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Product service system solutions encourage to share products, reducing manufacturing processes and increasing the product life. Therefore, this might contribute to offer more sustainable solutions to users, by considering the complete socio-ecological system, the context, the stakeholder relationship, among other aspects. Where the sustainability behavior of consumers and the data provided for new information and technology (ICT) devices are key factors in the development of solutions with a higher sustainability performance. Moreover, game elements and ICT have been used in different fields to engage users. The aim of this research is to investigate if a gamified approach motivates a substantiable behavior change in users of product service system solutions. Based on a literature review, a model is proposed and applied to a product service system case of a shared laundry facility in Sweden. The model was evaluated with experts semi-structured interviews and a survey with users of the shared laundry facility. Concluding that a gamified approach has a potential to motivate behavior change towards sustainability in product service system. In future research, the proposed model will be adapted to be tested in other product service system cases, with the purpose to improve it for its application in industry and education.

During the last decade, manufacturing companies have experienced an increased demand for solutions that promote socio-ecological sustainability. To succeed in the sustainability transformation, companies need to systematically and strategically implement sustainability performance in their product portfolios. Many companies decide which services, products, and technologies to include in their product portfolios using evaluation criteria related to, for example, cost, quality, risk, revenue, time, and market position. However, often, sustainability aspects are not integrated into such criteria. Incorporating sustainability aspects in the portfolio evaluation criteria could ensure the development of sustainability-promoting solutions. This should be done in the early stages of the product development process, where there is more room for innovation than later in the process. The aim of this research is to provide a better understanding of how sustainability performance can be implemented in the product portfolio process of manufacturing companies and thereby support the companies’ sustainability transformation. The research has focused on: 1) how to define the concept of sustainability product portfolios based on the state of the art and the state of practice, 2) determining the current situation in industry related to implementation of sustainability performance in product portfolios, 3) identifying the most used criteria and tools for product portfolio evaluation, and 4) determining how product portfolios are planned, implemented and managed. Literature reviews, interviews and workshops were used to collect data from seven large manufacturing companies located in Sweden, one small company located in Colombia, and several research groups and master level student groups. The collected data from industrial cases was organized, processed, analyzed, and verified to provide academic and industry background, to guide the implementation of sustainability performance in th

The aim of this research is to explore if and how digitalization and a game-based approach can improve the usability and implementation of sustainable design methods and tools in a product development process. Based on semi-systematic literature review, advantages and limitations of digitalization and game-based approaches in this context were identified. A previously developed method that guides the implementation of a strategic sustainability perspective in product portfolio development, was then selected and elements of digitalization and game-based approaches were incorporated in its four building blocks: double-flow scenario modeling, sustainability assessment, market success assessment, and portfolio development. The resulting prototype of this method was further adapted after feedback gathered through expert interviews and then tested in workshops with industry and academia. It was found that digitalization was especially useful for the scenario simulation, data management, and automatic visualization of results, while the benefits of the game-based approach were enhanced motivation, collaboration, and co-design of results and solutions. At the same time, drawbacks were discovered, for example related to decreased transparency of how results are calculated, overuse of visualization and extrinsic rewards, leading to lack of clarity and trust in the results. In conclusion, there are synergies between digitalization and game-based approaches that can improve the usability of sustainable design methods and tools, but extensive testing is recommended to avoid pitfalls that can lead to opposite effects. Moreover, recommendations were identified for how to include digitalization and a game-based approach, for example, to enable integration with other tools, maintenance and constant update, to explore the benefits of team-based assessments and collaboration, to add diversity and customization, and to link the game to the user's context, application, expectations and

During the early phases of design of new products, information necessary to guide and assess sustainability is typically incomplete. Manufacturers risk discovering the unfavorable sustainability impact too late to redirect the development. The purpose of this study is to search and review methods to anticipate the sustainability performance of new products in the early stages of the innovation process, and, together with a case company in the aeroengine manufacturing business, to develop and propose a systematic approach to anticipate sustainability performance. Following a literature review of 51 methods and research-based proposals, only five covered the social-, ecological-, and economic sustainability dimensions in the early phases of product development. Through an action research-based approach, a qualitative sustainability measurement tool, the Sustainability Fingerprint tool, was developed. This tool allows the development team in a company to systematically derive a sustainability performance from a set of criteria unique to the targeted product and/or product portfolio that is to be designed, from a set of scientifically well-established sustainability principles. The tool was applied in six different industry cases at the company, by the design teams and independent of any influence of the researchers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to learn about the usefulness, usability, and applicability of the tool. It was concluded that the Sustainability Fingerprint tool has no equivalent in the literature and was considered useful for the case company during early phase design for two main reasons. Firstly, the tool is tailor-made with defined company-specific sustainability criteria that represent the most important sustainability aspects to assess. Secondly, the support tool can be used also in later phases, thereby supporting a continued innovation process. It allows designers to anticipate a sustainability performance of the solution in: the develop

Companies need to strategically develop their portfolio and find the balance between being proactive and passive in relation to sustainability. In this study, a strategic perspective based on backcasting from overarching socio-ecological sustainability principles was used as a lens to understand how companies might adapt their product portfolios to avoid threats and exploit opportunities on increasingly sustainability-driven markets. The study shows that sustainability performance, market success, and time are key areas to be considered in the product portfolio process to ensure short-term profitability and long-term competitiveness. A novel method was developed and tested in one academic group and two companies to explore how such a strategic sustainability perspective can support the product portfolio process in practice. The results indicate that the strategic layered double-flow scenario method, including different time horizons, was supportive in identifying opportunities and avoid risks in the sustainable development process at the company., open access

