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Despite remanufacturing being a value-retention process capable of bringing both economic and environmental benefits to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), the remanufacturing market is small, and the OEM share on the market is even smaller. There are trends in OEMs hesitating to initiate remanufacturing due to the lack of knowledge or often unjustified assumptions about how remanufacturing affects their business-as-usual. To further motivate OEMs to initiate remanufacturing, there is a need to extend the remanufacturing initiation theory to showcase how remanufacturing could be initiated in practice. Therefore, this paper aims to describe a remanufacturing initiation and demonstrate the initiation steps for OEMs by developing a remanufacturing initiation framework. The framework is developed based on a remanufacturing initiation led by an OEM of robotic lawn mowers. Based on the case study, a 5-step approach for initiating remanufacturing (5AFIR) framework—the remanufacturing sapphire—was developed to interpret and visualise the remanufacturing approach taken at the studied OEM. The framework steps consist of the following: (1) Select a product family, (2) involve actors prone to be impacted by remanufacturing, (3) iteratively identify prerequisites and assess the system performance, (4) develop a plan and industrialise remanufacturing, and (5) refine and validate the assessment in Step 3.

As environmental issues attract more concern, shifting towards sustainable manufacturing that includes remanufacturing has become a strategic solution to enable a profitable business while improving environmental performance. The aim of this paper is to investigate the economic feasibility of remanufacturing at different supply chain locations for a robotic lawn mower manufacturer attempting to expand their business. Through a case study, five potential location categories were identified, of which two were deemed economically feasible: spare parts warehouse (OEM) and decentralized (dealers). The other three alternatives were deemed inferior in comparison, or only plausible, but identified as risky through a sensitivity analysis.

The Swedish strategic innovation programme, Produktion2030, is a national long-term effort towards global industrial competitiveness addressing Swedish industry’s transition towards climate goals of the European Green Deal while simultaneously realising smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 (I4.0). This paper investigated the extent of sustainability implementation and implications of I4.0 technologies through a nation-wide quantitative survey in Produktion2030’s 113 collaborative research projects. The analysis showed that 71% of the assessed projects included environmental aspects, 60% social aspects, and 45% Circular Economy (CE) aspects. Further, 65% of the projects implemented I4.0 technologies to increase overall sustainability. The survey results were compared with literature to understand how I4.0 opportunities helped derive sustainability and CE benefits. This detailed mapping of the results along with eight semi-structured interviews revealed that a majority of the projects implemented I4.0 technologies to improve resource efficiency, reduce waste in operations and incorporate CE practices in business models. The results also showed that Swedish manufacturing is progressing in the right direction of sustainability transition by deriving key resilience capabilities from I4.0-based enablers. Industries should actively adopt these capabilities to address the increasingly challenging and unpredictable sustainability issues arising in the world and for a successful transition towards sustainable manufacturing in a digital future.

Remanufacturing is the industrial process of returning used products (cores) to a like-new or better condition. During this industrial process, the cores go through several process steps, e.g., inspection, disassembly, cleaning, reprocess (repairs), storage, reassembly and final testing. Manufacturing companies also see remanufacturing as a way to become more circular and sustainable in economic, environmental and social terms. Technological advancements within the robot industry have increased the possibilities for using more automation within the remanufacturing industry, while recently, the remanufacturing of electric and electronic equipment (EEE) has grown around the world. This paper aims to identify the automation potentials of the remanufacturing of EEE. A multiple case study at four EEE remanufacturing companies was conducted to meet this aim. The case study, along with previous research, shows examples of EEE remanufacturing steps that are mainly performed manually. The results from this research show the possible automation potential for the process steps of cleaning, disassembly and reassembly at the four remanufacturing case companies.

The consumption of resources is at an alarmingly high level, and there is a high need for resource-efficient alternatives to manufacturing. Remanufacturing is one way to reduce the use of both materials and energy, while still providing products with a like-new condition. This paper aims to define critical areas to assess when applying remanufacturing to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The research was conducted by interweaving remanufacturing’s role in a circular economy (CE) with a single case study at a robotic lawn mower OEM. The case study was split into three parts that separately investigated customer demand, product design and economic sustainability, respectively, all in the area of remanufacturing. This paper addressed the research gap in OEM strategy towards a CE with remanufacturing, defining five critical areas to assess when applying remanufacturing to OEMs: customer, product, sustainability (economic, environmental and social), business model, and production system. The findings of the paper could be useful for many OEMs willing to shift to a CE with remanufacturing.

