For designers, materials and production processes are crucial to the creation and quality of products like tablecloth and clay jars. Nowadays, utilitarian objects are mass- produced, far away. This contributes to environmental degradation, ecological imbalance and a loss of crafts and knowledge. To understand …

Wood is an increasingly demanded renewable resource and an important raw material for construction and materials. Demands are rising, with a growing attention for re-use and upcycling, opening up opportunities for new business models, empowered by the use of digital design and technologies. A KPI framework …

The shift from linear to circular business models is critical for sustainability in the construction and manufacturing sectors in the Netherlands. However, many companies face significant challenges in making this transition, including financial constraints, cultural resistance, and regulatory hurdles, …

Joint value creation plays an important role in the transition to a more sustainable society. During such a process, conflicting interests, powers, speeds and priorities lead to tensions. Participants in the Circular Innovation Program, revolving around circularity focussed collaborative business modelling …

Concrete is arguably the most widely used building material in the world today. Current estimates of world cement manufacture are of the order of 1.7*109 tons per year, enough to produce well over 6 km3 of concrete per year or at least 1 m3 per person (Gartner, 2004). It is a composite material made …

This paper describes some explorations on the concept of disassemblability as an important circularity indicator for products because of its severe impact on reuse value. Although usefulness of the concept for determining disassembly strategies and for improving circular product design clearly shows …

De PZH neemt aan dat er een tekort is aan IT’ers werkzaam bij het mkb. Dit onderzoek beschouwt in welke mate deze veronderstelling klopt binnen het mkb in de bouw- en maakindustrie. Er wordt zowel gekeken naar het aantal IT’ers als naar specifieke IT-vaardigheden. Dit rapport is tot stand gekomen op …

This chapter explains in brief what is needed to achieve more sustainable manufacturing processes. It develops both aspects of sustainable, economic, and technical feasibility with most focus on the latter. Remanufacturing processes are described together with relevant factors that enhance their effectivity …

The aim of this research is to explore the potential of Mixed Reality (MR) technologies for Operator Support in order to progress towards Industry 4.0 (I4.0) particularly for SMEs. Through a series of interventions and interviews conducted with local SMEs, potential use cases and their drawbacks have …

Future work processes are going to change in several aspects. The working population (at least in Western European countries) is decreasing, while average age of employees increases. Their productivity is key to continuity in sectors like healthcare and manufacturing. Health and safety monitoring, combined …