Circular Economy in Manufacturing Industry – Challenges and Opportunities: Case Rock Drills
Saksala, Emmi (2024)
2024
Master's Programme in Materials Science and Engineering
Tekniikan ja luonnontieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2024-05-21
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202405175991
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202405175991
Tiivistelmä
Current environmental issues, including climate change, depletion of natural resources, pandemics, and geopolitical tensions cause disruptions in supply chains, uncertainty in resource availability and price volatility, having an impact on the manufacturing industry. Circular economy is presented as a solution, which companies can utilize not only in gaining resilience to the changing business environment, but also in contributing to the shift towards a more sustainable industry. The shift to circular economy will offer businesses the chance to explore novel business opportunities and co-operations in addition to increasing the efficiency in their supply chains.
This work aims to create understanding of circular economy in the manufacturing industry and in the supply chain of a rock drill – a product of the target company. The first objective was to create a literature review of the features of circular economy in manufacturing industry and recognize commonly associated challenges and opportunities. The second objective of this work was to research the life cycle phases of a rock drill and estimate the possibilities of measuring rock drill’s circularity performance. The third objective of this work was to define the cur-rent state of circularity of a rock drill to the extent that is possible and explore the challenges and possibilities related to circular economy of a rock drill. Two research questions were formed: (1) What is the current state of circularity regarding Company’s product, and (2) What are the challenges and possibilities associated with different life cycle phases of the product.
The starting point to the research was to explore the definition of circular economy and related concepts and study their application in the manufacturing industry. In addition, the role of circular economy in the Company’s business environment was explored through examining the state of circular economy in the metal industry and the prevailing legislation related to it. Existing tools for measuring circularity were explored with specific focus on ISO 59020 standardized measurement. Information of different operations and stakeholders in the rock drill life were collected and an attempt to collect data of material flows in the supply chain was made. Data availability, quality, and applicability for measuring circularity was assessed. The outlined life cycle phases and material flows were utilized in creating an overview of a rock drill life cycle and supply chain. The life cycle phases were described with related challenges and possibilities of circular economy. The results were analyzed in comparison with the literature review to create concluding insights, based on which recommendations for advancing circularity performance of a rock drill with a profitable manner were given.
This work was carried out as a qualitative case study, involving three data collection methods: workshops, expert interviews, and questionnaires. Based on the results of this work, there is not enough data available in the Company for conducting the standardized circularity measurement at the moment. The most significant data gaps originate from the use phase and end-of-life of the product. Based on the results, circularity promoting activities have already been deployed in the supply chain, but the execution is on a low scale and has not been tracked. The shift to circular economy is hindered by the linearity of the supply chain, lack of supporting processes, financial unprofitability, non-systematic execution, and the absence of guidelines and education.
Innovations and intentional including of circular economy in the business strategy promote a profitable shift to a circular economy. The technological solutions offered by industry 4.0 offer possibilities to develop the data collection process and thereby ensure adequate quality and availability of data, which for one enables accurate measurement of circularity, and enhances risk management in the transition to circular economy.
This work aims to create understanding of circular economy in the manufacturing industry and in the supply chain of a rock drill – a product of the target company. The first objective was to create a literature review of the features of circular economy in manufacturing industry and recognize commonly associated challenges and opportunities. The second objective of this work was to research the life cycle phases of a rock drill and estimate the possibilities of measuring rock drill’s circularity performance. The third objective of this work was to define the cur-rent state of circularity of a rock drill to the extent that is possible and explore the challenges and possibilities related to circular economy of a rock drill. Two research questions were formed: (1) What is the current state of circularity regarding Company’s product, and (2) What are the challenges and possibilities associated with different life cycle phases of the product.
The starting point to the research was to explore the definition of circular economy and related concepts and study their application in the manufacturing industry. In addition, the role of circular economy in the Company’s business environment was explored through examining the state of circular economy in the metal industry and the prevailing legislation related to it. Existing tools for measuring circularity were explored with specific focus on ISO 59020 standardized measurement. Information of different operations and stakeholders in the rock drill life were collected and an attempt to collect data of material flows in the supply chain was made. Data availability, quality, and applicability for measuring circularity was assessed. The outlined life cycle phases and material flows were utilized in creating an overview of a rock drill life cycle and supply chain. The life cycle phases were described with related challenges and possibilities of circular economy. The results were analyzed in comparison with the literature review to create concluding insights, based on which recommendations for advancing circularity performance of a rock drill with a profitable manner were given.
This work was carried out as a qualitative case study, involving three data collection methods: workshops, expert interviews, and questionnaires. Based on the results of this work, there is not enough data available in the Company for conducting the standardized circularity measurement at the moment. The most significant data gaps originate from the use phase and end-of-life of the product. Based on the results, circularity promoting activities have already been deployed in the supply chain, but the execution is on a low scale and has not been tracked. The shift to circular economy is hindered by the linearity of the supply chain, lack of supporting processes, financial unprofitability, non-systematic execution, and the absence of guidelines and education.
Innovations and intentional including of circular economy in the business strategy promote a profitable shift to a circular economy. The technological solutions offered by industry 4.0 offer possibilities to develop the data collection process and thereby ensure adequate quality and availability of data, which for one enables accurate measurement of circularity, and enhances risk management in the transition to circular economy.