Application of environmentally conscious manufacturing strategies for an automotive component

Application of appropriate environmentally conscious manufacturing strategies enables the sustainable development of products and processes. Automotive component manufacturers recognise the potential of applying appropriate strategies for attaining Triple Bottom Line benefits. In this context, three strategies such as eco-efficiency, waste minimisation and material efficiency are being applied to minimise environmental impacts associated with the manufacture of automotive products and its associated processes. A case study of an automotive component manufacturing firm has been exemplified. After conducting the study, the potential environmental impact was reduced by 20% and eco-efficiency was improved by 13%. Further, improvements have been observed in terms of overall resource consumption and material efficiency. The overall power consumption was reduced by 18% and weight of the component was reduced by 11%. The study aimed at improving the sustainable performance of product by incorporating green and environmentally friendlier manufacturing practices.

Abbreviations: USEPA: United Nations Environmental Protection Agency; OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; WBCSD: World Business Council for Sustainable Development; Eco-QFD: Environmental Quality Function Deployment; WCED: World Commission on Environment and Development; LCA: Life Cycle Assessment     

Performance evaluation of lean sustainable systems using adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system: a case study

The modern manufacturing organisations have been adopting both lean and sustainable manufacturing paradigms to survive in the competitive environment. Lean and sustainable strategies aim at achieving productivity improvement by streamlined processes and waste elimination. The performance of such integrated lean sustainable system has to be assessed to ensure whether the strategic objectives are in line with customer value and to identify improvement opportunities that enable and enhance the competitive advantage of an integrated lean sustainable system. This paper presents the formulation of conceptual performance evaluation model to assess lean sustainable systems. Appropriate performance indicators have been identified and adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system approach is used to evaluate lean sustainability. A case of automotive component manufacturing firm in Indian scenario is exemplified. Based on the evaluation, lean sustainability index was computed and the firm was found to be ‘Averagely Lean Sustainable’. Further improvement actions to enhance the lean sustainable performance were planned and implemented. The developed performance evaluation model is capable of effectively evaluating the lean sustainable performance of manufacturing firms and has more practical relevance.     

Modelling and analysis of sustainable manufacturing system using a digraph-based approach

Abstract

Sustainable manufacturing practices have many benefits like cleaner production, resource efficiency along with economic benefits. Sustainable manufacturing practices focuses on four dimensions environment, economy, business and society. The effective deployment of sustainable concepts mostly depends on interaction of these sustainable dimensions. In this study, an attempt on assessment through modelling has been presented. Mostly two factors determine the sustainable performance of organisation: the performance of the criteria is identified under four dimensions (inheritance) and their interaction (interdependency) among each other. Thus, graph theory-based modelling has been done considering both inheritance and interdependency for computing Overall Organisation Sustainability (OOS) score. Finally, permanent scores for matrices obtained from experts’ team have been computed. OOS score for the organisation has been computed and is compared with the scores of hypothetical scenarios. Through the comparison with hypothetically generated practical best and worst-case scenario, insights have been derived.     

Decision support for sustainable manufacturing using decision guidance query language

Sustainability has become a very significant research topic as it impacts many different manufacturing industries. Therefore, the technologies for monitoring, analysing, evaluating and optimising the sustainability performance of manufacturing processes and systems are very critical for decision makers on the shop floor. This paper introduces a decision guidance management system that provides actionable recommendations through quantitative analysis of the sustainability measures of manufacturing processes and systems based on life cycle assessment. The system determines decision preferences through dynamically collected data and decision makers' responses, taking into account the prevailing constraints. Optimal decisions can be derived using mathematical and constraint programming. By using decision guidance query language, this methodology allows users to make optimal decisions without an extensive mathematical or operations research background. Knowledge of relational databases is sufficient for a user to formulate the optimisation problem and obtain optimal solutions. The methodology is demonstrated with a machining operation case study, in which a list of sustainability metrics are identified and sustainability modelling methods are proposed. Important sustainable machining performance measures are optimised, resulting in actionable recommendations.     