The objective of this paper is to explore what challenges exist when setting requirements for an Integrated Product Service Offering (IPSO). An IPSO, sometimes called Product Service System, is a concept with increased interest from manufacturing companies. It consists of a combination of products and services that, based on a life cycle perspective, have been integrated to fit targeted customer needs. In order to achieve a successful IPSO, it is important to collect aspects from many actors, something which sometimes is challenging for companies moving towards providing IPSOs. The four challenges found when setting requirements in IPSO development are; identification and inclusion of relevant aspects from relevant actors throughout the IPSO’s life cycle, understanding of the underlying aspects for all requirements for all elements of the offering, prioritization of requirements, and the difficulty to track how requirements affect each other between different elements in the IPSO. The methodology used to find these challenges was a combination of a structured literature review and an interview study at three manufacturing companies moving towards providing IPSOs.

A key process in a closed-loop supply chain is managing and challenging the transportation and packaging management. Strict environmental regulations in connection with transport of environmentally hazardous substances (e.g. oil) are offering a high cost-saving potential in connection with an optimised transportation and packaging concept. The aim of this case orientated paper is to provide the framework for the management of reverse flow of materials in automotive industry. The emphasis is placed on the remanufacturing activities. To obtain and verify the necessary information for the above mentioned problems, different methods and techniques have been applied: 1) Relevant, available literature in connection with this matter was studied; 2) Data and documents was requested directly by relevant market actors; 3) The clustered data was analysed and samples were highlighted; and 4) The data was evaluated and recommended courses of action were given. The results show that the main problems appear in the area of forward and reverse logistics: Packaging concepts which do not protect the product in an optimal way (forward / reverse logistics). Moreover, packaging concepts which do not protect the environment against potential negative influence of a used part (reverse logistics) A best practice for the transportation of engine components is given and evaluated: An engine in a metal frame with oil-pan. Securely attached by bolts. Packed in plastic bag.

Remanufacturing is a viable way to prolong the useful life of an end-of-use product or its parts. Despite its economic, environmental, and social benefits, remanufacturing is associated with many challenges related to core (used product or its part) availability, timing and quality. The aim of this paper is to study how lean production could be used to tackle remanufacturing process challenges and contribute to shorter lead times. To meet this aim, we conducted a literature review and case studies of four remanufacturing companies. The case companies remanufacturing challenges were: (1) a lack of material requirements planning system, (2) poor core information, (3) a lack of core material, (4) poor spare parts information, (5) a lack of spare parts material, (6) insufficient quality management practices, (7) large inventories, (8) stochastic remanufacturing processes, (9) a lack of supply-demand balance, and (10) insufficient automation. These challenges contribute to long and variable remanufacturing process lead times. To tackle remanufacturing challenges, seven lean-based improvements with a major effect on improvements in lead time were suggested: standard operations, continuous flow, Kanban, teamwork, employee cross-training, layout for continuous flow, and supplier partnership. Providing that the suggested improvements are implemented, a possible lead time reduction of 83-99 per cent was projected. Funding Agencies|Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems [2013-03333]

When including sustainability aspects in product development challenges may arise. The aim of this paperis to expand current knowledge about challenges faced by manufacturing companies when includi ...

As service renders an increasing share of companies revenues and affects a products environmental performance, the effectiveness of the services carried out is important. The aim of this paper is to analyse the service information transfer in the service development process at two automotive companies in order to explore its inefficiencies, and to promote steps to make it more efficient in the future. The work process during service development was mapped, focusing on the information transfer, including databases utilized and types of instructions produced. The studies show that some information provided to the service designers is insufficiently detailed and some databases are incompatible, causing rework in the service development process. Further, the information provided to service technicians comes in multiple formats, causing inefficiency in the service process, and feedback to the service designers is too time consuming. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Realizing the importance of remanufacturing for sustainable development due to the large scale of the economy and its increasing pressure on the environment, the Chinese government has been strongl ...

