scholarly journals Framing Product Circularity Performance for Optimized Green Profit

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Saidani ◽  
Harrison Kim ◽  
Bernard Yannou ◽  
Yann Leroy ◽  
François Cluzel
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Optimization Model ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Profit Model ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Total Profit ◽  
Third Dimension ◽  
Circular Design ◽  
Practical Implications

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to develop and discuss a framework aiming at monitoring and optimizing the circularity performance of products for ensuring and facilitating green profit design trade-offs whilst meeting or anticipating end-of-life regulations during the design and development process of industrial products. The proposed framework is used to extend the Green Profit Model — an optimization model to maximize the total profit from the sales of new and remanufactured products, while achieving environmental impact savings — by adding a third dimension to this model, which is the circularity performance. As such, in addition to remanufacturing, it covers a wider spectrum of circular economy practices, leading to additional economic opportunities and environmental trade-offs between maintenance, reuse, remanufacturing and recycling at a product, parts and material levels. A first formulation of this extended optimization model is given and discussed through an illustrative example. By connecting the circularity performance of products with possible economic profit and environmental impact savings, it thus contributes in advancing the understanding and linkages in the area of circular design, life cycle analysis, industrial decision-support tool, and environmental regulations. Concretely, practical implications for both design engineering and green policy making are highlighted.

scholarly journals The Importance of Environmental Factors in the Planning of Container Terminals: The Case Study of the Port of Augusta

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2153
Author(s):  
Nadia Giuffrida ◽  
Maja Stojaković ◽  
Elen Twrdy ◽  
Matteo Ignaccolo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Container Terminal ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Container Terminals ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Clean Environment ◽  
Different Levels

Container terminals are the main hubs of the global supply chain but, conversely, they play an important role in energy consumption, environmental pollution and even climate change due to carbon emissions. Assessing the environmental impact of this type of port terminal and choosing appropriate mitigation measures is essential to pursue the goals related to a clean environment and ensuring a good quality of life of the inhabitants of port cities. In this paper the authors present a Terminal Decision Support Tool (TDST) for the development of a container terminal that considers both operation efficiency and environmental impacts. The TDST provides environmental impact mitigation measures based on different levels of evolution of the port’s container traffic. An application of the TDST is conducted on the Port of Augusta (Italy), a port that is planning infrastructural interventions in coming years in order to gain a new role as a reference point for container traffic in the Mediterranean.

Simulation in food catering industry. A dashboard of performance indicators

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Tufano ◽  
Riccardo Accorsi ◽  
Andrea Gallo ◽  
Riccardo Manzini
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
High Price ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Safety Control ◽  
Catering Industry ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Single Production

"Contract catering industry is concerned with the production of ready-to-eat meals for schools, hospitals and private companies. The structure of this market is highly competitive, and customers are rarely willing to pay a high price for this catering service. A single production sites may be demanded up to 10.000 meals per day and these operations can hardly be managed via rule of thumbs without any quantitative decision support tool. This situation is common at several stages of a food supply chain and the methodologies presented in this paper are addressed to any food batch production system with similar complexity and trade-offs. This paper proposes an original KPI dashboard, designed to control costs, time and quality efficiency and helping managers to identify criticalities. Special emphasis is given on food safety control which is the management’s main concern and must be carefully monitored in each stage of the production. To calculate the value of KPIs a Montecarlo simulation approach is used to deal with production complexity and uncertainty. A case study showcases the potential of simulation in this complex industrial field. The case study illustrates an application of the methodology on an Italian company suffering local recipe contamination. The company aims at defining the best standard for production, identifying cycles being sustainable from an economic and environmental point of view."

scholarly journals Decision Support Tool for Offshore Wind Farm Vessel Routing under Uncertainty

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Dawid ◽  
David McMillan ◽  
Matthew Revie
Keyword(s):  
Wind Farm ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Synthetic Data ◽  
Optimal Solution ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Farm ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

This paper for the first time captures the impact of uncertain maintenance action times on vessel routing for realistic offshore wind farm problems. A novel methodology is presented to incorporate uncertainties, e.g., on the expected maintenance duration, into the decision-making process. Users specify the extent to which these unknown elements impact the suggested vessel routing strategy. If uncertainties are present, the tool outputs multiple vessel routing policies with varying likelihoods of success. To demonstrate the tool’s capabilities, two case studies were presented. Firstly, simulations based on synthetic data illustrate that in a scenario with uncertainties, the cost-optimal solution is not necessarily the best choice for operators. Including uncertainties when calculating the vessel routing policy led to a 14% increase in the number of wind turbines maintained at the end of the day. Secondly, the tool was applied to a real-life scenario based on an offshore wind farm in collaboration with a United Kingdom (UK) operator. The results showed that the assignment of vessels to turbines generated by the tool matched the policy chosen by wind farm operators. By producing a range of policies for consideration, this tool provided operators with a structured and transparent method to assess trade-offs and justify decisions.

