Using eco-efficiency in sustainable supply chain management; a case study of furniture production

In this article, a three-step method, proposing how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can improve the environmental performance in their supply chain, is presented. The method is based on (1) an assessment of their products, (2) identification of critical processes that should be improved, and (3) identification of actors in the supply chain that should be focussed upon not only based on environmental performance, but also based on the abilities that the end producer has to influence them. This article is exemplified with a case study of furniture production in Norway. The case shows that the potential for improvement of processes under direct control by the end producer is limited. However, the three steps, as a whole, show how an SME with limited resources and supply chain power can identify key actors in the supply chains for further improvements, based on a potential for improvements of environmental performance and the possibilities that the end producer has to impose improvements.     

Eco-efficiency reporting exemplified by case studies

This paper presents current and future trends and requirements for environmental, eco-efficiency and sustainability reporting. Further it defines the concept of eco-efficiency, and describes ways of developing eco-efficiency indicators for production sites and for product chains. Eco-efficiency measures give indications both on economic and on environmental performance. These indicators are then exemplified by results from case studies within Norwegian and European industrial companies. Some of these projects have also laid the foundation for environmental accounting and reporting systems in local communities. Eco-efficiency as a tool for measuring the performance along product value chains is demonstrated in the paper. Product oriented eco-efficiency indicators are seen in the context of the international efforts on standardisation of environmental product declarations (EPDs), which are ways to report the environmental performance of products. This is exemplified with cases from furniture production value chains. The presentation focuses further on the concept of corporate social responsibility and on the challenges of how to incorporate this in future sustainability reporting.     

Fuzzy-based sustainable manufacturing assessment model for SMEs

Now-a-days, in the manufacturing, sustainability has become a necessity partly due to the threats created by traditional manufacturing practices, and due to regulations imposed by stakeholders. Sustainable manufacturing implies the creation of products that utilize minimum resources, has minimum negative impacts on environment and are safe for society at large at an affordable cost. This study proposes a fuzzy inference system-based model for the evaluation of manufacturing sustainability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In order to assess the manufacturing SMEs, decision makers’ opinion of the importance of sustainability measures and indicators and also the performance of enterprise with respect to indicators are gathered using linguistic variables. An illustrative list of sustainability indicators for manufacturing SMEs is identified considering the characteristics of SMEs. The implementation of our model for a manufacturing SME identified weak areas of performance which require appropriate strategy to enhance the overall sustainability. Based on the output of this assessment model and further deliberations with decision makers, case company is in process of selecting an appropriate strategy to reduce the environmental impacts. This model serves as a tool to assists the decision makers in assessing various dimensions of sustainability within their manufacturing SMEs.     

Approaches to chemical alternatives assessment (CAA) for the substitution of hazardous substances in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Six alternatives assessment frameworks have been reviewed for specific features that might affect the implementation of alternatives assessment and cause regrettable substitution. These features are: the assessments included, the assessment flowchart structure, the inclusion of the assessors with limited resources (e.g., SMEs) in terms of resource intensity, the tools and methods included or guided to, and the indicators. The purpose of this review was to point out the existing important differences among the frameworks and also to stress the possibility of future improvements for the application of frameworks in SMEs. In general, it has been determined that, although there are similar features (e.g., hazard assessment methods) among the reviewed frameworks, there are also serious differences that might affect the assessment outcome, such as the use of physicochemical properties, the scope of life cycle thinking, and decision methods. These differences are caused by the exclusion of particular assessments, as well as the differences among the assessment methods used and the flowchart structure of the framework that incorporates these assessments. Ideally, the frameworks should give the same results under the same circumstances. Also, frameworks usually ignore the follow-up stage of the alternatives assessment, which is an important shortcoming of the frameworks. Common approaches, such as the exclusion of assessments or the use of the sequential elimination method seem to be a temporary solution to the existing problem of the implementation of these frameworks by SMEs. Common principles and methods should be in place to be able to minimize those differences among frameworks toward an optimized framework that enables assessors with limited resources to conduct a comprehensive assessment that is necessary to avoid a regrettable substitution.     