This paper explores existing design strategies, guidelines and product features that enable functional recovery operations like repair, refurbishing or remanufacturing. A circular economy demands for products to be kept as valuable as possible for as long as possible. Therefore, recovery operations should be easy to perform in an efficient manner, which is influenced by product design. As a result of the literature review conducted, this paper presents a categorization of functional recovery guidelines for product design and identifies the need to plan for recovery at early design stages.

An increasing number of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) are realizing that their products, earlier the foundation of their success, no longer stand alone in satisfying customer requirements. Customers now demand integration of services and bundling as well as increased active participation of OEMs during the use phase. Ericsson, a Swedish multinational OEM of communications technology and services, is an example of such a company. The objective of this paper is to describe, compare and discuss Ericsson's journey from a product provider to a PSS provider, e.g. by comparison with other industry examples. Furthermore, the paper highlights future challenges and opportunities for instance regarding business models, trends and product design.

In order to achieve a sustainable development, circular economy approaches and circular material flows are explored in industry. However, circular information flows remain essentially unestablished. The aim of this paper is to: 1) explore categories and types of product life-cycle information available for remanufacturing; 2) identify constraints for efficient product life-cycle information flow via remanufacturing; and 3) propose initiatives to facilitate product life-cycle information flow via remanufacturing. Data was collected through workshops and interviews at five remanufacturing companies. An accumulated Sankey diagram illustrates product life-cycle information flow, losses and bottleneck. Based on the analysis, possible initiatives to facilitate efficient product life-cycle information flow via remanufacturing are presented. Återprodukt, KEAP2

Lean philosophy, which promotes business excellence through continuous improvement, originates from the Japanese car manufacturer, Toyota’s Production System (TPS). An area where lean has not been fully explored is remanufacturing, a process that brings used products back to useful life. Remanufacturing is often a more complex process than manufacturing due to the uncertainty of process steps/time and part quality/quantity. This study explored remanufacturing by identifying its challenges and opportunities in becoming lean. The challenges of a lean remanufacturing system do not exceed its advantages. Although some researchers state that it is difficult or even impossible to apply lean principles to remanufacturing, this research utilizes lean as a continuous improvement philosophy that focuses on improving the remanufactured products’ quality, process lead times, and inventory levels. ÅterProdukt, KEAP

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) recovery facilities have been set up for the last decade to promote a circular economy. Their activities focus on the reuse, remanufacturing and/or recycling of products. Currently, little information reaches designers regarding the requirements that these facilities have on product design. Therefore, most products are not designed to be properly recovered. The aim of this paper is to explore the nature of product life-cycle information from recovery organisations that could be shared in order to improve resource efficiency. The focus is on how information exchange can benefit the end-of-life phase of forthcoming designed products. Two levels of information have been identified, macroscopic and microscopic. Our study is illustrated with a detailed analysis of the French WEEE compliance scheme and an in-depth analysis of an IT remanufacturing facility in Sweden. Based on the cases studies we have identified current and potential information flows between different stakeholders that could benefit design for recovery.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how manufacturers can develop automatic end‐of‐life processes facilitated by product design methods, e.g. design for disassembly, recycling and remanufacturing. Also to illustrate this kind of product and end‐of‐life process development while maintaining economic and environmental values. Here, the cases of toner cartridges and liquid crystal displays are the focus.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology for this paper began with a literature study within the fields of design for automatic recycling and remanufacturing. It also includes the research performed at two different industrial companies using automation in their end‐of‐life processes. These companies were visited and interviewed several times, in order to understand their processes and what current problems they have in automation and product design.FindingsDesign implications on the end‐of‐life have been explored, and in particular, three general product trends are in conflict with automatic disassembly: products are getting more complex and more heterogeneous; products are getting sleeker; and products are using more proprietary joints. In addition, the three industrial cases describe different problems in industry and how they can be tackled. Although many manufacturers have adapted the design principles of DFM and DFE, there is still much to improve when it comes to designing for the product's end‐of‐life processes. These kinds of adaptations should increase in importance over time as more and more products and components are remanufactured and/or material recycled. These kinds of adaptations will also encourage an increase of products passing through more resource efficient end‐of‐life options.Practical implicationsManufacturers reading what design problems other companies are experiencing and what solutions can be found would facilitate their own businesses and willingness to start their own and/or improve their existing manufacturing business. This could then be in shape developing products for end‐of‐life processes which also would encourage them to start their own end‐of‐life process facilities.Social implicationsFrom a societal perspective, an increase in remanufactured products being placed on the market can increase the awareness and confidence of the consumers in non‐new products made from non‐virgin materials. This will increase the market for second‐life products and bring about economics of scale, which in turn will alleviate the problem of depletion of resources.Originality/valueMost previous research in this area treats the different end‐of‐life processes separately; material recycling and product remanufacturing are but two examples. However, in this paper the focus is more on the overall view of end‐of‐life processes, along with examples of more specific and detailed end‐of‐life processes, such as disassembly and cleaning.