A decision-support tool to assist muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients choosing between radical cystectomy and chemoradiotherapy.

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 505-505
Author(s):  
Brian Christopher Baumann ◽  
Wei-Ting Hwang ◽  
Sharadha Srinivasan ◽  
Xingmei Wang ◽  
Ronac Mamtani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bladder Cancer ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Muscle Invasive ◽  
Break Even Point

505 Background: Patients with high-risk muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who are borderline medically operable for radical cystectomy (RC) face a difficult decision between RC which has higher short-term treatment-related morbidity/mortality & chemoradiotherapy (CRT) which is better tolerated in the short-term but may have worse long-term cancer control outcomes. There are no existing decision support tools to assist patients & providers in understanding these trade-offs. Herein, we developed a visualization tool to inform patients & providers how the relative risks & benefits of RC & CRT vary over time with respect to overall survival (OS). Methods: We identified cT2-3 N0 M0 urothelial bladder cancer patients ≥65 y/o treated with RC +/- chemo (n = 5981) or definitive-dose CRT after TURBT (n = 793) in the National Cancer Database, 2003-2011. The database was split into a development & validation cohort. Multivariate Cox regression with time-varying hazard ratio was performed to assess pre-treatment factors associated with OS. The inverse probability of treatment weighting method using the propensity score was employed to reduce selection bias. External validation was performed. Visualization tool showing adjusted survival curves based on pre-op patient features was generated with input from patients & a multidisciplinary expert panel. Tool calculates median OS & the “break-even point,” where the short-term OS disadvantage of RC equals the long-term advantage of RC (i.e. the point where the restricted mean survival for RC & CRT are equal). Results: On MVA, significant predictors of OS were age, Charlson Deyo comorbidity index, & cT stage (p < 0.001 for all). Using these results, we iteratively developed a web application that utilizes clinical inputs to generate patient-specific survival curves that display estimated OS differences over time. Median OS, the break-even point, & percent alive at the break-even point are provided. Conclusions: This is the first decision-support tool developed to assist high-risk borderline operable MIBC patients & their providers in understanding the short-term & long-term trade-offs between RC & CRT. Additional testing is underway.

scholarly journals Sizing a fleet of containerships for a given market

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A Silva ◽  
Carlos Guedes Soares
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Optimal Route ◽  
Potential Growth ◽  
Short Sea Shipping ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Fleet Composition ◽  
Total Profit ◽  
Fleet Deployment

The potential growth found inthe short sea shipping sector motivated the development of a methodology usedas a decision support tool in which both the parameters regarding the demand ofmarkets and the characteristics of the fleet may be tested for its evaluation.It is also possible to determine the fleet deployment, establishing its routesand scales in the ports for a particular scenario. The considered methodologymay be divided in two parts, being the first one related with the generation ofall feasible routes, alongside all the parameters specific to each route foreach vessel class. The second part is the introduction of a linear programmingmodel that maximizes the shipping operation’s total profit, according a givenset of restrictions. The models were structured according to three main criteria:the evaluation of the fleet for each vessel’s class; the optimal route for eachvessel and the frequency in each port. To provide the methodology’s validation,the developed models shall be submitted to a fictitious operational scenario,considering three different situations: the fleet’s normal operation; aparametric variation of required demand for the same fleet composition; anevaluation of several fleet compositions for the same demand level.

scholarly journals A holistic End-of-Life (EoL) Index for the quantitative impact assessment of CFRP waste recycling techniques

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Dionysios N. Markatos ◽  
Christos V. Katsiropoulos ◽  
Konstantinos I. Tserpes ◽  
Spiros G. Pantelakis
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
Recycling Process ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Recycled Fibers ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Recycling Techniques

In the present study, a holistic End-of-Life (EoL) Index is introduced to serve as a decision support tool for choosing the optimal recycling process among a number of alternative recycling techniques of CFRP waste. For the choice of the optimal recycling process, quality of the recycled fibers as well as cost and environmental impact of the recycling methods under consideration, are accounted for. Quality is interpreted as the reusability potential of the recycled fibers; that is quantified through the equivalent volume fraction of recycled fibers that balances the mechanical properties of a composite composed of a certain volume fraction of virgin fibers. The proposed Index is offering an estimated balanced score, quantifying a trade-off between the reusability potential of the recycled fibers as well as the cost and the environmental impact of the recycling methods considered.

