Exploring innovation in the automotive industry: new technologies for cleaner cars

The concept of innovation has been used in a wide range of contexts and the theoretical development has proven to be extremely valuable to provide important insights into intra-market competition, strategy and regulatory policy. The automotive industry offers a fertile terrain for progress of the uncompleted theory building process of innovation, especially with the introduction of alternative fuels and alternative powertrain technologies.This paper investigates the concept of innovation in the context of the modern automotive industry, by focusing on the notion of regulatory innovation of alternative fuels and alternative powertrain technologies. For the purpose of analysing this issue, special attention is given to the concepts of radical and incremental innovation, which are applied to existing alternative fuels and alternative powertrain technologies, including hybrids, biofuels and hydrogen power. The article explores these three categories looking at representative case studies: the Brazilian ethanol experience with biofuels, the development of the Toyota hybrid vehicle and the technological development of hydrogen fuel cells. These categories have been selected because they represent the most important advances in cleaner production for the automotive industry.     

A critical assessment of motives for product recovery: the case of engine remanufacturing

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in product take-back, product recovery and the (re-)distribution of these products. The automotive sector, in particular, has a strong history of product recovery operations, such as remanufacturing. Alongside this development, an academic interest in the management of re-use, recycling or remanufacturing has evolved and developed into the field of closed-loop supply chain management. Closed-loop supply chain management, however, is only characterised by a short research history, the earliest contributions can be found on reverse logistics and were published in the early 1990s. Due to the novelty of the field there are still a large number of unsolved research problems. One of these is the question for the rationale behind product recovery operations. This research is based on in-depth case studies within the remanufacturing facilities of a major European Vehicle Manufacturer. The article examines whether the ‘classic’ motives for product recovery are applicable to automotive remanufacturing. It concludes with a summary of the contributions this research makes to theory, to industry and to future research in the field.     

Road transport and urban air quality in China

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Product service systems in the automobile industry: contribution to system innovation?

This article investigates the actual and potential contribution that product service systems (PSSs) can make in moving beyond incremental technological improvements towards a focus on behavioural changes and system innovation in the automobile industry. It begins by discussing the means by which existing and planned PSS initiatives can be evaluated in terms of their contribution towards innovation at the system level in the automotive industry. Building on and expanding earlier work, it is suggested that they should be assessed against an expanded set of five key evaluative criteria including: evidence of ‘higher-order’ learning amongst stakeholders; changes in infrastructure and institutional practice; changes in vehicle design, manufacture and end-of-life management; changes in vehicle ownership structure; and changes in modes of producer–user interactions. Following this discussion, the article provides a structured overview of some current and planned PSS initiatives at the empirical level in the automotive industry. The identified initiatives are then assessed against the key evaluative criteria in an effort to reveal their actual or potential contribution to meeting the sustainability challenges of the automotive industry. Based on this exercise, it is argued that since most current initiatives do not unify these key elements of a PSS in a single coherent system they do not constitute ‘complete’ versions of PSS, and therefore, fail to deliver the full range of envisaged benefits in contributing towards system innovation. The article concludes by outlining some key areas for future research into potential strategies to address such challenges.     

我国汽车尾气污染状况及其控制对策分析

随着我国汽车工业的快速发展和机动车拥有量的快速增长,汽车尾气污染给城市环境带来巨大的影响,由此引起的氮氧化物型污染有可能代替煤烟型污染成为城市主要大气污染源。目前国内各大城市机动车排气污染危害日益严重,一些城市潜在着发生光化学烟雾的危险,ＮＯｘ已经成为北京、广州、上海、武汉等一些城市的主要污染物,其它一些城市ＮＯｘ污染的严重程度也在提高。造成汽车尾气严重污染的原因主要是汽车工业落后、尾气控制水平低     