Industrial ecology study and research program at Norwegian University of Science and Technology

This paper gives a brief presentation of the industrial ecology study and research programs at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). These programs have been running for a few years, and they have recently been evaluated. The revised program will be presented. A central topic within the framework of industrial ecology is eco-efficiency. Eco-efficiency should be a tool for measuring internal progress as well as a tool for communicating level of economic and environmental performance. Some of the research projects in the NTNU program deal with this concept. Effort has been put into clarifying the terminology of eco-efficiency, the definitions and the methodologies for selecting eco-efficiency indicators, and how they can be used for reporting purposes and as a tool for improvement measures. The paper presents examples of the use of indicators for eco-efficiency measures both for production sites and for products and value chains. The paper further gives an overview of upcoming international requirements to environmental reporting in the context of industrial ecology. Here we find different types of reporting initiatives, e.g. that eco-efficiency reports inform about economic performance in addition to the environmental performance while sustainability reports encompasses social, economic and environmental aspects, the "triple bottom line". Today we see a move from traditional environmental reporting to eco-efficiency reporting and sustainability reporting. For products, we see an international standardisation effort of environmental product declarations (EPDs). Among the research activities at the industrial ecology program at NTNU, is the search for eco-efficiency indicators that can be harmonised with the product declaration standards.     

A mediated model on the adoption of social media and SMEs’ performance in developing countries

PurposeSmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can adopt and use social media (SM) for communicating information with stakeholders with minimal cost. The ability to access and share information influences the SMEs' performance, but there is little scholarship on the association between the adoption of social media and SMEs' performance. This research aims to investigate the effects of technology-organizational-environmental (TOE) factors on the adoption of SM and SMEs’ performance in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed the TOE framework as determinants affecting the adoption of social media and SMEs' performance. The paper used a closed-ended questionnaire to gather data, through an online survey, from randomly selected respondents from SMEs operating in Pakistan. Partial-least-squares-structural-equation-modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for the path analysis of 423 responses from SMEs' owners, executives, and managers. The present study also explores the mediating role of SM between TOE characteristics and SMEs’ performance.FindingsThe findings revealed a direct positive relationship between TOE constructs, the adoption of SM, and SMEs' performance. Full mediation was found between technological factors and SMEs performance, and partial mediation was found between organizational and environmental factors and SMEs’ performance. Complementary mediation among the variables was also examined.Originality/valueThis paper has implications for practitioners and researchers interested in investigating social media adoption in SMEs. It builds an empirical, multi-dimensional hypothesized model, including several determinants that may influence the adoption of social media.     

皖西丰乐河流域采暖家具研究

从采暖家具的结构特征、家具同水圩民居建筑的渊源和隐含的民俗文化价值以及采暖家具的发展走向,来讲述皖西丰乐河流域采暖家具的物质文化遗产价值。以当地自然文化资源为出发点,结合家具用材、结构、环保等要素,挖掘民俗文化资源和地域内历史上采暖家具的基本特征,对皖西地区特定环境下,如何保护和挖掘采暖家具这一物质文化遗产提供见解。     

The industrial management of SMEs in the era of Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 provides new paradigms for the industrial management of SMEs. Supported by a growing number of new technologies, this concept appears more flexible and less expensive than traditional enterprise information systems such as ERP and MES. However, SMEs find themselves ill-equipped to face these new possibilities regarding their production planning and control functions. This paper presents a literature review of existing applied research covering different Industry 4.0 issues with regard to SMEs. Papers are classified according to a new framework which allows identification of the targeted performance objectives, the required managerial capacities and the selected group of technologies for each selected case. Our results show that SMEs do not exploit all the resources for implementing Industry 4.0 and often limit themselves to the adoption of Cloud Computing and the Internet of Things. Likewise, SMEs seem to have adopted Industry 4.0 concepts only for monitoring industrial processes and there is still absence of real applications in the field of production planning. Finally, our literature review shows that reported Industry 4.0 projects in SMEs remained cost-driven initiatives and there in still no evidence of real business model transformation at this time.     

