Principles and frameworks of sustainable manufacturing

The pursuit of a circular economy is driving the manufacturing sector to balance economic benefits with environmental impact and social responsibility. This chapter covers the three fundamental dimensions of sustainability in manufacturing: environmental, economic, and social impacts. Key performance indicators (KPIs) for environmental sustainability, such as product design upgradability, resource efficiency, eco-innovation, solid waste intensity, and pollutant emissions, are elaborated. For economic sustainability, KPIs including the productivity of remanufacturing, product-level circularity, economic motivation, and technology investments are discussed. Social sustainability KPIs, such as strategies and initiatives for social fairness, remanufacturing training, community complaints, and feedback on products are covered. Additionally, the role of digitalization tools like artificial intelligence, cyber-physical systems, internet of things, robotics, cloud computing, big data analytics, and blockchain in achieving sustainable manufacturing is explored. Overall, this chapter offers a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of sustainable manufacturing and the supportive digitalization tools in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.