Frank Schultmann

Modeling reverse logistic tasks within closed-loop supply chains: An example from the automotive industry

In this contribution, the peculiarities of establishing a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) are presented, based on an example considering the end-of-life vehicle (ELV) treatment in Germany. Different design options for a CLSC are put up, concentrating on how reverse material flows can be handled with regard to reintegrate them into their genuine supply chains. Reverse logistics aspects are modeled with vehicle routing planning. Introducing a problem-tailored algorithm, results of several CLSC scenarios are discussed which are based on real case data, depicting measures from German ELV stakeholders.

Closed-Loop Supply Chains for Spent Batteries

In Germany, a battery decree prescribes measures for collecting and recycling spent batteries. We developed a hybrid approach to establishing a closed-loop supply chain for spent batteries that combines an optimization model for planning a reverse-supply network and a flow-sheeting process model that enables a simulation tailored to potential recycling options for spent batteries in the steelmaking industry. Our results show that almost complete recycling of spent batteries can be achieved by transforming the current structure into a modified recovery network.

Decision maps: A framework for multi-criteria decision support under severe uncertainty

In complex strategic decision-making situations the need for well-structured support arises. To evaluate decision alternatives, information about the situation and its development must be determined, managed and processed by the best available experts. For various types of information different reasoning principles have been developed: deterministic, probabilistic, fuzzy and techniques for reasoning under ignorance (i.e., the likelihood of an event cannot be quantified). We propose a new approach based on Decision Maps supporting decision makers under fundamental uncertainty by generating descriptions of different possible situation developments (scenarios) in a distributed manner. The scenarios are evaluated using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis techniques.

Using quality function deployment for technique selection for optimum environmental performance improvement

Abstract The paper tackles how a given process or technique can be improved to qualify as an environmentally-conscious one at a given budget constraint. The use of quality function deployment (QFD) for the improvement analysis of selected “Best Available Techniques” is discussed. A modified version of QFD is developed and applied to determine the emissions which need to be analysed further for environmental performance improvement. The critical emitted substances with consideration given to environmental impact potential and cost budget are reported. The target specifications used are the environmental benchmarks obtained from the comparison of emission values of the techniques. Sinter production is used as an illustrative example to apply the proposed House of Ecology and the linear mathematical model. QFD could be applied to the continuous improvement of any process or technique with some modifications.

Sustainable supplier management – a review of models supporting sustainable supplier selection, monitoring and development

In the last two decades, pressure from various stakeholders has forced many companies to establish environmental and social improvements both in their company and their supply chains. The growing number of journal publications and conference proceedings confirms this change also in academia. The aim of this paper is to analyse and review scientific literature on sustainable supplier management (SSM) with a focus on formal models supporting decision-making in sustainable supplier selection, monitoring and development. For this purpose, a framework on SSM is proposed and a comprehensive content analysis including a criteria analysis is carried out. Beyond this, in total 143 peer-reviewed publications between 1997 and 2014 have been analysed to identify both established and overlooked research fields. Major findings are the rapidly growing interest of this topic in academia in recent years, the predominance of Analytic Hierarchy Process, Analytic Network Process and fuzzy-based approaches, the focus on the final evaluation and selection process step and the rare investigation of social and quantitative metrics. This review may be useful for practitioners and scientists as it outlines major characteristics in this field, which can serve as a basis for further research.

Flowsheeting-based simulation of recycling concepts in the metal industry

Abstract This paper presents a methodology for the planning of integrated recycling concepts taking into account the peculiarities of process engineering in the process industries. Process models for certain unit operations simulated with a flowsheeting program allow to calculate mass and energy balances considering the technical characteristics and performance of a single process or a combined process chain. Based on principles of thermodynamics, this approach allows an assessment of integrated recycling strategies considering techno-economic as well as ecological criteria. The approach is illustrated with an example from the iron and steel making industry where the injection of plastic waste into a blast furnace is investigated.