基于竹集成材的家具产品设计技术研究

目的 竹材具有密度大、强度高、纹理通直、弯曲性能好等特点,且竹资源丰富,是建筑行业及家具产业中的重要资源之一。“以竹代木”的设计理念可有效缓解木质资源缺乏的问题,但过度依赖于木家具的设计方法,使竹集成材家具产品丧失了自身的“个性”。针对上述问题,进行科学分析,为竹集成材家具产品设计提供参考依据。方法 以竹材为基材,从材性、色彩、强度及与其他材质的适配性上进行充分分析,探索性提出几种适合竹集成材家具产品设计的策略。结论 从竹材基本属性入手,得出竹集成材家具构件轻量化设计策略;不同的工艺处理后的竹集成材能够得到不同的装饰效果,得出基于平面及色彩构成零件搭配设计方法;基于竹集成材的尺寸稳定性及与其他材质的相适应性,得出与多种材质搭配的设计策略。     

Environmentally friendly pathways for the evaluation of investment projects using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA)

Issues related to improvement in the quality of products and to environmental protection in the economic policy of many countries and in the strategies of institutions and international organisations (e.g. European Union) have increased in importance in recent years as a consequence of the increase in environmental awareness of consumers. All these institutions currently recommend a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of planned projects during the decision-making process taking into account both economic and environmental factors. It is, therefore, important to develop methods and tools to assess environmental performance as a support to a proper choice of investment activities. The aim of this paper is to develop algorithms to link the life cycle assessment (LCA) model associated with environmental issues and the life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) model associated with economic factors to permit an integrated assessment of investment projects. The combination of LCA and LCCA results enables the assessment of ongoing or planned investments and should be used as a priority in making strategic decisions. In this paper, three environmentally friendly pathways (algorithms) using LCA–LCCA indicators as a support for decision-making processes were proposed: the first for implementing any environmental investments, the second for modernisation and innovation investments, and the third for new investments.     

Relationships between solid waste management performance and environmental practice adoption in Welsh small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

For small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs), the determination of whether the adoption of environmentally supportive practices relates to good environmental performance has only been scarcely investigated. By using an empirical sample of 299 Welsh SMEs, this paper investigates just this issue. SMEs that have adopted five environmental practices and those that have not are compared as well as their environmental and economic performance using solid waste management activities. The results show that those organizations that have not adopted these practices perform better on environmental performance measures. The explanation, for what seems like a counterintuitive result, may be due to a reactive adoption of these practices to help mitigate poor performance on solid waste management practices. Additional insights and managerial implications are presented since these results will help identify methods to aid SMEs further in the adoption of environmentally supportive practices.     

A sustainability-oriented multi-dimensional value assessment model for product-service development

In the product-service system (PSS), products are carriers of functions and media of services. Currently, value creation in PSS is directly related to the capabilities of the product-service solutions provided to serve customer demands and supplier business interest over time. There is a need for an evaluation approach that can identify in what manner and to what extent products and services should best be bundled in the development of a company’s value proposition. Furthermore, with an increasing focus on the sustainability profile of business operations, it is necessary to incorporate environmental impact measures with technical performance and cost measures to present a more comprehensive value assessment of product-service development. In this paper, a sustainability-oriented value assessment model is proposed as an attempt for product-service development decision support based on life cycle thinking. In this proposed approach, the fitness for extended utilisation indicators, the net present value (NPV) approach and life cycle assessment (LCA), are applied as the measures of life cycle performance, life cycle cost, and life cycle environmental impact, which are used for value assessment. A case study on a solar heating system will be presented to show how the assessment model can be used to support the evaluation and selection of different product-service development alternatives.     