Many companies decide which services, products, and technologies to include in their product portfolio using evaluation criteria, which often consider cost, quality, risk, revenue, time, and market position. Incorporating sustainability in the portfolio evaluation criteria could ensure the development of sustainable solutions from the early stages of the product development process, where there is more room for innovation. The aim of this paper is to understand how sustainability can be integrated in the company portfolio development. Semi-structured interviews were performed with experts in the field and representatives from multinational manufacturing companies with operations in Sweden. Main findings from this study include a proposed definition of a sustainability product portfolio concept and suggested portfolio evaluation criteria from an industry perspective. Future research will develop a method to guide manufacturing companies in sustainability integration and implementation in product portfolios. © 2020 The Authors. Business Strategy and The Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd, open access

Linear production is related to resource scarcity and negative environmental impacts. Circular Economy (CE) emerged for society transition towards sustainability, based on regenerative systems and multiple life cycle products. Product Life cycle Management (PLM) supports the whole life cycle with the aid of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). A literature review analyzed the role of ICT enabling CE based on PLM, identifying challenges and opportunities, active and passive PLM, system perspective, stakeholder's role, and sustainability. Concluding that ICT enables the CE transition. © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press., Open Access

During the first half of 2016, the “Niño” Phenomenon reached severe conditions in San Andres Island, Colombia. On April 2, people, mostly the Raizals, an ethnic minority group, and people from poor neighborhoods started 11 road protests asking for water. The water crisis affected, differentially, more than 14.000 people. The institutional response focused on distributing free water trucking during dry periods, increasing the water frequency, and incrementing water production. This study analyzed the crisis response and explored, in the short term, whether there was a change in access to water. In August 2016 were conducted 34 semi-structured interviews and 45 in November 2018. Findings suggest that crisis response used a conservative philosophy embedded in a technocratic perspective; as a result, it is still limited water access in the way it was before the crisis. This study contributes to the understanding of the factors that influence crisis response., Durante el primer semestre del 2016 el fenómeno del Niño alcanzó condiciones severas en San Andrés islas, Colombia. El 2 de abril, raizales y personas de bajos recursos hicieron once protestas por la falta de agua. La crisis del agua afectó diferencialmente a más de catorce mil personas. La respuesta institucional se enfocó en distribuir agua gratuita durante las épocas secas e incrementar la frecuencia y producción del agua. Esta investigación analiza la respuesta a la crisis y explora en el corto plazo, si hubo algún cambio en el acceso al agua. 34 entrevistas semiestructuradas se realizaron en el 2016 y 45 en el 2018. Los resultados sugieren que en la respuesta a la crisis se usó una filosofía conservadora arraigada en un paradigma tecnocrático. Como resultado, el acceso al agua se mantiene en las mismas condiciones que en el 2016. Este estudio contribuye a entender los factores que influencian la respuesta a la crisis.

There are high expectations of additive manufacturing (AM) as a technology to improve manufacturing efficiency and reduce material waste. This study aims to clarify the sustainability advantages and challenges of AM technologies used in industry by testing and applying a strategic sustainability life cycle assessment in the early development stage. The result showed possibilities from using the tool and some areas of certain interest regarding improvement potentials of the AM technologies, i.e. value chain management, concept design, optimized material usage, and social sustainability, open access

In October 2015, the Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) declared that the El Niño phenomenon had reached severe conditions, and later, on July 13, 2016, reported that conditions had returned to normalcy. One of the affected areas was San Andres, a touristic drought-prone Colombian Caribbean island. On April 2, 2016, there were 11 road protests spread throughout the south-center of the island where the Raizales, an ethnic-minority group, and people from poor neighborhoods burned tires, blocked streets, and held up signs saying, “We need water.” That was the official beginning of the water crisis, which had by then affected 14,000 people. On April 15, the local government, for the first time in its history, declared a State of Public Calamity, attributing the causes of the lack of water to the El Niño phenomenon. The government established the El Niño phenomenon as the only trigger of the crisis, but the ways in which the community framed and understood the water crisis were overlooked. Acknowledging the importance of the community voice, this research analyzes the way people were affected and public officials made sense of the water crisis. Thirty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted in August, 2016 with a variety of stakeholders. The results show that officials were more inclined to frame the water crisis as a problem triggered mainly by technical and natural issues. On the community side, people framed the water crisis as a problem where social issues like justice predominated. This study helps to expose and understand the complexity of the San Andres water crisis and ultimately contributes to the prevention of repeated or more severe crises.

Los politopos son objetos combinatorios presentes en diversas ramas de las matemáticas. En este trabajo realizamos un estudio de la estructura de politopos de transporte presente en el anillo de funciones multisimétricas, particularmente en la regla del producto de dichas funciones. Los resultados más importantes se obtienen examinando las matrices que aparecen en dicha regla pensándolas como politopos de transporte. El primer resultado nos dice que estas matrices se puede descomponer como la unión disjunta de puntos de politopos de transporte de 2 vías clásicos, el segundo resultado muestra una cota superior para dicho conjunto con margenes fijas y tamaño variable. El ultimo resultado afirma que cada elemento de la descomposición que aparece en el primer resultado se pueden representar como las soluciones a un sistema de ecuaciones lineales. Finalmente se hacen referencias a distintas aplicaciones de estos nuevos objetos y se plantean temas abiertos para trabajar en el futuro.