model demonstrates that automation of the activities in the process reduces waste, time, cost, and redundant processes as factors of sustainability, which may also help to lessen the unfavorable effects of the pandemic. The results proved generalisation on other organisations in the same line of business.

ARivaT: A Tool for Automated Generation of Riva-Based Business Process Architecture Diagrams

“…Part of our research interest is sustainability, hence, we show the relationship between ARivaT and sustainability. Process modelling is important in attaining sustainability [22]. According to [33] and [34], sustainability can be categorized into five categories, namely, environmental, economic, individual, social, and technical.…”

“…The existence of precise rules to develop the BPA diagram is not always sufficient to produce current BPA diagrams because this is frequently mixed with the unclear understanding of organizational processes. According to [22], various system analysts/modelers mix what they have in the business, i.e., the as-is process, with what they want to have, i.e., the to-be process. This confusion is caused by different reasons including the misunderstanding of business needs and procedures and the need to develop more logical processes for daily business activities.…”

Industry 4.0 in “Major Emerging Markets”: A Systematic Literature Review of Benefits, Use, Challenges, and Mitigation Strategies in Supply Chain Management

“…IoT devices can be used to capture information on semi-finished products, which are sent to the cloud. Data analytics can be used to identify solutions [103].…”

Key embrace factors for designing sustainable supply chains in Egyptian Industry 4.0

“…Therefore, the relative inadequacy funds and lack of expertise, in addition to capacity limitations, can be a significant disadvantage and restrict their growth potential (Khalifa et al, 2021). Sustainable Supply Chains (SSCs) necessitate the incorporation of I4.0 technology by manufacturers around the world; however, Egyptian manufacturing firms lack the capacity to utilize cutting-edge I4.0 technology (Ismail et al, 2022). The researcher had an academic focus on the supply chain of the industry 4.0 (I4.0).…”