We present performance of the first ALMA Band 5 production cartridge, covering frequencies from 163 to 211 GHz. Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) Band 5 is a dual polarization, sideband separation (2SB) receiver based on all Niobium (Nb) superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction mixers, providing 16 GHz of instantaneous RF bandwidth for astronomy observations. The 2SB mixer for each polarization employs a quadrature configuration. The sideband separation occurs at the output of the IF hybrid that has integrated bias-T for biasing the mixers, and is produced using superconducting thin-film technology. Experimental verification of the Band 5 cold cartridge performed together with warm cartridge assembly, confirms that the system noise temperature is below 45 K over most of the RF band, which is less than 5 photon noise (5 hf/k). This is to our knowledge, the best results reported at these frequencies. The measurement of the sideband rejection indicates that the sideband rejection is better than 10 dB over 90% of the observational band.

There has been increased focus on recycling in Sweden during recent years. This focus can be attributed to external environmental factors such as tougher legislation, but also to the potential gains for raw materials suppliers. Recycling centres are important components in the Swedish total recycling system. Recycling centres are manned facilities for waste collection where visitors can bring, sort and discard worn products as well as large-sized, hazardous, and electrical waste. The aim of this paper was to identify and describe the main flows and layout types at Swedish recycling centres. The aim was also to adapt and apply production theory for designing and managing recycling centre operations. More specifically, this means using lean production principles to help develop guidelines for recycling centre design and efficient control. Empirical data for this research was primarily collected through interviews and questionnaires among both visitors and employees at 16 Swedish recycling centres. Furthermore, adapted observation protocols have been used in order to explore visitor activities. There was also close collaboration with a local recycling centre company, which shared their layout experiences with the researchers in this project. The recycling centres studied had a variety of problems such as queues of visitors, overloading of material and improper sorting. The study shows that in order to decrease the problems, the recycling centres should be designed and managed according to lean production principles, i.e. through choosing more suitable layout choices with visible and linear flows, providing better visitor information, and providing suitable technical equipment. Improvements can be achieved through proper planning of the layout and control of the flow of vehicles, with the result of increased efficiency and capacity, shorter visits, and cleaner waste fractions. The benefits of a lean production mindset include increased visitor capacity, waste flexibility, improved sorting quality, shorter time for visits and improved working conditions. Original Publication:Erik Sundin, Mats Björkman, Mats Eklund, Jörgen Eklund and Inga-Lill Engkvist, Improving the layout of recycling centres by use of lean production principles, 2011, WASTE MANAGEMENT, (31), 6, 1121-1132.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2010.12.021Copyright: Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam.http://www.elsevier.com/

We describe the design, performance, and commissioning results for the new ALMA Band 5 receiver channel, 163–211 GHz, which is in the final stage of full deployment and expected to be available for observations in 2018. This manuscript provides the description of the new ALMA Band 5 receiver cartridge and serves as a reference for observers using the ALMA Band 5 receiver for observations. At the time of writing this paper, the ALMA Band 5 Production Consortium consisting of NOVA Instrumentation group, based in Groningen, NL, and GARD in Sweden have produced and delivered to ALMA Observatory over 60 receiver cartridges. All 60 cartridges fulfil the new more stringent specifications for Band 5 and demonstrate excellent noise temperatures, typically below 45 K single sideband (SSB) at 4 K detector physical temperature and below 35 K SSB at 3.5 K (typical for operation at the ALMA Frontend), providing the average sideband rejection better than 15 dB, and the integrated cross-polarization level better than –25 dB. The 70 warm cartridge assemblies, hosting Band 5 local oscillator and DC bias electronics, have been produced and delivered to ALMA by NRAO. The commissioning results confirm the excellent performance of the receivers.