Environmental life-cycle impacts of CRT and LCD desktop computer displays

Final impact results from an industry-wide environmental life-cycle assessment of cathode ray tube (CRT) and liquid crystal display (LCD) computer monitors are presented for 20 environmental impact categories. Considering the entire life cycle of each monitor, water eutrophication and aquatic ecotoxicity impacts for the baseline analysis were greater for the LCD while all other impact categories (e.g., resource use, energy, ozone depletion, landfill space use, human health toxicity) were greater for the CRT. Energy inputs from CRT glass manufacturing, for which there was some uncertainty in the data, drive many of the CRT impacts. Modifying the glass energy data based on comparison to secondary data resulted in nine of the 20 impact categories having greater relative life-cycle impacts for the LCD than the CRT. When comparing the manufacturing stages of each monitor type in the baseline scenario, the LCD has greater relative burdens on the environment in eight categories. Energy, global warming, and human health toxicity impacts are also presented in greater detail, showing contributions from each life-cycle stage. This study's results can allow industry to focus on frit manufacturing, PWB manufacturingimprovements can be made.     

Manufacturing actor’s LCA

Modern industrial environmental management encompasses life-cycle thinking. This entails considering not only the emissions and resource use of the company’s production processes, but also the environmental consequences of all processes related to a product’s life cycle. However, no single actor can influence the whole life cycle of a product. To be effective, analysis methods intended to support improvement actions should therefore also consider the decision makers’ power to influence.Regarding the life cycle of a product, there are at least as many perspectives on life-cycle thinking as there are actors. This paper presents an approach with which manufacturing decision makers can sharpen the focus in life-cycle assessment (LCA) from a conventional ‘products or services’ emphasis to a company’s manufacturing processes. The method has been developed by combining knowledge gained from earlier LCA studies with new empirical findings from an LCA study of an SKF manufacturing line.We demonstrate how system boundaries and functional units in an LCA can be defined when adding the perspective of a manufacturing decision maker to the product life-cycle perspective. Such analysis helps manufacturing decision makers identify improvement potentials in their spheres of influence, by focusing on the environmental consequences of energy and material losses in manufacturing rather than merely accounting for the contributions of individual stages of the life cycle to the overall environmental impact. The method identifies and directly relates the environmental consequences of emissions or raw material inputs in the product life cycle to manufacturing processes. In doing so, the holistic systems perspective in LCA is somewhat diminished in favor of the relevance of results to manufacturing decision makers.     

Remanufacturing for the automotive aftermarket-strategic factors: literature review and future research needs

While the concepts of remanufacturing and reverse logistics are gaining popularity in practice, the available literature and theory on strategic decision making in these areas are limited. This paper is designed to address this gap, in particular, for the automotive industry aftermarket. In doing so, the authors reviewed literature pertaining to: customer demand(s), product design and development, cost-benefit analysis of reman, core (i.e., used product) supply management, reman competencies and skills, product life cycle strategies, reman and reverse logistics network design, relationships among key stakeholders, environmental considerations, regulations, and impact of emerging economies. The literature findings along with our experience in working with automotive reman products were used as inputs to guide the formulation of seven major propositions for the strategic factors in decision making within reman. The propositions were then tested through a case study. The case study reconfirmed many of the factors like product life cycle, regulations, etc. from the literature review and also identified new factors like OE customer requirements. Our results provide a foundation for further research for companies that deal with Original Equipment (OE) Sales, Original Equipment Service (OES), as well as Independent Aftermarket (IAM) business in the automotive industry.     

Integrating carbon footprint into supply chain management: the case of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) in the automobile industry

The purpose of this paper is to improve our understanding of carbon footprint within the context of automobile supply chain management. The case study approach is employed as a research method. Primary data were collected through site visits and extensive interviews with HMC’s corporate and plant management. First, identification and measurement of direct and indirect carbon footprint is critical for mitigating supply chain risks. Second, setting the system boundary of measurement is another important issue to integrate the issue of carbon footprint into supply chain management. Third, developing a map of product carbon footprint facilitates identification and measurement of carbon emissions across the supply chain. Companies today operate in a carbon-constrained world. In particular, the automobile industry is under pressure to take a close look at its product carbon footprint. Managing the downstream consequences of the use of its products and inputs from upstream suppliers is critical for developing carbon risk-mitigated supply chain management. This paper is of benefit to academics and managers by providing a new way to integrate carbon emissions in supply chain management. Since climate change and carbon footprint present challenges to many industries, increasing our understanding of how to integrate carbon footprint in supply chain management is necessary, but has seen little research in the automobile industry.     