Evaluating efforts to build sustainable WEEE reverse logistics network design: comparison of regulatory and non-regulatory approaches

Many developing countries such as Turkey are still making an effort on building an infrastructure for waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) reverse logistic network design (RLND) processes. It is obvious that policies/laws/regulations related to WEEE management provide a sustainable framework for implementation in the RLND. The question is here: Does the implementation of WEEE directives make sense in terms of reducing the total cost of the network in the long term? This study aims to compare regulatory and non-regulatory situations of WEEE RLND in developing countries by formulating two models named as ‘regulatory’ and ‘non-regulatory’. Model 1 is considered as sustainable with economic, environmental and social goals, and the quotas imposed by the environmental directive are taken into consideration as the data of product return amount. In Model 2, only economic goal is considered, and product return amount is forecasted using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). A case study is conducted in a recycling company in order to evaluate performance of the proposed models. This study contributes to the relevant literature by (1) comparing the regulatory and non-regulatory situations RL models explicitly and (2) proposing ANN model to forecast EEE product return or WEEE quantity for non-regulatory situation.     

Screening of process alternatives based on sustainability metrics: comparison of two decision-making approaches

Importance of sustainability concerns demands consideration of sustainability design criteria in early stages of process design. Most often there are several alternatives for a particular process which must be compared in terms of sustainability metrics to select the most sustainable design. There are several tools available for evaluation of process alternatives in terms of sustainability concerns. However, there is a need for a screening method which enables engineers to compare and select several alternatives in terms of a multitude of metrics and also incorporate their preferences if required. This study utilizes a recently developed sustainability evaluator for process evaluation and compares overall impact factor method for process screening with a novel fuzzy-based approach. The applicability of the proposed method is demonstrated though application of the methodology on ibuprofen case study to select the most sustainable design.     

Performance analysis of a new sustainable evaporative cooling pad made from coconut coir

This paper reports a performance analysis for a new sustainable engineering application to beneficially reuse an abundant agricultural waste, coconut coir (Cocos nucifera), in evaporative cooling pads. Two small coconut coir pads of different configurations were fabricated and tested using a laboratory‐scale experimental arrangement. The air supply velocity was controlled and varied between 1.88 and 2.79 m s^?1. Heat and mass transfer coefficients, evaporative cooling efficiency and pressure drop across the two types of coconut coir pad were analysed and compared with those of a commercial rigid media paper pad. Results show that the cooling efficiency of the manufactured coconut coir evaporative cooling pad was fairly good (about 50%) and close to that of the commercial paper pad (about 47%). The average pressure drop across the two coconut coir pads was 1.5 and 5.1 Pa respectively. Correlations for heat and mass transfer coefficients expressed using Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are also reported. In addition, the cooling potential of the coconut coir pads was analysed using the average climatic conditions of the central region in Thailand throughout the year. The analysis showed that the air temperature leaving the coconut coir pad varied from 23 to 28°C. Commercial development appears feasible given the coconut coir pad's good performance, lower cost and its availability throughout the country.     

Sustainable polymer composites: immiscible blends prepared by extrusion of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) and polyamide6,10 with high bio-based content

Components for binary polymer blends were sought to produce an immiscible blend of improved renewable character and with good structural properties. The poly(trimethylene terephthalate) and polyamide6,10 system was selected based on the molecular structure of the molecules and the bio-based origin of the feedstocks. A preliminary study of three compositions in this system demonstrated the similar thermal properties of the two polymers as measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the ability of these polymers to be processed together in conventional extrusion equipment to produce blends with micrometer-scale domains. Dispersed phases were observed by electron microscopy near the end members. Available viscosity data and the appearance of columnar blends at the 50/50 composition suggest the possibility of co-continuous blends in close proximity to this composition.     

A framework to minimise total energy consumption and total tardiness on a single machine

A great amount of energy is wasted in industry by machines that remain idle due to underutilisation. A way to avoid wasting energy and thus reducing the carbon print of an industrial plant is to consider minimisation of energy consumption objective while making scheduling decisions. To minimise energy consumption, the decision maker has to decide the timing and length of turn off/turn on operation (a setup) and also provide a sequence of jobs that minimises the scheduling objective, assuming that all jobs are not available at the same time. In this paper, a framework to solve a multiobjective optimisation problem that minimises total energy consumption and total tardiness is proposed. Since total tardiness problem with release dates is an NP‐hard problem, a new greedy randomised multiobjective adaptive search metaheuristic is utilised to obtain an approximate pareto front (i.e. an approximate set of non‐dominated solutions). Analytical Hierarchy Process is utilised to determine the ‘best’ alternative among the solutions on the pareto front. The proposed framework is illustrated in a case study. It is shown that a wide variety of dispersed solutions can be obtained via the proposed framework, and as total tardiness decreases, total energy consumption increases.     