As hardening competition in industry pushes manufacturing companies to deliver increased customervalue, communication with the customer during the use phase becomes paramount. This paperinvestigates whether warranty management could be a strategic tool for improved integrated product/service engineering (IPSE) as a firm moves from component to system solution supplier. The researchmethodology appliedwas amultiple case study, with four suppliers as focal firms, where buyer–supplierrelationships were investigated from a supplier perspective. Results show that advanced warrantymanagement, implemented as a strategic tool, can be a key to efficient IPSE.

For remanufacturing to be successful, there is a need to gain information on future market needs of remanufactured products, and match this to information on the magnitude of return flows. One of the major issues impacting remanufacturing is in the difficulty of obtaining used products (cores) that are suitable for remanufacturing. The timing and quantity of product returns is dependent on the type of product. Factors such as the mean product lifetime, rate of technical innovation, and failure rate of components all influence the return rate of products from end-of-use and end-of-life. The balance between product returns and demand for remanufactured products is a function of many variables, where the rate of technological innovation and the expected life of a product are the major influencing characteristics. The main contribution of this paper is the support that is provided in different supply and demand situations. By using a product life-cycle perspective, the supply and demand situations can be foreseen, and support given regarding possible strategies in these situations. Original Publication: Johan Östlin, Erik Sundin and Mats Björkman, Product Lifecycle Implications for Remanufacturing Strategies, 2009, Journal of Cleaner Production, (17), 11, 999-1009. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2009.02.021 Copyright: Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. http://www.elsevier.com/

In this paper, we report about the development, fabrication, and characterization of a balanced waveguide hot electron bolometer (HEB) receiver for the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment telescope covering the frequency band of 1.25-1.39 THz. The receiver uses a quadrature balanced scheme and two HEB mixers, fabricated from 4- to 5-nm-thick NbN film deposited on crystalline quartz substrate with an MgO buffer layer in between. We employed a novel micromachining method to produce all-metal waveguide parts at submicrometer accuracy (the main-mode waveguide dimensions are 90 times 180 mum ). We present details on the mixer design and measurement results, including receiver noise performance, stability and ldquofirst-lightrdquo at the telescope site. The receiver yields a double-sideband noise temperature averaged over the RF band below 1200 K, and outstanding stability with a spectroscopic Allan time more than 200 s.

Remanufacturing is an industrial process where used products are restored (remanufactured) to useful life. In comparison to manufacturing, remanufacturing has some general characteristics that complicate the supply chain and production system. For example, a company must collect the used products from the customers, and thus the timing and quality of the used products are usually unknown. Remanufacturing companies are dependent on customers to return used products (cores). In this paper, seven different types of closed-loop relationships for gathering cores for remanufacturing have been identified. The relationships identified are ownership-based, service-contract, direct-order, deposit-based, credit-based, buy-back and voluntary-based relationships. Building theory around these different types of relationships, several disadvantages and advantages are described in the paper. By exploring these relationships, a better understanding can be gained about the management of the closed-loop supply chain and remanufacturing. Original Publication:Johan Östlin, Erik Sundin and Mats Björkman, Importance of Closed Loop Supply Chain Relationships for Product Remanufacturing, 2008, International Journal of Production Economics, (115), 2, 336-348.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2008.02.020Copyright: Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam.http://www.elsevier.com/

Aims. In March 2008, the APEX facility instrument was installed on the telescope at the site of Lliano Chajnantor in northern Chile. The main objective of the paper is to introduce the new instrument to the radio astronomical community. It describes the hardware configuration and presents some initial results from the on-sky commissioning. Methods. The heterodyne instrument covers frequencies between 211 GHz and 1390 GHz divided into four bands. The first three bands are sideband-separating mixers operating in a single sideband mode and based on superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) tunnel junctions. The fourth band is a hot-electron bolometer, waveguide balanced mixer. All bands are integrated in a closedcycle temperature-stabilized cryostat and are cooled to 4 K. Results. We present results from noise temperature, sideband separation ratios, beam, and stability measurements performed on the telescope as a part of the receiver technical commissioning. Examples of broad extragalactic lines are also included.