From cleaner production to sustainable production and consumption in Australia and New Zealand: achievements,challenges, and opportunities

The objective of this special issue is to showcase what Cleaner Production (CP) practitioners and scholars in Australia and New Zealand have accomplished to date, and how they hope to progress in the coming decades. The contributions to this special issue have been grouped under three main categories: sectoral, regional, and CP methods and tools. These contributions suggest that the CP debate has moved on from anecdotal justification of CP through case studies to diffusing and broadening CP practices so that they fulfil their role as effective components of a viable, sustainable society. The continued evolution of CP methods and tools in Australia and New Zealand is a good indicator of such a trend. Papers in all three categories identify and present responses to the challenges faced in ensuring that CP activities are both linked to and informed by policy-making and that they support and enhance decisions made in pursuit of sustainable production.     

An inter-sectoral comparison of green supply chain management in China: Drivers and practices

The issue of green supply chain management (GSCM) has received increased attention in recent years among manufacturing practice and research. Yet, the corporate and environmental manufacturing issues in developing countries have not been as well investigated. This paper compares drivers and practices of GSCM in one developing country, China, focusing on three typical sectors, the automobile industry, the thermal power plants and the electronic/electrical industry. We sought to determine where the differences occur and which industries are further along. This study indicates that Chinese companies in different industries have differing drivers and practices. We tend to confirm that globalization and China's entry into the world trade organization have helped promote GSCM practices in manufacturing enterprises.     

Sustainability of seafood production and consumption: an introduction to the special issue

This paper provides an introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production on “The Sustainability of Seafood Production and Consumption”. The purpose of the special issue is to bring together a series of papers that will form a nucleus for the growth of an emerging area of scholarship. Overfishing and marine habitat damage have generated a global crisis in the production of seafood. In order to respond to this crisis we need systems for the management of seafood production and consumption that will comprehensively reduce and eventually eliminate wastefulness in both capture fisheries and aquaculture systems. Thirteen papers address these issues, with focuses on: seafood harvesting practices, fish processing, life cycle assessment, eco-efficiency, management of wastes, seafood distribution and consumption, total energy costs, eco-labeling, and the conservation of resources and biodiversity. We conclude that major changes are required in our approaches to the management of both the marine environment and our seafood capture and production systems. We also conclude that steps have been taken in this direction, but there is still far to go.     

A project-based Mine Closure Model (MCM) for sustainable asset Life Cycle Management

Responsible Life Cycle Management (LCM) of mines has received much attention in the South African legislation. However, there is currently a mis-alignment between the mining industry and the various government authorities pertaining to the issue of mine closure or end-of-life management. The main reasons for this are unclear and unformulated approaches to rehabilitation with a subsequent legacy of unsuccessful mine closures that have wrongly been issued by the government from a sustainability perspective; this has posed an excessive economical burden for the mining industry. In this paper, a Mine Closure Model (MCM) based on project management principles, including risk management and concurrent engineering, is proposed to manage the closure process and assist the governing body with the effective evaluation of closures and the issuance of certificates. Mine closure or rehabilitation objectives can be achieved whilst managing the resources (of industry) optimally and aligning the closure process to meet the end requirements of stakeholder groups.     

内高压成形技术现状与发展趋势

介绍了内高压成形原理、工艺分类、优点、应用范围和适用材料 ,综述了国外内高压成形在工业领域尤其汽车工业的应用情况 ,给出了用内高压成形制造的典型结构件、枝杈管件、异形管件和空心轴类件。详细介绍了国内研制的 4 0 0MPa内高压成形机参数及在该设备上试制的铝合金管件、不锈钢管件、空心阶梯轴和轿车后轴纵臂等内高压成形件。最后探讨了内高压成形需要深入研究的课题和发展趋势     

Modularised eco-innovation in the auto industry

The article explores the integration of alternative drivetrain solutions in the automotive industry. The article includes an analysis of the structure of the conventional automotive value chain and presents four examples of alternative vehicle designs. The article concludes that the component sharing across drivetrain solutions such as the battery electric, the hybrid and the fuel cell system opens a window of opportunity for modular design strategies that may make integration into the otherwise locked conventional production system possible.     

