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Engineering and Technology for Re(Designing) Sustainable Operations
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Engineering and Technology for Re(Designing) Sustainable Operations

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Products and Services".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 8844

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rodrigo Salvador

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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Technology and Didactics, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Lautrupvang 15, Building Ballerup/Room E2.12, DK-2750 Ballerup, Denmark
Interests: circular economy; circular bioeconomy; circular business models; life cycle assessment; sustainable operations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Peder Veng Søberg

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Technology and Didactics, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Lautrupvang 15, Building Ballerup/Room E2.14, DK-2750 Ballerup, Denmark
Interests: operations development; additive manufacturing; supplier development; circular business models; sustainable operations; reverse innovation
Dr. Samuel Brüning Larsen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Technology and Didactics, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Lautrupvang 15, Building Ballerup/Room E2.13, DK-2750 Ballerup, Denmark
Interests: operations management; supply chain management; circular economy; supply chains; sustainable operations; reverse logistics
Prof. Dr. Brian Vejrum Wæhrens

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Materials and Production, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
Interests: industry and production; management and organization; supply chain management; operations strategy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Large amounts of resources are consumed to make goods and products, and as a result of unsustainable operations, large amounts of waste are produced and disposed of (Salvador et al., 2021).

Organizations of all sorts need to take responsibility for the negative impacts caused by them and find ways to contribute to sustainable development. It is also important to collaborate with and facilitate the work of other partners in the value chain for more sustainable operations (Larsen et al., 2018). Nonetheless, it is often unclear how organizations can make their operations more sustainable (Puglieri et al., 2021).

Further research is needed to understand how engineering and technology can be used to design or redesign operations toward a more sustainable development. This Special Issue aims to move beyond prior research focusing on the process of bringing about sustainable operations with the use of technology and systematic methodology, thus highlighting what distinctive roles engineering and technology play in the process of accomplishing sustainable operations. Thus, this Special Issue aims to address the referred gap and contribute to studying “Engineering and Technology for (Re)Designing Sustainable Operations”. Given this focus, conceptual elements from knowledge management are likely relevant (Foshammer et al. 2022), but other perspectives are also relevant sources of inspiration in this Special Issue that welcomes manuscripts that aim to contribute in both academical and managerial ways.

Papers may address but are not limited in scope to the following:

  • Environmental, social, and/or economic assessment of operations;
  • Development or application of tools for sustainability assessment of operations;
  • Differences in sustainable operations in companies of different sizes;
  • How technology, such as additive manufacturing and other technologies, can help to make operations more sustainable;
  • What technologies can be used to measure sustainability of operations and how;
  • What engineering methods, tools, and techniques can be used to develop, implement, and monitor sustainable operations;
  • What capabilities and skills need to be developed to allow engineers to develop sustainable technology and operations;
  • Challenges and opportunities for engineering and technology toward sustainable operations management;
  • The role of theoretical perspectives such as knowledge management in furthering our understanding and operational capabilities concerning sustainability;
  • The role of supplier development in furthering our understanding and operational capabilities concerning sustainability;
  • The role of reverse innovation in implementing sustainable operations.

Dr. Rodrigo Salvador
Dr. Peder Veng Søberg
Dr. Samuel Brüning Larsen
Prof. Dr. Brian Vejrum Wæhrens
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

  • sustainable production
  • operations management
  • engineering
  • technology
  • systems thinking

