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Opportunities for redistributed manufacturing and digital intelligence as enablers of a circular economy.

Authors :
Moreno, Mariale
Court, Richard
Wright, Matt
Charnley, Fiona
Source :
International Journal of Sustainable Engineering; Apr2019, Vol. 12 Issue 2, p77-94, 18p
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

The linear production of consumer goods is characterised by mass manufacture by multinational enterprises and globally dispersed supply chains. The current centralised model has created a distance between the manufacturer and end user, limiting the opportunity for intelligent circular approaches for production and consumption. Through a mixed method approach, opportunities of circularity are explored for the consumer goods sector. The study presents four lenses to analyse three enterprises through a multi-case study approach to explore the potential of digital intelligence and redistributed manufacturing (RDM) as enablers of circular business models. In addition, the study examines whether Discrete Event Simulation can be used to evaluate the circular scenarios identified through quantifying flows of material that determine traditional economic value (cost/tonne). The mixed method approach demonstrates that, a qualitative systemic analysis can reveal opportunities for circularity, gained through implementing 'digital intelligence' and distributed models of production and consumption. Furthermore, simulations can provide a quantified evaluation on the effects of introducing circular activities across a supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
19397038
Volume :
12
Issue :
2
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
International Journal of Sustainable Engineering
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
135961134
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/19397038.2018.1508316