Indicator framework for sustainable production planning and controlling

ABSTRACT

Production facilities serve to transform raw materials into products, usually with the goal of achieving a designated output, in terms of quantity and quality, with the minimum of cost and labour. With the aid of production planning and controlling (PPC) systems, raw material inputs, and labour can be planned to achieve a determined output of products. In general, the role of environmental and social aspects is neglected in production planning processes. Because of the growing pressure from politics and customers, sustainable production of products is becoming more important. One possibility for supporting sustainable manufacturing is, to integrate sustainable aspects in the production planning process. This paper presents input and output information for current PPC systems and discusses the need for additional information necessary for sustainable PPC. For this approach, a text review of cooperate social responsibility (CSR) reporting indicators provided by the GRI was performed. Based on the text review, an input-output model has been developed for conventional and another one for sustainable PPC systems. Through the comparison of the two input-output models, challenges and requirements for sustainable PPC systems have been defined as a basis for future work and analyses.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainability
• sustainable development
• sustainable manufacture
• input-output model
• cleaner production

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maximilian Zarte

Maximilian Zarte completed a Master of Engineering degree in ‘Sustainable Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology’. After his master’s degree, Maximilian started a job as a Research Assistant at the University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer to work on different projects. One of these projects is the EU HORIZON 2020 project ‘PERFoRM’ (www.horizon2020-perform.eu), which searches and validates industrially accepted connectivity and re-configurability solutions. Another project is WeEmU (www.e-pps.de), which investigates the optimal design of a decentralized renewable energy system for supplying an industrial consumer, fitting its energy demand and profile within the restrictions of the German Renewable Energy Sources Act. In April, Maximilian started the PhD program in Industrial Engineering at the Universidae Nova de Lisboa. The proposed PhD topic is an intelligent fuzzy decision model for sustainable production planning and monitoring.

Agnes Pechmann

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Agnes Pechmann joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Emden-Leer and became Professor of Production Planning in 2008. She received the Doctorate degree from the University of Freiburg, Germany, in 2004. During her professorship, she founded the research group ‘Energy Efficiency in Production’. She has led several energy efficiency projects funded by German ministries (e-PPS, REN ProV and PREmdeK). There, one aspect is the increase of direct (local) use of renewable energies in production and the technical and economic feasibility of demand-side management by non-energy intensive production companies. Prof. Pechmann is a regular member of scientific conference committees and an evaluator of research proposals for various funding agencies.

Isabel L. Nunes

Prof. Dr.Isabel L. Nunes has a PhD in Industrial Engineering - Specialty in Human Factors/Ergonomics from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. Currently she is Vice Dean for Planning and Quality Management at Faculty of Science and Technology (FCT). She is Assistant Professor at the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, where she teaches, in MSc and PhD programs of Industrial & Management Engineering, in the following courses: Systems Ergonomic Design; Occupational Safety and Health; Quality Management; Intelligent Systems for Decision Support; Entrepreneurship. She is member of the Research Centre UNIDEMI. Her main research interests include Ergonomics, Occupational Health & Safety and Quality (in Higher Education). She is author of scientific papers and book chapters, is a patent owner, and has been member of several Scientific Conference Committees. She is Chair of the Human Factors and Systems Interaction International Conference. She coordinated and participated in several national and international research projects and supervises PhD and MSc thesis.