Turning Industrial Residues into Resources: An Environmental Impact Assessment of Goethite Valorization

Goethite is a metals-rich residue that occurs during zinc production. The feasibility of metal recovery from goethite has been demonstrated, but is not economically viable on an industrial scale. Therefore, goethite is landfilled with considerable economic costs and environmental risks. The goal of this study is to evaluate the environmental performance of a new valorization strategy for goethite residues from zinc production, with the aims of: ① recovering the valuable zinc contained in the goethite and ② avoiding the landfilling of goethite by producing a clean byproduct. The presented goethite valorization strategy consists of a sequence of two processes: ① plasma fuming and ② inorganic polymerization of the fumed slag. Plasma fuming recovers the valuable metals by fuming the goethite. The metals-free fumed slag undergoes a process of inorganic polymerization to form inorganic polymers, that can be used as a novel building material, as an alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based concrete. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is used to compare the environmental performance of the inorganic polymer with the environmental performances of equivalent OPC-based concrete. The LCA results show the tradeoff between the environmental burdens of the fuming process and inorganic polymerization versus the environmental benefits of metal recovery, OPC concrete substitution, and the avoidance of goethite landfilling. The goethite-based inorganic polymers production shows better performances in several environmental impact categories, thanks to the avoided landfilling of goethite. However, in other environmental impact categories, such as global warming, the goethite valorization is strongly affected by the high-energy requirements of the plasma-fuming process, which represent the environmental hotspots of the proposed goethite recycling scheme. The key elements toward the sustainability of goethite valorization have been identified, and include the use of a clean electric mix, more effective control of the fumed gas emissions, and a reduced use of fumed slag through increased efficiency of the inorganic polymerization process.     

中国材料生命周期分析数据库开发及应用

生命周期分析作为广泛使用的环境管理工具,用于定量化评价产品系统整个生命周期内的潜在环境影响,其具体应用需要大量的不同层次、不同地区和不同技术水平的相关环境负荷数据和评价方法体系数据的支撑。在系列国家科技计划的支撑下,调研了典型材料生产的环境负荷数据,开展了中国材料环境数据库(SinoCenter)的研究,建立了中国材料生命周期分析数据库平台。数据库包含公用系统,典型材料(钢铁、建筑材料、有色金属、高分子材料、联接材料)等70多个数据集,近十万条环境负荷数据,并简要介绍了数据库的主要功能及数据库的技术和商业应用。     

Identification of critical success factors,risks and opportunities of Industry 4.0 in SMEs

SMEs, as prominent actors in industry, must meet more and more complex customer expectations. Recently, the concept of Industry 4.0 has emerged. This new approach enables the control of production processes by providing real-time synchronisation of flows and by enabling the production of unitary and customised products. Our research goal is to identify Industry 4.0 risks, opportunities and critical success factors with regards to the industrial performance of SMEs. The recent emergence of Industry 4.0 and the inherent difficulty of identifying detailed examples has not yet enabled a satisfactory statistical study to be conducted on Industry 4.0 cases in SMEs. To reach our research goal, we selected 12 experts to conduct a Delphi study supplemented by Régnier’s abacuses. Our study demonstrates that the major risks facing the adoption of Industry 4.0 in SMEs include a lack of expertise and a short-term strategy mindset. Our research also indicates that training is the most important factor for success, that managers have a prominent role in the success and/or failure of an Industry 4.0 project, and that SMEs should be supported by external experts. Lastly, Industry 4.0 offers a unique opportunity to redesign SME production processes and to adopt new business models.     

An integrated sustainability performance assessment and benchmarking of breweries

Breweries are responding to some sustainability challenges but many of them find sustainability assessment and reporting to be very complex, difficult, and time-consuming tasks. Despite several existing frameworks for the sustainability assessment of companies, none of them specifically addresses breweries. They do not provide them with a transparent, comprehensive, and integrated approach to sustainability assessment, adjusted to the particular circumstances of traditional beer production. In view of these requirements by the brewing industry, this article aims to support breweries in sustainability assessment activities by proposing a methodology for integrated performance assessment. This methodology proposes environmental, societal, economic, and integrated indicators reflecting the characteristics of the brewing industry, compatible with those general indicators proposed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Although it is important to assess sustainability using several indicators, it may sometimes be difficult to make decisions based on a wide number of performance measurements. Thus, the proposed methodology gradually aggregates sustainable development indicators into sustainability sub-indices and, finally, to a composite sustainability index that tracks integrated information on the economic, environmental, and societal performances of a brewery over time. They can be used both internally, for the identification of “hot spots” and externally, for sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement. Since breweries strive to outperform their competitors, the proposed methodology enables the benchmarking of a brewery against best performance practices, as a catalyst for improvement and innovation, by providing benchmark values for each indicator. The case study presented in this article illustrates how the proposed methodology could be easily applied in practice, and stimulates breweries to test their effectiveness themselves.     

