The Environmental Implications of Digitalization in Manufacturing: A Case Study
Book chapter, 2021

The potential of digital technologies is widely discussed and recognized, mainly focusing on process automation, efficiency improvements and quality control. The implications on environmental sustainability is mostly considered from a theoretical perspective rather than operational. This study aims to reveal the potential of digital technologies to reduce the environmental impact in industrial practice. A case study was carried out at two manufacturing sites of an international manufacturing company producing mechanical components for the global markets. Data and insights were collected through interviews and observations. This paper presents the findings in terms of real life implementations and potentials to reduce the environmental impact using digital technologies along the manufacturing value chain, which can serve as input and guideline for the manufacturing industry.

Case study

Environmental sustainability

Manufacturing

Digital technology

Author

Xiaoxia Chen

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Production Systems

Mélanie Despeisse

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Production Systems

Patrik Dahlman

SKF

Paul Dietl

SKF

Björn Johansson

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Production Systems

Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management

21940541 (ISSN) 2194055X (eISSN)

249-263
978-981-15-6779-7 (ISBN)

SUstainability, sMart Maintenance and factory design Testbed (SUMMIT)

VINNOVA (2017-04773), 2017-11-01 -- 2021-04-30.

Subject Categories

Production Engineering, Human Work Science and Ergonomics

Other Mechanical Engineering

Environmental Management

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Production

DOI

10.1007/978-981-15-6779-7_18

More information

Latest update

4/21/2023