1,721,255 research outputs found
Evaluating Manufacturers’ Smart Readiness and Maturity Exploiting Lean Product Development Approach
No full textManufacturers need to address Industry 4.0 to enhance their competitiveness on the market supported by the gradual adoption of digital technologies. However, devoting investments to these technologies should first be coupled by the need to gauge both their own digital status quo and the mechanisms grounding their support to perform product development process. In this context, the importance of lean approach, leading under a continuous improvement and value focused perspective how the process of product development is organized and managed throughout the functions involved, is paramount and strategic. Methods and maturity models have been introduced in the extant literature to evaluate the readiness and maturity of either their digital level or their design and engineering process. A coalescence of these tools still needs to be employed to evaluate a company under the twofold level of lean and digital: to do this, a case study has been implemented
The D-BEST Based digital innovation hub customer journey analysis method: Configuring DIHs unique value proposition
No full textDigital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) are ecosystems bolstering European companies to overtake innovation hindrances and drive Europe to become the world leading innovator in the industry digital revolution. Each of such organizations can provide a certain list of services, that can be classified and grouped in five macro-classes according to the Data-driven Business-Ecosystem-Skills-Technology (D-BEST) reference model, able to decode DIHs' service portfolio and to shape collaborative networks in the Industry 4.0 age. However, to support an easier codification of DIH support actions, which also directly entails the engagement of enterprises in the DIH ecosystems, a method able to analyze typical Customer Journeys (CJs) is needed. Therefore, this paper proposes the D-BEST based DIH CJ analysis method, able to configure DIHs' unique value proposition, mapping on the five macro-classes of services of the D-BEST the digital transformation processes of the two main categories of DIH customers (technology end-users and technology providers). The method analyses the service provision process of single DIHs, evidencing their strengths and weaknesses, and is also effective in suggesting possible collaborations and joint service provision in a network of multiple DIHs, being able to unveil the commonalities and complementarities among the different journeys
Challenges in waste electrical and electronic equipment management: A profitability assessment in three European countries
Full text linkWaste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is known as an important source of secondary raw materials. Since decades, its treatment allowed to recover great amounts of basic resources. However, the management of electronic components embedded in WEEE still presents many challenges. The purpose of the paper is to cope with some of these challenges through the definition of an economic model able to identify the presence of profitability within the recovery process of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs). To this aim, a set of common economic indexes is used within the paper. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis on a set of critical variables is conducted to evaluate their impact on the results. Finally, the combination of predicted WEEE volumes (collected during the 2015-2030 period) in three European countries (Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) and related economic indexes quantify the potential advantage coming from the recovery of this kind of waste in the next future
Circular economy-oriented simulation: A literature review grounded on empirical cases
No full textNowadays, manufacturers are increasingly impelled in adopting Circular Economy (CE) strategies and consistently adequating their business models to more environment-oriented practices. However, several barriers can be encountered during the transition from linear to circular behaviours. Here, simulation methods can play a strategic role in supporting companies during the assessment of potential solutions to make their products’ lifecycle circular. To this aim, simulation (as part of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies), have been detected through a literature review as one of the main technologies supporting CE. Basing on results, the End-of-Life (EoL) stage seems to play a strategic role within CE practices, with disassembly processes as the enabler for most of these circular strategies (e.g. reuse, reman, recycle, etc.). Moreover, a big focus is on how to foster CE through the improvement of disassembly processes of Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEEs) and Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). Hence, a deeper analysis of how simulation approaches can contribute to enhance these processes is presented, by defining those technologies needed to improve specific product lifecycle stages
Evaluating the smart maturity of manufacturing companies along the product development process to set a PLM project roadmap
No full textFor manufacturers investing in Industry 4.0 technologies could not be enough to be competitive. They also need to assess their actual digital status quo and to evaluate how these technologies support their product development process. Different methods and maturity models exist in literature helping practitioners to evaluate the maturity of either their smart manufacturing level or their design and engineering process and to analyse the wastes along their development process. Nevertheless, a coalescence of these tools is still missing. The paper aims at proposing a systematic and integrated methodology evaluating a company under the two-fold level of digital and lean maturity, also supported by a benchmark analysis. The final aim is to set and adequately ground a PLM project roadmap for companies willing to approach digitisation. Three application cases, business to business engineering to order Italian companies engineering and developing advanced industrial machineries, have been selected to validate the research
Exploring How Design Can Contribute to Circular Economy Through Design for X Approaches
No full textDesign plays a strategic role for companies in addressing servitization and Circular Economy (CE) paradigms, to deliver either products, or services or Product-Service Systems (PSSs). Design for X (DfX) practices, belonging to concurrent engineering approach, have revealed great effectiveness in enriching products with functionalities as service supportability and circularity. They have been also used to systematize PSSs components along the design process, enabling and easing design knowledge creation and sharing between product and service designers. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the abundance of DfX approaches related with the End of Life (EoL) stage, they still lack of a CE perspective. Therefore, this paper wants to explore how design can contribute to CE through the use of DfX approaches
Circular Business Models Identification
No full textThe main objective of FENIX is demonstrating the benefits coming from the adoption of CE practices through a set of circular business models adequately configured within the project. These CBMs have been selected basing on the three use cases requirements pertaining to different industrial streams (metal powders, 3D-printed jewels and advanced filaments for 3D printing applications). The chapter starts with a literature assessment of both current CBMs and current CBM classification methods. Subsequently, existing CBMs have been mapped basing on the most common classification method (i.e. the ReSOLVE framework), evidencing the most suitable CBMs to be adopted in FENIX. In parallel, a literature assessment of industrial benefits expected from the adoption of CE practices have been implemented. Subsequently, FENIX industrial partners have been interviewed in order to select the most relevant benefits expected from the project. A final comparison of available CBMs and expected benefits allowed to select the most suitable CBMs to be demonstrated in FENIX
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