Circular production systems – the key to sustainable industry
Photo: Erlend Ekseth, Unsplash.
Circularity has long been a central concept in the sustainability debate, but the focus has mainly been on products – how they are designed, used and recycled. Now, new research at Jönköping University (JU) shows that production systems themselves also need to be designed to reuse resources and reduce waste in order to contribute to a more sustainable society.
“To meet future demands, we need to change how production systems are designed, used and developed,” says Filip Skärin, who recently completed his PhD at the School of Engineering (JTH) at JU.
A production system is a system or structure used to organise and carry out the production of goods or services. It can be found in manufacturing, agriculture, the service sector and several other areas. A traditional example of a production system is a car assembly line at a car manufacturer.
Many companies continue to use linear production systems, which often means closed, inflexible systems that do not use resources efficiently over time. These systems are often designed to manufacture a specific product for a limited period, making it difficult to adapt them to new needs.
Standard car assembly lines are built for a specific model and are often replaced when the model is phased out, leading to high costs and a lot of waste. A circular production system uses flexible design and reuse to extend the life of the product, reduce resource consumption and to ensure that the system is adaptable over time.
A change in mindset is required
Filip Skärin's thesis examines how the manufacturing industry can move from linear to circular production systems to address the climate crisis. He believes that a change in mindset is needed among employees at manufacturing companies in how they view and value production systems.
“It's about looking at the entire life cycle of the production system, and also about what to do with it when it is no longer in use. As product life cycles become shorter and customer demands change rapidly, production systems must be able to keep up,” he says.
Filip Skärin believes that the thesis is particularly relevant for manufacturing companies facing a shift towards circularity and sustainability.
“I have developed a clear description of what a circular production system is and shown which working methods can help companies use their systems for longer and with fewer resources,” he says.
Important for the industry's transition
One of the companies he has collaborated with during his work on the study is the Volvo Group.
"Filip's research contributes to our knowledge of how we can work to develop circular production systems. For us at the Volvo Group, the collaboration has provided new perspectives, but also practical benefits with concrete proposals for improved working methods. We would like to advance in our efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our production systems," says Lena Moestam, Senior Industry Researcher, Volvo Group.
Filip Skärin has also developed a model that shows how production systems can be designed with circularity in mind from the outset.