Critical perspectives of sustainable development research and practice

Sustainable development has been intensely debated for more than twenty years, but real progress of our societies to become more sustainable is very slow. Therefore this special issue provides a forum for critical perspectives of Sustainable Development Research and Practice. The papers are grouped into three clusters: a. Sustainability Science, b. Economic Problems and c. Corporate Contributions to Sustainable Development.Although a single special issue cannot address the entire array of issues pertaining to progress of sustainability related research, the selected papers highlight special aspects of sustainability research either due to their theoretical contributions or because they report on valuable empirical evidence. The main goal of sustainability research should be to contribute to our understanding of sustainability problems and to develop and help to implement solutions to solve them. This can be described as the relevance of sustainability research. A precondition to gain relevance is the rigor of sustainability science: it has to be based on solid scientific principles and methods. Additionally it has to be regarded that Sustainable Development is dynamic and that it has both normative and practical aspects. It is concluded that sustainability science and practice should be based upon these four central aspects: rigor, relevance, normative aspects and dynamic     

Aftermarket remanufacturing strategic planning decision-making framework: theory & practice

The authors of this paper offer an aftermarket, remanufacturing (or reman) decision-making framework (RDMF), developed, based on a comprehensive set of strategic factors (Subramoniam et al., 2009a) derived from an in-depth literature review and case studies. RDMF is also grounded on results from an industry survey and related theory. The survey targeted Original Equipment (OE) suppliers that are involved in automotive OE production and also provide remanufactured (or reman) parts for the aftermarket, which includes the Original Equipment Service (OES) and/or the Independent Aftermarket (IAM) business. A response rate of 42% was obtained for the survey; the respondents were business unit managers or chief engineers from 18 companies in the United States and Europe who are actively involved in the reman businesses. The survey results helped the authors of this paper to prioritize and confirm the strategic decision-making factors from previous research. The key factors considered to be important by more than 50% of the survey respondents, constituting roughly 79% of the strategic factors were then incorporated into RDMF. The RDMF will be useful for aftermarket supplier companies in general and in particular, will be useful for automotive suppliers, involved with OE and aftermarket production.     

Cleaner manufacture of multipurpose batch chemical and biochemical plants. Scheduling and optimal choice of production recipes

This study presents an approach for cleaner management of multipurpose batch chemical or biochemical plants. Given that manufacture of most of the products could be carried out in multiple ways depending on chosen production recipes, the scheduling framework is extended by involving the choice of appropriate production recipes. Using as optimization criteria the Global or Local Environmental Impact Assessments defined in Minimum Environmental Impact Methodology, the mathematical formulation that results in multi-objective optimization problems is presented for a special class of schedules.The approach is implemented on an example from dairy industry. Production of two types of curds by selection from two available recipes for each one of them is considered. The problem is translated to a single objective. Two most reliable solutions are obtained, which differ in chosen production recipes, milkfat content and units involved for tasks implementation. Comments on the impacts on the load of Biochemical Oxygen Demand at the end of each production cycle due to simultaneous curds manufacturing and contributions of individual dairy wastes in Global Biochemical Oxygen Demand are also provided.     

Persistent organic pollutants control strategy in China

The development of Persistent Organic Pollutants(POPs) control policy in China in the context of international concerns on POPs was reviewed. The aspects of the Chinese POPs control strategies were analyzed, and compared with those of developed counterparts(e.g. US, EU, Japan). Currently, while the legal framework on POPs management, which complies with intemational guidelines has been established, it should be improved in the areas of special POPs management, risk assessment, the precautionary principle, lifecycle management and technical support capacity. The analysis of Chinese POPs policy and suggestions for strengthening the sciencebased decision making capacity are not only useful for Chinese decision-makers, but also a case study for developing wodd and make a great contribution for the global elimination of POPs to make a toxic-free future.