Aims. The new APEX telescope, located on Llano Chajnantor in Northern Chile, will have high resolution spectroscopic instruments covering the wavelength region from 0.20 to 1.30 mm (210-1500 GHz). Methods. In May 2005, the first facility receiver for the band 0.79-1.07 mm (279-381 GHz) was installed together with backends providing down to 60 kHz spectral resolution. This instrument that operates in double sideband mode uses superconducting tunnel junctions (SIS) as mixing elements operating at 4 K to achieve close to quantum-limited noise performances. The receiver is cooled by a closed-cycle cooling machine that allows continuous operation. The receiver design minimizes moving parts and is fully operated by remote to improve its reliability and the ease of use. Results. The double sideband (DSB) receiver temperatures are in the range 50-70 K, which typically results in a DSB system noise temperature of about 100 K in excellent weather conditions and between 100-200 K in good weather conditions.

Functional sales have both economic and environmental benefits—especially when the functional sales contracts are used in connection with product remanufacturing. This paper elucidates these benefits and provides an argument for why products to be used for functional sales should be remanufactured. To achieve an efficient remanufacturing process, the products aimed for remanufacturing should be adapted for the process as much as possible. The analyses of remanufacturing facilities for household appliances and automotive parts revealed that the cleaning and repairing steps are most critical in the remanufacturing process. To facilitate these two steps, the product designers should focus on giving the products the following properties: ease of access, ease of handling, ease of separation and wear resistance.

For standardized environmental management systems (EMS) to be environmentally effective tools, they should affect important environmental aspects related to flows of materials and energy, which for manufacturing companies are closely connected to their products. This paper presents how external environmental auditors interpret and apply important product-related requirements of ISO 14001 at manufacturing companies in Sweden. The results indicate that the link between EMS and products is rather weak. Products are seldom regarded as significant environmental aspects and are therefore not within the main scope of many EMS, which are mainly focused on sites. However, all of the interviewed auditors require that some kind of environmental considerations be incorporated into product development, but these considerations are to large extent site oriented; how they are prioritized in relation to other factors such as economics and other customer priorities appears to be up to the companies. The paper includes some recommendations to strengthen the role of products within the framework of standardized EMS.

One of the industry sectors with the longest history in remanufacturing is the automotive industry. Remanufactured parts include brake calipers, engines, servo pumps and alternators. A big challenge for automotive component remanufacturers is to achieve a steady flow of cores (parts that are used for remanufacturing). This flow could be secured by making agreements with core suppliers, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), a core broker or another actor in the market. The remanufacturer can also choose to collect the cores without closer collaboration with the core suppliers. One crucial aspect in choosing how to collect the cores is that it has to be lucrative. The aim of this paper is to explore how remanufacturers manage their inter-organizational relationships in the closed-loop supply chain. A case study was conducted within the European research project ‘CAN-REMAN’, and empirical data was collected from six participating companies within the project, all European small and medium-sized (SME) remanufacturers of automotive components. These companies were investigated, and their relationships, defined in earlier research with core suppliers, were evaluated. A key finding of the research is that the most problematic parameter with supplier relationships is to receive the ordered quantity of cores from the supplier. This parameter is continually ranked as one of the most important, and the participating companies also claim to have problems with it. A successful relationship and take-back system was pointed out by one of the companies to never be the owner of the actual cores, and only perform the remanufacturing activity (service) for an OEM. This new relationship, called reman-contract, is where the OEM owns the core and the remanufacturer just performs remanufacturing including some sorting and storing. It was found that with this kind of relationship, the ordered quantity of cores was fulfilled to a higher degree, and thus the challenge of achieving a steady flow of cores was met.

This article presents the results of a life-cycle materials and energy flow analysis for the pulp and paper cycle in the United Kingdom. Material flows are reconstructed for the period between 1987 and 1996 for all major processes associated with the paper cycle, and system energy requirements are calculated over this period using the best available data. Attention is drawn to the import dependence of U.K. paper demand, and the significant energy requirements associated with upstream forestry processes. The historical trend analysis is then used to model possible future developments in materials and energy consumption until 2010 under a variety of assumptions about process technology improvements, wastepaper utilization rates, and changing demand trends. The results indicate that policy options to increase recycling yield some energy benefits, but these are small by comparison with the benefits to be gained by reducing consumption of paper and improving process technology. The structure of the electricity supply industry in the United Kingdom means that global energy benefits could also be achieved by increasing the contribution from imported pulp.