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1573 KiB  
Article
A Fuzzy-TOPSIS-Based Approach to Assessing Sustainability in Software Engineering: An Industry 5.0 Perspective
by Samar Hussni Anbarkhan
Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13844; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813844 - 18 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1073
Abstract
New possibilities and challenges have evolved in the setting of the software engineering sector’s rapid transition to Industry 5.0, wherein sustainability takes centre stage. Appropriate evaluation approaches are required for analysing the long-term viability of software engineering practices within this paradigm. This study [...] Read more.
New possibilities and challenges have evolved in the setting of the software engineering sector’s rapid transition to Industry 5.0, wherein sustainability takes centre stage. Appropriate evaluation approaches are required for analysing the long-term viability of software engineering practices within this paradigm. This study proposes an innovative approach to evaluating sustainability in software engineering within Industry 5.0 by utilising the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (fuzzy TOPSIS) methodology. The fuzzy TOPSIS approach is effective at accounting for the inherent uncertainties as well as imprecisions related to sustainability assessments, allowing for informed decision-making. This approach helps in the recognition of the most sustainable software engineering practices in Industry 5.0 by taking into account a defined set of sustainability parameters. We rigorously analyse the current literature and expert views to provide an extensive set of relevant sustainability standards for the area of software engineering. Following that, we develop an evaluation methodology based on fuzzy TOPSIS that can handle the subjectivity as well as fuzziness inherent in sustainability evaluations. A case study with a software development company functioning in Industry 5.0 demonstrates the utility and efficacy of our suggested framework. The case study outcomes reveal the benefits and drawbacks of various software engineering methodologies in terms of sustainability. The study’s findings provide substantial information for decision-makers in the software engineering field, assisting them in making educated decisions about sustainable. Finally, this study helps to establish environmentally and socially appropriate techniques within the context of Industry 5.0. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering and Technology for Re(Designing) Sustainable Operations)
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20 pages, 493 KiB  
Article
Proactive and Reactive Approaches towards Sustainable Practices in Manufacturing Companies: Emerging Economies Perspective
by Haleem Fazli, Sami Farooq, Cheng Yang and Brian Vejrum Wæhrens
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 12796; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712796 - 24 Aug 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1753
Abstract
This study aims to analyse the two competing conceptual models driving the relationships of external pressure, sustainable practices, and sustainability performance. The understanding of such relationships is important in enabling manufacturers to strategically manage external pressure and engage in sustainable transition. Using a [...] Read more.
This study aims to analyse the two competing conceptual models driving the relationships of external pressure, sustainable practices, and sustainability performance. The understanding of such relationships is important in enabling manufacturers to strategically manage external pressure and engage in sustainable transition. Using a sample of 202 plants from the Sixth International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS-VI), this research tests two hypotheses: (1) the role of sustainable practices in mediating the relationship between external pressure and environmental and social performance, and (2) the role of external pressure in moderating the link between sustainable practices and environmental and social performance. These hypotheses are tested through the hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping method. The findings show the mediating role of sustainable practices in the relationship between external pressure and environmental performance, suggesting a reactive approach to environmentally oriented sustainable practices adoption. Furthermore, the results show the moderating role of external pressure on the relationship between sustainable practices and social performance, indicating that plants take a proactive approach to the adoption of socially oriented sustainable practices for improving social performance of the buying firms, whereas there is no moderating effect for environmental performance. Studies addressing the relationships between external pressure, sustainable practices, and sustainability performance in the context of emerging economies (China and India) are limited, so there is a need to address these relationships in this context for generalisation. Studies that address the sustainability outcomes consisting of both environmental and social performance of the reactive and proactive approaches to sustainability initiatives in emerging economies are lacking. This research adds to the literature by investigating the sustainability outcomes of reactive and proactive methods in two emerging countries, China and India. The distinction between reactive and proactive approaches has important implications for sustainability performance in the context of emerging economies, as the rapid growth of these economies raises a number of sustainability issues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering and Technology for Re(Designing) Sustainable Operations)
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8 pages, 982 KiB  
Communication
Impact of Water Circularity on Climate Change: Removal of Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) from Water Using Green and Simple Extraction Methods
by Andrés S. Lagos and Andrea C. Landázuri
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4176; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054176 - 25 Feb 2023
Viewed by 2025
Abstract
Climate change is impacting the severity of water pollution, and polluted water bodies have an impact on climate change. Increased precipitation and atmospheric temperature changes affect the flow of water bodies, causing interactions in the chemical kinetics of the contaminants present in water [...] Read more.
Climate change is impacting the severity of water pollution, and polluted water bodies have an impact on climate change. Increased precipitation and atmospheric temperature changes affect the flow of water bodies, causing interactions in the chemical kinetics of the contaminants present in water that should not be present in the first place. Likewise, anthropogenic activities and their waste management require urgent actions for the mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Fats, oils and grease (FOG) present in water are difficult to remove and affect the drinking water or wastewater treatment trains; that is, FOG can aggregate and clog subsequent operations and are susceptible to temperature changes. Relevant advances in FOG removal using oleic acid as a model compound submitted to a liquid–liquid extraction under menthol:lactic acid deep eutectic solvent (DES) mixture is presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering and Technology for Re(Designing) Sustainable Operations)
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18 pages, 1055 KiB  
Article
How to Identify Barriers to the Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture? A Study Based on a Multi-Criteria Model
by Moisés Barbosa Junior, Eliane Pinheiro, Carla Cristiane Sokulski, Diego Alexis Ramos Huarachi and Antonio Carlos de Francisco
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13277; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013277 - 15 Oct 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3004
Abstract
The world’s population grows yearly, so increasing food production is necessary, to meet consumer demands. This production must be clean; thus, sustainable agriculture seems to represent a solution. However, social, economic, and environmental barriers impede the adoption of this practice. Therefore, this research [...] Read more.
The world’s population grows yearly, so increasing food production is necessary, to meet consumer demands. This production must be clean; thus, sustainable agriculture seems to represent a solution. However, social, economic, and environmental barriers impede the adoption of this practice. Therefore, this research identified these barriers, according to the sustainability triple-bottom line through a literature review, and analyzed which barriers are more influential and vulnerable to influences, using the Fuzzy DEMATEL method, as well as by considering the opinions of 30 mixed crop producers. As a result, eleven barriers were identified; and “technical knowledge and qualified workforce” was the most influential on not adopting sustainable agriculture. A multi-criteria model was provided and could be replicated in further research. Thus, sustainable practices are provided, to minimize the barriers’ negative impacts and assist producers; highlighting investment and policies for training farmers to have the technical knowledge to practice sustainable agriculture. Theoretical implications were reviewed, such as an analysis of the barriers found in the literature and the lack of studies reporting on the difficulty of producers in adopting sustainable agriculture, as well as the practical implications of providing assistance and transferring knowledge, to eliminate these barriers, so that sustainable practices can be efficiently implemented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering and Technology for Re(Designing) Sustainable Operations)
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