scholarly journals Environmental Impact of Lumber Production using Life Cycle Assessment: A Case Study of the Production System in South-west Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Femi K Owofadeju ◽  
Omeiza A Agbaje ◽  
Temitayo A Ewemoje
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Production System ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Milling Process ◽  
Wood Waste ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Diesel Generator ◽  
Support Tool

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a decision support tool that can be used to evaluate the potential environmental impact of a product system. Environmental impact associated with the production of (0.0508×0.1524×3.6576) m lumber referred to as “2by6” in the primary wood industry was evaluated. This assessment is a cradle to gate system with boundaries spanning from the point of raw material extraction in Osun state, to transportation of the lumber product to wood market in Ibadan, Oyo state. The study compared four production scenarios by varying haulage distance and energy source during production at two sawmill facilities located in Ife and Ikire in Osun state. Data obtained from the production system were analysed using GaBi6 software to estimate and classify the emissions into five impact categories. Life Cycle Impact Assessment result (LCIA) showed that Acidification Potential (AP), Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Smog Potential (SP) were the most significant impact indicators observed in the four production scenarios. AP (2.883, 3.352, 3.483, 3.951) kg H+ mole-Equiv, GWP (13.25, 14.44, 15.45, 16.65) kg CO2-Equiv and SP (1.86, 2.15, 2.24, 2.53) kg O3-Equiv. Scenario 4 which involved a longer transportation distance and employed a diesel generator for the milling process showed the least environmental performance. Processes that contributed significant impact were wood waste disposal method employed and the secondary transportation processes during logging activities. In order to achieve a better production system, practices that encourage less waste generation and the use of renewable energy were recommended.Keywords— LCA, lumber production, environmental impact, wood waste

scholarly journals Addressing transboundary conservation challenges through marine spatial prioritization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELENA GISSI ◽  
Jennifer McGowan ◽  
Chiara Venier ◽  
Davide Di Carlo ◽  
Francesco Musco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Spatial Prioritization ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Maritime Industries

The Adriatic and Ionian Region (AIR) is an important area for both strategic maritime development and biodiversity conservation in the European Union (EU). However, given that both EU and non‐EU countries border the sea, multiple legal and regulatory frameworks operate at different scales which can hinder the coordinated long‐term sustainable development of the region. Transboundary marine (or maritime) spatial planning can help overcome these challenges by building consensus on planning objectives and making the trade‐offs between biodiversity conservation and its influence on economically important sectors more explicit. We approach this challenge by developing and testing four spatial prioritization strategies, using the decision‐support tool Marxan, which meets targets for biodiversity conservation whilst minimizing impacts to users. We evaluate these strategies in terms of how priority areas shift under different scales of target‐setting (e.g. regional versus country‐level). We also examine the trade‐off between cost‐efficiency and how equally solutions represent countries and maritime industries (N = 14) operating in the region using the Protection Equality metric. We show that there are negligible differences in where priority conservation areas are located when we set targets for biodiversity at the regional versus country scale. Conversely, the prospective impacts on industries, when considered as costs to be minimized, are highly divergent across scenarios and bias the placement of protection towards industries located in isolation or with few other industries. We conclude by making several recommendations to underpin future MSP efforts in the region, including the identification of: 1) areas of national significance, 2) transboundary areas requiring cooperation between countries, and 3) areas where impacts on maritime industries require careful consideration of the trade‐off between biodiversity conservation and socio‐economic objectives.

scholarly journals A systematic conservation planning approach to maintaining ecosystem service provision in working landscapes

FACETS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1570-1600
Author(s):  
Jérôme Cimon-Morin ◽  
Jean-Olivier Goyette ◽  
Poliana Mendes ◽  
Stéphanie Pellerin ◽  
Monique Poulin
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Decision Support Tool ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Systematic Conservation Planning ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Working Landscapes ◽  
Trade Offs

Balancing human well-being with the maintenance of ecosystem services (ES) for future generations has become one of the central sustainability challenges of the 21st century. In working landscapes, past and ongoing production-centered objectives have resulted in the conversion of ecosystems into simple land-use types, which has also altered the provision of most ES. These inevitable trade-offs between the efficient production of individual provisioning ES and the maintenance of regulating and cultural ES call for the development of a land-use strategy based on the multifunctional use of the landscape. Due to the heterogeneous nature of working landscapes, both protection and restoration actions are needed to improve their multifunctionality. Systematic conservation planning (SCP) offers a decision support framework that can support landscape multifunctionality by indicating where ES management efforts should be implemented. We describe an approach that we developed to include ES provision protection and restoration objectives in SCP with the goal of providing ongoing benefits to society. We explain the general framework of this approach and discuss concepts, challenges, innovations, and prospects for the further development of a comprehensive decision support tool. We illustrate our approach with two case studies implemented in the pan-Canadian project ResNet.

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