Tailoring Competitive Advantages Derived from Innovation to the Needs of Construction Firms

Innovation is often classified as a cost intensive investment in the construction industry with indefinite returns. Due to the clients’ tendency to award projects based on the lowest costs, innovation is often seen as an unfeasible strategy toward the competitiveness that construction firms are seeking. This study questions whether it is indeed ineffective for construction firms to develop their competitive advantage through innovation. By the application of statistical data across 18 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and expert interviews in Singapore, innovation systems models are developed for both manufacturing and construction firms, respectively. Through comparison of both models, the results suggest that the peculiarities of the construction industry deem innovation as a poor competitive instrument for direct profits. Instead, construction firms can develop their competitive advantage through manipulating innovations that consumers are willing to pay for and inn...

Intercompany energy integration: adaptation of thermal pinch analysis and allocation of savings.

Reusing heat through process integration in heat exchanger networks has long been a key measure for increasing energy efficiency in energy‐intensive industries. Thermal pinch analysis is commonly used for a systematic matching of process streams and thus planning of optimal process integration in large chemical plants. The possible savings increase with the amount of heat and the number of integrated process streams. Therefore co‐siting of several companies in a symbiotic network opens new opportunities for process integration even in small and medium‐size enterprises (SMEs), but also introduces new challenges. Thermal pinch analysis is extended here to account for piping distances and fluctuations and limited availability of energy flows by adding additional costs for the piping system and a backup utility system in the optimization function. Cooperative game theory is proposed to derive a sharing of savings between the partners of the industrial symbiosis that is optimal for each partner and should prevent partners from leaving the network because of higher benefits in a subgroup or alone. It is argued that knowledge about the optimality of a network for each partner creates trust between the partners that is a necessary base for the long‐term commitment needed in industrial symbioses. An exemplary symbiotic network combining the production of pulp and woody biomass energy carriers is used to illustrate the proposed approaches.

A Material Flow‐Based Approach to Enhance Resource Efficiency in Production and Recycling Networks

Resource and energy efficiency are key strategies for production and recycling networks. They can contribute to more sustainable industrial production and can help cope with challenges such as competition, rising resource and energy prices, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and scarce and expensive landfill space. In pursuit of these objectives, further enhancements of single processes are often technologically sophisticated and expensive due to past achievements that have brought the processes closer to technical optima. Nevertheless, the potential for network‐wide advancements may exist. Methods are required to identify and assess the potential for promising resource and energy efficiency measures from technical, economic, and ecological perspectives. This article presents an approach for a material flow‐based techno‐economic as well as ecological analysis and assessment of resource efficiency measures in production and recycling networks. Based on thermodynamic process models of different production and recycling processes, a material and energy flow model of interlinked production and recycling processes on the level of chemical compounds is developed. The model can be used to improve network‐wide resource efficiency by analyzing and assessing measures in scenario and sensitivity analyses. A necessary condition for overcoming technical and economic barriers for implementing such measures can be fulfilled by identifying strategies that appear technologically feasible and economically and ecologically favorable. An exemplary application to a production and recycling network of the German steel and zinc industry is presented. From a methodological point of view, the approach shows one way of introducing thermodynamics and further technological aspects into industrial planning and assessment.

A composite indicator model to assess natural disaster risks in industry on a spatial level

In the event of natural disasters, industrial production sites can be affected by both direct physical damage and indirect damage. The indirect damage, which often exceeds the direct ones in value, mainly arises from business interruptions resulting from the impairment of information and material flows as well as from domino effects in interlaced supply chains. The importance of industry for society and the domino effects often result in severe economic, social, and environmental consequences of industrial disasters making industrial risk management an important task for risk managers at the administrative level (e.g. civil protection authorities). Since the possible industrial disaster damage depends not only on hazard and exposure but also on the vulnerability of a system, an effective and efficient industrial risk management requires information about the system’s regionalized vulnerability. This paper presents a new methodology for structural industrial vulnerability assessment based on production factors that enables to assess the regional industrial disaster vulnerability. In order to capture industry-specific vulnerability factors and to account for the processes underlying regional industrial vulnerability, a two-stage approach is developed. This approach combines a composite indicator model to assess sector-specific vulnerability indices (Vs) with a new regionalization method. The composite indicator model is based on methodologies from the field of multicriteria decision analysis (MultiAttribute Value Theory) and the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Method is applied to correct the (Vs) for interdependencies among the indicators. Finally, the developed approach is applied to an exemplar case study and the industrial vulnerability of 44 administrative districts in the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg is assessed.