Comprehensive Assessment of Regional Circular Economy Development Based on Efficiency of Resource & Environment:A Case Study of Jiangsu Province

In the first, the paper gave a retrospective analysis on the comprehensive assessment of circular economic development. According to the requirement of improving resource & environment efficiency, the paper designed an analytical framework for a comprehensive assessment of regional circular economic growth, which consists of the goal, object and technical line of the comprehensive assessment of regional circular economic development. Given that, the paper discussed the criterion for choosing the assessment index, the approaches of index's weighing determination, the means of data standardization, and the reference system of assessment index value and so on. According to the framework of regional circular economic development evaluation,the paper made a comprehensive evaluation of Jiangsu Province's circular economic development. The result shows that from temporal change, Jiangsu Province's circular economic development had different stages;from the spatial comparison, there is variance among different regions, which could be divided into different types according to the spatial variance and the relation between the development of circular economy and the aggregative index number. There was a remarkable correlation between circular economic development level and GDP or the 2nd industry GDP. Finally, the paper gives some suggestions on how to promote the development of circular economy in Jiangsu Province.     

Comprehensive Assessment of Regional Circular Economy Development Based on Efficiency of Resource ＆ Environment A Case Study of Jiangsu Province

In the first, the paper gave a retrospective analysis on the comprehensive assessment of circular economic development. According to the requirement of improving resource ＆ environment efficiency, the paper designed an analytical framework for a comprehensive assessment of regional circular economic growth, which consists of the goal, object and technical line of the comprehensive assessment of regional circular economic development. Given that, the paper discussed the criterion for choosing the assessment index, the approaches of index＇s weighing determination, the means of data standardization, and the reference system of assessment index value and so on. According to the framework of regional circular economic development evaluation, the paper made a comprehensive evaluation of Jiangsu Province＇s circular economic development. The result shows that from temporal change, Jiangsu Province＇s circular economic development had different stages; from the spatial comparison, there is variance among different regions, which could be divided into different types according to the spatial variance and the relation between the development of circular economy and the aggregative index number. There was a remarkable correlation between circular economic development level and GDP or the 2nd industry GDP. Finally, the ？aper gives some suggestions on how to promote the development of drcular economy in Jiangsu Province.     

Rural women and agrotourism in the context of sustainable rural development: A case study from Turkey

As in many developing countries also in Turkey, agriculture is on the center of rural development and rural women are on the center of agriculture. Although they are main part as a major labor force at every stage of agricultural activity and undertake responsibilities such as domestic task and childcare, women do not profit from social and economic benefits proportionate to the responsibilities they have undertaken.Agrotourism is an alternative activity in the rural development process, which combines agriculture and tourism, improves natural resources, contributes the rural area socially and economically.The aim of this study is to examine the participation conditions of rural women to the agrotourism activities, which is considered as an option in the context of sustainable rural development, and to identify the possible social and economic implications of agrotourism on the rural womens life, after determining the situation and importance of rural women in the agricultural activity. This research was carried out in three villages of Kalecik district of Ankara and data gathered from group meetings and surveys.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

The implications of cultural differences in laundry behaviours for design for sustainable behaviour: A case study between the UK,India and Brazil

Traditional research into sustainable design has typically focused on reducing the environmental impact of products during the manufacture and disposal stages of a products' lifecycle. The last decade, however, has seen an explosion of research into understanding and moderating user behaviour during the use phase of a products' lifecycle; often the most resource-intensive phase. One of the biggest factors that affects behaviour is a users cultural context; however, the effect of cultural context on design for sustainable behaviour has had little exploration in this relatively new research field.     

区域农业资源开发与可持续发展——以江苏为例

我国系典型的人多地少国家,自然资源特别是农业资源对经济高速发展的支持能力相当薄弱,农业资源开发社会经济可持续发展中起着十分重要的作用。以江苏为例,探讨了农业资源开发与区域共同发展,经济国际化及科教兴省等战略实施之间的关系,对该区域主要农业资源开发前景进行分析,在此基础上提出了可持续发展战略下农业资源开发的途径与措施。