Teuvo Uusitalo

Road-mapping the business potential of sustainability within the European manufacturing industry

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the required changes, outline business potential and envisage the key steps that a networked manufacturing industry needs to take to reach more sustainably performing manufacturing in the future. Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilises a visionary road-mapping approach to study the required changes and the business potential related to sustainable development in the manufacturing industry. Findings – The results were summarised in three sub-roadmaps empowerment of stakeholders, increase efficiency and creation of new performance criteria. On the basis of the summary of the sub-roadmaps, the framework was configured to describe the opportunities and challenges of sustainable business development in the European manufacturing industry. Research limitations/implications – A clear implication of this study is that a more system-oriented approach, new models for collaboration between network actors and transparently shared network-level KPIs are requir...

Sustainable Manufacturing: Challenges, Approaches and a Roadmap

Manufacturing is an important pillar of the society providing goods and services of primary importance for supporting the quality of human life. One of the most pressing challenges facing Europe and the world is the need for a transition to resource-efficient economy. Sustainability, in a manufacturing context, means enabling a diverse pool of industrial participants to pursue economic growth without undermining social and environmental issues of workforce management, building community relations, use of natural resources, carbon dioxide emissions, waste management and product and services responsibility. This chapter discusses on the relevance of sustainability from manufacturing perspective, sustainable manufacturing definition, strategies, impacts and approaches and describes a roadmap for sustainable manufacturing.

Methods and Tools for Sustainable Manufacturing Networks—Results of a Case Study

Manufacturers need be proactive, innovative and operationally efficient to succeed in the current business environment. The transition toward sustainable manufacturing requires new approaches in the design, manufacture and use of products and services. These approaches need to take into account the network of stakeholders who influence and can be influenced by the sustainability of the product in the course of its life cycle. This paper presents results of a case study that used and tested methods and tools developed for creating a sustainable business model for a manufacturing company. The main research questions addressed here are: how to develop a sustainable business model; and how to explicitly illustrate to potential customers the life cycle costs of different solutions.

Sustainability Improvements Through Efficient Asset Management Networks

Asset management supports long-term planning of physical assets and offers a structured approach for more sustainable manufacturing. Asset management aims to improve profitability of the production by supporting life cycle decision making by developing and applying optimal maintenance, capacity planning, and investment strategies. So far the impacts of networked business models and demands for sustainability have not been widely dealt with. The paper presents results from a road map exercise that aimed to identify future needs for sustainable manufacturing models, and focuses on the use of company networks for efficiency of physical assets. The main research questions addressed here are as follows: How does asset management contribute to the demands for more sustainable manufacturing and what implications the demand for more sustainable manufacturing has to asset management strategies?

An analysis of the role of risk management in sustainability reporting – a case study of 27 European manufacturing companies

The purpose of this study is to analyse the role of risk management in sustainability reporting. Analysis was based on content analysis of sustainability reports of the 27 European manufacturing companies considered as a case in this study. The findings indicate that the GRI performance indicators were 1,323 times reported. The most frequently used economic, environmental and social indicators were identified. The reported risk management processes of the manufacturing companies were compared with that of ISO 31000 to analyse the companies’ risk management approaches. This study shows that risk management already has a role in sustainability performance reporting, although more holistic coverage of different risk categories would be possible. The results are anticipated to be useful for manufacturing companies in improving sustainability reporting through risk management, while also valuable for further academic research on risk management and sustainability reporting.

Support for Life Cycle Decision-Making in Sustainable Manufacturing – Results of an Industrial Case Study

This paper presents results of a case study in which a life cycle cost estimation tool has been developed and tested. Improving sustainability requires holistic information on the life cycle costs of the system. There is a need to increase the transparency of decision-making by informing customers about the costs of the solutions when taking into consideration the whole life cycle. This benefits both the supplier and the customer in forms of showing the total costs of the system and selecting the system with the lowest total costs.

Toward Sustainability Governance in Manufacturing Networks

This paper presents a model for addressing sustainability governance in manufacturing networks. The model developed addresses sustainability governance within a manufacturing network as a process to guide the activities of all actors involved toward sustainable development and performance throughout the product life cycle. According to the model, there are three main tasks of sustainability governance: analysing, organising, and developing. These three main tasks are in accordance with company-level approaches but highlight the need for multilevel network governance.