Circular Supply Chains Require Eight Core Processes for Effective Resource Management
Category: Resource Management · Effect: Strong effect · Year: 2020
Circular business models necessitate a distinct eight-process supply chain structure (Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, Use, Return, Recover, Enable) to effectively manage resources and achieve sustainability objectives.
Design Takeaway
Design for circularity means designing for a closed-loop system, integrating processes like return and recovery from the outset, not as an afterthought.
Why It Matters
Understanding and implementing these eight processes is crucial for designers and engineers aiming to create products and systems that minimize waste and maximize resource utilization. This framework provides a roadmap for designing more sustainable product lifecycles and operational strategies.
Key Finding
Circular supply chains are built on eight distinct processes, requiring a focus on resource availability, waste minimization, and end-of-life management, alongside traditional economic and environmental performance measures.
Key Findings
- A circular supply chain comprises eight key processes: Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, Use, Return, Recover, and Enable.
- Specific subprocesses are needed for planning use/recovery, delivering maintenance products, and handling end-of-use returns.
- Key process shifts include matching resource availability with demand, sourcing for minimal waste and recyclability, resource-efficient production, sustainable packaging, waste disposal, and buy-back/take-back programs.
- Performance objectives are categorized into circular economy goals, Triple Bottom Line metrics, and specific circular supply chain characteristics.
Research Evidence
Aim: What are the core processes and performance objectives that define a supply chain within a circular business model?
Method: Systematic Literature Review
Procedure: Researchers conducted a systematic review of existing literature to identify and conceptualize the distinct processes and performance objectives associated with supply chains operating under circular business models.
Context: Supply chain management within circular economy frameworks
Design Principle
Design products and systems to facilitate a continuous loop of resource utilization through integrated planning, sourcing, making, delivering, using, returning, and recovering processes.
How to Apply
When designing a new product or system, map out how it will flow through all eight circular supply chain processes, identifying potential bottlenecks and opportunities for resource optimization at each stage.
Limitations
The study is based on a literature review, and the practical implementation and performance of these processes may vary across different industries and contexts.
Student Guide (IB Design Technology)
Simple Explanation: To make products more sustainable, we need to think about the whole journey of a product, not just how it's made. This includes planning for how it's used, how it's returned, and how its parts can be recovered or reused.
Why This Matters: Understanding these processes helps you design products that are not only functional and aesthetically pleasing but also contribute to a more sustainable economy by minimizing waste and maximizing resource value.
Critical Thinking: How might the 'Enable' process, which supports all other processes, be the most critical for the success of a circular supply chain, and what design considerations does this imply?
IA-Ready Paragraph: This research highlights that circular business models necessitate a distinct eight-process supply chain structure (Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, Use, Return, Recover, Enable) for effective resource management. This framework emphasizes the need to design products that not only function effectively but also facilitate seamless return, recovery, and reuse of materials and components, thereby minimizing waste and maximizing resource value throughout the product's lifecycle.
Project Tips
- When defining your design brief, explicitly include objectives related to the 'Return' and 'Recover' phases of your product's lifecycle.
- Consider how your design choices will impact the efficiency of each of the eight identified supply chain processes.
How to Use in IA
- Reference this research when justifying the need for a circular design approach and when defining the scope of your product's lifecycle analysis.
Examiner Tips
- Demonstrate an understanding of how product design directly influences the feasibility and efficiency of circular supply chain processes.
Independent Variable: Supply chain processes within circular business models
Dependent Variable: Performance objectives and conceptualization of circular supply chains
Strengths
- Provides a comprehensive framework for understanding circular supply chains.
- Identifies specific processes and areas for improvement.
Critical Questions
- How can designers actively influence the 'Recover' and 'Enable' processes through their design choices?
- What are the trade-offs between optimizing for individual processes versus the overall circular system performance?
Extended Essay Application
- An Extended Essay could investigate the specific challenges and opportunities for designing products that excel in the 'Return' and 'Recover' phases of a circular supply chain within a particular industry.
Source
Supply chains in circular business models: processes and performance objectives · Resources Conservation and Recycling · 2020 · 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105046