A green productivity based process planning system for a machining process

In the metal cutting industry, manufacturers have strived to increase energy efficiency and to reduce environmental burdens through the use of dust collectors and waste disposers. It is more beneficial and efficient to apply the front-of-pipe technology that prevents the sources of pollutants and minimises energy use through the redesign of products and the change of process planning and machining operations. In particular, process planning for the environment, called eco-process planning, is central to increasing energy efficiency and reducing environmental burdens because process planning decisions greatly influence machining performance. At present, greenability, a term used to indicate environmental friendliness, has been little considered as a major concern in the process planning stage because process planning decisions have focused on improving productivity aspects that include speed, cost and quality. Thus, it is essential to develop an eco-process planning approach that enables the harmonisation and enhancement of greenability performance while improving productivity performance, termed green productivity (GP). This paper presents the development of a GP-based process planning algorithm that enables the derivation of process parameters for improving GP in machining operations. The core mechanism of the algorithm is the realisation of the process improvement cycle that measures GP performance by the collection of machining data, quantifies this performance by categorical representation and predicts the performance through prediction models. To show the feasibility and applicability of the proposed algorithm, we have conducted an experiment and implemented a prototype system for a turning machining process.     

Green composites: A review of adequate materials for automotive applications

This study provides a bibliographic review in the broad field of green composites seeking-out for materials with a potential to be applied in the near future on automotive body panels. Hereupon, materials deriving from renewable resources will be preferred as opposed to the exhaustible fossil products. With the technical information of bio-polymers and natural reinforcements a database was created with the mechanical performance of several possible components for the prospect green composite. Following the review, an assessment is performed where aspects of suitability for the candidate elements in terms of mechanical properties are analyzed. In that section, renewable materials for matrix and reinforcement are screened accordingly in order to identify which hold both adequate strength and stiffness performance along with affordable cost so as to be a promising proposal for a green composite.     

A plant based LCA of high-strength prestressed concrete elements and the assessment of a practical ecological variant

In the context of the rising awareness regarding sustainability, a Belgian producer of high-strength prestressed concrete elements for structural and civil applications aimed to clarify several aspects of ecological certifications and standards, and the application of these items within the company. In a first part of this paper, a life cycle assessment (LCA) for the precast element production up to delivery on site is presented, in which accurate company information and specific data from internal and external databases is used. The LCA determines that although reinforcing steel and cement dominate the impact contributions, other factors such as transport by road, maintenance, aggregates, element fabrication and concrete waste are non-negligible. Subsequently, a study of an ecological variant, presented in the second part of this paper, shows that several adaptions within the manufacturing process can potentially reduce the impact on the environment with 20–30%, depending on the assessment method used.     

SMS for decision making of SMEs

To pursue the high environmental performance, economic and social effectiveness of the companies, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), is the key goal of the sustainable development concept. Sustainable development is based on preventive management principles, and their application in SMEs has become an important issue for enhancing competitiveness. Unfortunately, most of the sustainable development-related research is focused on large companies rather than SMEs, especially in the industrial sector. The importance of SMEs often remains unnoticed. Besides, SMEs themselves often have inadequate knowledge about their environmental and social impacts and management, and apply voluntary preventive measures less frequently than large companies. To make sustainable decisions and to improve the environmental performance, economic and social effectiveness of SMEs, an integrated sustainable management system (SMS) based on financial analysis is necessary, oriented to strategic sustainability goals, not requiring significant financial and human resources. Integration of sustainability management accounting and composite sustainable development index methodologies forms the basis of SMS for SMEs decision making. SMS was applied in three pilot SMEs (small-scale wood parquet, medium-scale wood pallets, medium-scale beverage producing companies). In this article, an extensive analysis of a small-scale wood parquet manufacturing company’s case is presented. The application of SMS enabled to identify key sustainability problems and to find solutions to improve the companies’ sustainability performance. SMS application resulted in reduced input materials consumption and the reduction of sustainability costs.