This paper presents the results of development and tests of a sideband separating heterodyne receiver for the 85-115 GHz band with superconducting tunnel junctions (SIS) as frequency down converters. Sideband separation is achieved by using a quadrature scheme where two identical mixer junctions are pumped by a local oscillator (LO) with 90/spl deg/ phase difference. We used an innovative mixer layout where the quadrature scheme is implemented using waveguide-based and integrated on-chip components. We employed an additional pair of SIS junctions as terminations for LO-injection directional couplers.

"The efficient utilization of energy, sustainable use of natural resources, and large-scale adoption of sustainable technologies is the key to a sustainable future. The Handbook of Sustainable Engineering provides tools that will help us achieve these goals". Nobel Prize Winner Dr. R.K. Pauchauri, Chairman, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change As global society confronts the challenges of diminishing resources, ecological degradation, and climate change, engineers play a crucial role designing and building technologies and products that fulfil our needs for utility and sustainability. The Handbook of Sustainable Engineering equips readers with the context and the best practices derived from both academic research and practical examples of successful implementations of sustainable technical solutions. The handbook's content revolves around the two themes, new ways of thinking and new business models, including sustainable production, products, service systems and consumption while addressing key assets based on new materials, optimized resource management, and new energy sources. Contributions reflect a focus on state-of-the art insights into employing smart materials, recycling e-waste, water utilization, solar cells, product lifecycles, transportation and reverse manufacturing. Supportive of this, underlying issues such as engineering education, consumer behaviour and the regulatory climate complete the handbook's comprehensive treatment of the problems and most promising solutions.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of mouthrinse products in a Swedish adult population and the factors that influence their use. A questionnaire, comprising semi-closed questions focusing on mouthrinses for oral health, was distributed to randomly selected 700 individuals aged 17-94 years (final response rate of 60%). The data revealed that 47% of the individuals use a mouthrinse product on a regular basis and that it does not differ significantly due to age. Women use such products to a greater extent than men. Individuals who brush their teeth and who use approximal cleaning aids frequently appear to use mouthrinse products to a greater degree. Rinsing is primarily performed once a day or more (45%), in the evening (57%) and after brushing (87%). Those individuals that have been recommended to use the products by dentists and dental hygienists use them to a greater degree (78%) than those who have not received any recommendations (27%). Apart from dental personnel, advertising also plays a significant role in product selection. Of the different products available on the market, pure fluoride products constitute 46%. To summarise, this study indicates that a Swedish adult population, especially women, uses mouthrinse products to a relatively large extent, mainly as a supplement to other oral hygiene procedures such as brushing with a fluoride toothpaste twice daily. To select the most suitable product, the dental personnell should play a more active role in recommendations to the patients who need or want to use mouthrinses.

The directive in WEEE has been in effect since 2001 in the European Union (EU) and Sweden has been the best performance since it was launched. This study looks into how the various stakeholders are playing their role in the system, why was it successful and what are the challenges ahead for the system to further improve and the bring up the rate of WEEE recycling in the country. This work is done by interviewing and visiting the various stakeholders involved in the Swedish WEEE system including the Swedish EPA, Swedish Waste Management, El-Kretsen which is the association representing the manufacturers, the recyclers that are providing the EoL services in the system and consumers of the recycling centres. The study revealed that the system had performed well by virtue of the common understanding and general awareness of the public adding on to the fact that the consumption rate of EEE is also high in Sweden. All the stakeholders displayed a sense a responsibility towards pushing for higher volume to be collected. Many issues that are occurring in collecting WEEE are inherited from the earlier life cycle stages particularly in design and manufacturing. It was also found out in the study that it is more economically viable for the EoL stakeholders to operate WEEE collection as compared to the past due to the growing demands of resources. The processing capacity at times is lagging behind the collection rate. Recommendations for improving the system from both the system level and technical level are also mentioned subsequently in the paper.

Remanufacturing is often considered as a environmental preferable choice of end-of-life option in comparison to material recycling or manufacturing new products. However, there is not a standardised process of making these environmental calculations. This paper explores the environmental performance of remanufacturing in comparison to material recycling and manufacturing of new products. The method was mainly through literature study but also own investigations. The results show that remanufacturing is in general a preferable option due to environmental gains of: alleviation of depletion of resources, reduction of global warming potential and chances to close the loop for safer handling of toxic materials.

