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Sustainability
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Distributed and Sustainable Manufacturing
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Distributed and Sustainable Manufacturing

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2021) | Viewed by 23366

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Christopher Turner

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Interests: manufacturing informatics, digital manufacturing, industrial Internet of Things, industrial sensor networks, industry 4.0, construction 4.0.
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ying Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK
Interests: distributed and sustainable manufacturing; circular economy; informatics; advanced manufacturing; artificial intelligence; design; engineering design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mariale Moreno

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Exeter
Interests: distributed and sustainable manufacturing; circular economy; sustainable product design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Increasing pressure on the environment from human activity necessitates a shift in attitudes to the way industry currently operates. Manufacturing organizations across the globe now recognize the need for reductions in waste, longer reliable usage patterns for products, predictive monitoring of industrial processes, and whole-life consideration of products with particular regard to the recycling and remanufacture of defunct products. The rise of the circular economy is one specific response to this need, promoting a holistic view of both production and consumption of goods and services. Often used in tandem with this paradigm is the Distributed or Re-distributed Manufacturing (RdM) model. Enabled by the emergence of new technologies promoted in visions such as Industry 4.0, decentralized, on-demand, localized, and customizable manufacturing provides a new route to the production of often highly customized products to a local market of consumers.

Existing business models for RdM have shown that there is a need for robust facilities in close proximity to the customer. Such facilities could be store fronts that can also manufacture, remanufacture, and provide services. This combination can reduce costs, improve sustainability, and provide customizable products and services to customers. Furthermore, the reduction in transportation and increase in customer involvement throughout the production process are key benefits realizable from the use of a re-distributed model.

This Special Issue aims to bring together works relating to redistributed and sustainable manufacturing. We invite you to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting either a case study or an original research article.

Dr. Christopher Turner
Dr. Ying Liu
Dr. Mariale Moreno
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • distributed manufacturing
  • re-distributed manufacturing
  • digital manufacturing
  • circular economy and manufacturing
  • industrial sustainability
  • Industry 4.0

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 2435 KiB  
Article
A Review of Circular Economy Research for Electric Motors and the Role of Industry 4.0 Technologies
by Divya Tiwari, Jill Miscandlon, Ashutosh Tiwari and Geraint W. Jewell
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9668; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179668 - 27 Aug 2021
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 7732
Abstract
The market for electric motors is experiencing a step-growth due to their adoption across a range of industrial sectors. This increased demand also highlights the importance of end-of-life management of electric motors and a requirement for appropriate strategies for the high value materials [...] Read more.
The market for electric motors is experiencing a step-growth due to their adoption across a range of industrial sectors. This increased demand also highlights the importance of end-of-life management of electric motors and a requirement for appropriate strategies for the high value materials embedded in them. This paper aims to offer a holistic view on the circular economy research for electric motors and the role of Industry 4.0 technologies by presenting the state-of-the-art available in literature and comparing it with the industrial perspective. The literature review revealed the absence of a methodology for selecting the best end-of-life scenario for industrial electric motors. Recycling, which is an end-of-product-life strategy, was found to be the key focus area of research. Reuse, which is a better strategy in terms of waste hierarchy, was the least researched area due to lack of information about the condition and availability of returned products. In order to capture the current landscape within the UK for the repair, remanufacture and recycling of electrical machines, a structured survey of UK based companies was conducted. The survey revealed that nearly half of the companies do not undertake any repair strategies for electrical machine components; however, there was an aspiration from the respondents to migrate their companies towards more sustainable activities. The industry survey and the review of existing literature led to the identification of research trends, challenges and recommendations for future research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed and Sustainable Manufacturing)
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17 pages, 1182 KiB  
Article
From Fragility through Agility to Resilience: The Role of Sustainable Improvement in Increasing Organizational Maturity
by Agnieszka Stachowiak and Irena Pawłyszyn
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4991; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094991 - 29 Apr 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2445
Abstract
Nowadays, due to a large number of changes in the external environment, as well as increased competition, organizations must actively support business processes. Internal management processes must be constantly improved. To understand whether a company is developing in the right direction, it is [...] Read more.
Nowadays, due to a large number of changes in the external environment, as well as increased competition, organizations must actively support business processes. Internal management processes must be constantly improved. To understand whether a company is developing in the right direction, it is necessary to conduct a maturity assessment. The directions of changes in enterprises should be well designed and based on analysis of the gap between the present and expected state definition. The diagnosis for the present state definition should be holistic, reliable and for the expected state-based strategy and goal recognition. Hence, the goal of the paper is to present the methodology of a company’s self-assessment and definition of an individualized improvement strategy to strengthen the company’s ability to thrive and prosper. The paper includes a presentation of the diagnosis methodology based on maturity models and the resilience concept and its validation based on experts’ opinions and a case study. Companies need a diagnosis to know where they are, and guidance to move in the right direction, which makes the results of the research utilitarian. The methodology can be used for self-assessment, benchmarking and designing an improvement strategy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed and Sustainable Manufacturing)
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16 pages, 1552 KiB  
Article
Distributed Manufacturing: A New Digital Framework for Sustainable Modular Construction
by Chris Turner, John Oyekan and Lampros K. Stergioulas
Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1515; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031515 - 01 Feb 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5024
Abstract
This paper explores the notion of the modular building construction site as an applied instance of redistributed manufacturing; in so doing, this research seeks to reduce the environmental footprint of building sites, treating them as small digitally connected subunits. In seeking to provide [...] Read more.
This paper explores the notion of the modular building construction site as an applied instance of redistributed manufacturing; in so doing, this research seeks to reduce the environmental footprint of building sites, treating them as small digitally connected subunits. In seeking to provide a whole lifecycle appreciation of a construction project, it is noted that the presence of a framework to provide guidance on the consideration of Internet of Things (IoT) data streams and connected construction objects is currently lacking. This paper proposes use of embedded IoT enabled sensing technology within all stages of a modular building lifecycle. An expanded four-phase model of intelligent assets use in construction is proposed along with an outline of the required data flows between the stages of a given building’s entire lifecycle that need to be facilitated for a BIM (Buildings Information Modelling) representation to begin to describe a building project as a sustainable asset within the circular economy. This paper also describes the use of concrete as a modular sensing structure; proposing that health monitoring of the material in situ along with the recoding of environmental factors over time could help to extend the longevity of such structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed and Sustainable Manufacturing)
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Review

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22 pages, 503 KiB  
Review
The Role of Urban Manufacturing for a Circular Economy in Cities
by Tanya Tsui, David Peck, Bob Geldermans and Arjan van Timmeren
Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010023 - 22 Dec 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 7239
Abstract
In recent years, implementing a circular economy in cities (or “circular cities”) has been proposed by policy makers as a potential solution for achieving sustainability. One strategy for circular cities is to reintroduce manufacturing into urban areas (or “urban manufacturing”), allowing resource flows [...] Read more.
In recent years, implementing a circular economy in cities (or “circular cities”) has been proposed by policy makers as a potential solution for achieving sustainability. One strategy for circular cities is to reintroduce manufacturing into urban areas (or “urban manufacturing”), allowing resource flows to be localized at the city scale. However, the extent to which urban manufacturing contributes to circular cities is unclear in existing literature. The purpose of this paper is therefore twofold: to understand whether urban manufacturing could contribute to the circular economy, and to understand the drivers and barriers to circular urban manufacturing. By reviewing existing literature and interviewing experts, we identified the caveats for the contribution of urban manufacturing to circular cities, as well as the spatial, social, and material-related drivers and barriers for circular urban manufacturing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Distributed and Sustainable Manufacturing)
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