Concerns about climate change and other related environmental challenges have prompted increased interest in sustainable development. In industry, many manufacturers such as the electronics manufacturers have strived to improve their environmental footprints through sustainable manufacturing while also making sure that the bottom line is being met. Electronic products, while bringing technological progress to mankind, generate numerous environmental challenges, especially at their End-of-Life (EoL) stage. This paper review and discuss the current situation and issues in designing, manufacturing, collecting and marketing of electronic products with respect to the EoL stage. Certain decisions about electronic products made in the early production stages can have serious implications in the management of the products at EoL. For example, a product designed such that it is difficult to disassemble in order to remove hazardous substances can be very inefficient to manage at the EoL stage. Discussion of electronic products’ EoL management approaches is presented in this paper. Subsequently, suggestions for the stakeholders to address the complexities in making electronic products more sustainable are proposed.

ALMA, Atacama Large Millimetre Array, covers the frequency band from 30 GHz to 960 GHz in ten separate frequency bands. We present here the design and performance of the ALMA Band 5 receiver cartridge that covers 163–211 GHz. The Band 5 receiver shows the state-of-the-art performance with the noise temperature below 65K (SSB) and sideband rejection above 12 dB over 80% of the RF band.

Servicification is a key toward sustainable business in the secondary industry. It is needless to say that services are sources of core value in the tertiary industry. Thus, this chapter addresses a critical issue for both of those industries, designing services. This chapter demonstrates the effectiveness of our service-design methodology to support service design processes through applications to two service examples in industries- real operation. Before that, a theory for the methodology is explained.

Manufacturers are moving more and more towards the business approach of Product/Service Systems (PSS) in order to achieve greater revenue. PSS have many benefits such as achieving closer customer connection and generating increased profit from manufactured products. However, in order to achieve a PSS which is adapted for this business approach, the products and services used need to consider a life-cycle perspective. The business approach of PSS allows for the provider to control the flows of physical products, both the forward flow to the user and the reverse flow of products back to the provider. This new logic of material/product flows allows for adaptations along the product life-cycle. For example, maintenance and end-of-life strategies such as remanufacturing can become more beneficial due to the new circumstances that PSS provide the manufacturer. The aim of this chapter is to elucidate how manufacturers can develop their PSS with a life-cycle perspective. It shows the many aspects that should be considered throughout the life-cycle of both physical products and services. In addition, several considerations and theories are presented for the different stages of the PSS life-cycle. Finally, this chapter presents theory on product/service design with a life-cycle perspective, which serves as a base for the practical design considerations presented in Chapter 3 of this book.

Many manufacturers are moving more and more towards the business approach of Product/Service-Systems (PSS) in order to achieve more revenues. The business approach of PSS puts new requirements on products in comparison to traditional selling. In order to achieve a PSS adapted for this business approach, the products and services used need to consider a life-cycle perspective. Having a life-cycle perspective on products and services in the business strategy of PSS is becoming increasingly important as the strategy emerges and more companies see the benefits of controlling a larger share of the product-value chain. The objective of this chapter is to elucidate how manufacturers have worked with, or could adapt their products for, PSS. Supporting this are results from several case studies, performed at companies that manufacture household appliances, soil compactors and forklift trucks. A key factor when developing products for PSS is to design the product from a life-cycle perspective, considering all the product’s life-cycle phases, e.g., manufacturing, use, maintenance and end-of-life treatment. Several design improvements, all of which are fairly inexpensive and easy to implement, are described. Many of these improvements deal with the accessibility of parts and components during maintenance and remanufacturing operations, and several of the design improvements could reduce the need and cost for maintenance, repair and remanufacturing.

Many manufacturers are shifting focus for different reasons from being providers of mainly physical products to providing increased services in their customer offerings. Traditionally, the focus of manufacturing companies has been more on product development than service development; this is one reason why it is important for Product/Service Systems (PSS) developers to meet others who understand this situation. This chapter describes challenges large PSS providers in Sweden are facing, and how these can be explored and discussed within a PSS company–academia network setting. It is concluded that during the three first years of network meetings, this approach has been a success. In addition, the experiences gained from participation in this network have resulted in recommendations for PSS providers and researchers thinking of starting up similar networks and/or building ones has already begun.