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Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era
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Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2018) | Viewed by 84215

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Wen-Hsien Tsai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Business Administration, National Central University, Jhongli, Taoyuan 32001, Taiwan
Interests: sustainability; green production decision model; industry 4.0; corporate social responsibility (CSR); activity-based costing (ABC); enterprise resource planning (ERP); carbon emission cost; energy saving and carbon emission reduction; international financial reporting standards (IFRS)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Smart Manufacturing of Industry 4.0 was first proposed at Hanover Fair, Germany, in 2011, which received a great deal of attention from various nations. Industry 4.0 utilizes new technologies, such as 3D printing, robots, and autonomous vehicles, and links all the components in the manufacturing systems using Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Then, the system will, in real time, collect and monitor activity data from all the components and give intelligent responses to various problems that may arise in the factory by the real-time analysis results of cloud computing and big data. Finally, the manufacturing process can be fine-tuned, adjusted, or set up differently according to customer needs, in order to achieve the goal of mass customization and customer satisfaction. Under Industry 4.0, the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is an online information system, a feedback and control system for production. Under Industry 4.0, there are great changes in production processes, production planning and control, quality assurance, internal control, cost determination, and other management issues. However, it is expected that it can create positive sustainability impacts along the whole value chain.

This Special Issue welcomes contributions on the modelling and analysis of sustainability-related issues in the new manufacturing environment (any phase from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0), including economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainability, and other related issues, such as green optimization, green sustainability modelling in various industries, sustainable manufacturing, sustainable development, sustainability reporting, sustainability accounting, energy saving and carbon emission reduction, etc. Both original research articles, as well as review articles, are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Wen-Hsien Tsai
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Green optimization
  • Green sustainability modelling in various industries
  • Sustainability in Industry 4.0
  • Sustainable manufacturing
  • Economic sustainability
  • Social sustainability
  • Environmental sustainability
  • Sustainable development
  • Sustainability reporting
  • Sustainability accounting
  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Energy saving and carbon emission reduction

Published Papers (16 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 165 KiB  
Editorial
Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era
by Wen-Hsien Tsai
Sustainability 2019, 11(7), 2134; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11072134 - 10 Apr 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2230
Abstract
Smart Manufacturing of Industry 4 [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

27 pages, 736 KiB  
Article
The Application of Material Flow Cost Accounting in Waste Reduction
by Shaio Yan Huang, An An Chiu, Po Chi Chao and Ni Wang
Sustainability 2019, 11(5), 1270; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11051270 - 27 Feb 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6230
Abstract
Due to the rise in environmental awareness, corporate companies have shifted their focus from an obsession with short-term profits to contemplating long-term strategies to achieve sustainable management. Effective use of resources is the primary indicator of this achievement. Fulfillment of corporate social responsibility [...] Read more.
Due to the rise in environmental awareness, corporate companies have shifted their focus from an obsession with short-term profits to contemplating long-term strategies to achieve sustainable management. Effective use of resources is the primary indicator of this achievement. Fulfillment of corporate social responsibility and thinking beyond the regulatory aspects of corporate sustainable management are goals that have continually attracted attention worldwide. Material flow cost accounting based on ISO 14051, which was announced by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), is a tool that can be used to achieve a balance between the environment and economy. We focused on using ISO 14051-based material flow cost accounting as an analytical evaluation tool from the perspectives of finance and accounting personnel. We conducted a case study on a flat-panel parts supplier to determine whether the efficient use of recycled glass could reduce company costs. The primary finding is that the film layer on recycled washed glass tends to be stripped during the production process, causing increased reprocessing costs and thus rendering the cost of renewable cleaning higher than that of reworking. This study revealed that the ISO 14051-based material flow cost accounting analysis constitutes a valuable management tool, thereby facilitating the promotion of sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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16 pages, 3555 KiB  
Article
A Decision Support Approach to Provide Sustainable Solutions to the Consumer, by Using Electrical Appliances
by João Carlos de Oliveira Matias, Ricardo Santos and Antonio Abreu
Sustainability 2019, 11(4), 1143; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11041143 - 21 Feb 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2465
Abstract
The diversity of energy efficiency appliances existent on the market, with all its different issues, contributes to the existence of several tradeoffs (e.g., energy and water consumption vs. initial investment), which make the consumer’s choices in the market difficult. This becomes even more [...] Read more.
The diversity of energy efficiency appliances existent on the market, with all its different issues, contributes to the existence of several tradeoffs (e.g., energy and water consumption vs. initial investment), which make the consumer’s choices in the market difficult. This becomes even more relevant, by knowing that nowadays a consumer tries to get a solution from the market, with a good compromise between the economic, social and environmental dimensions, and according to its priorities and specific needs, which can be different from other consumers. By adopting a multicriteria approach, combined with an optimization technique, based on evolutionary algorithms (EA), it will be possible to provide a set of sustainable solutions from the market to the consumer, that respects the compromise referred before. In this work, it will be presented an approach to support a decision-agent (DA) (consumer), by performing a set of sustainable choices based on electrical appliances, from the market and suitable to its needs. The method will be applied to a case study, to demonstrate its application. Regarding the obtained solutions, several savings are achieved (electrical and water consumption, CO2 emissions) by taking into account the consumer’s relative importance, regarding each dimension considered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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23 pages, 944 KiB  
Article
Antecedents to Digital Platform Usage in Industry 4.0 by Established Manufacturers
by Julian Marius Müller
Sustainability 2019, 11(4), 1121; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11041121 - 20 Feb 2019
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5503
Abstract
Digital platforms are expected to have the potential for a multitude of purposes for industrial enterprises, for instance when integrated within the concept of Industry 4.0. Despite its relevance for industrial value creation, little research on platforms in the industrial context has been [...] Read more.
Digital platforms are expected to have the potential for a multitude of purposes for industrial enterprises, for instance when integrated within the concept of Industry 4.0. Despite its relevance for industrial value creation, little research on platforms in the industrial context has been undertaken so far. Owing to the lack of research in this field, the paper aims to investigate the potentials and challenges of digital platforms in order to generate an understanding of the antecedents to the use of digital platforms by established manufacturers. In the qualitative-exploratory study, the paper uses a qualitative empirical research approach, relying on in-depth expert interviews. The sample comprises interviews with managers of 102 German and Austrian industrial enterprises from several industrial sectors. All of the enterprises regarded have practical experiences with digital platforms. The results show that the main potentials of digital platforms are reducing transaction costs, combining strengths of enterprises, and realizing economies of scale as well as economies of scope. Yet, digital platforms bring challenges, such as a lack of trust, competitive thinking, high coordination efforts, and loss of confidential information. The paper further distinguishes between various industry sectors revealing interesting differences. Based on the results, the paper indicates possibilities for future research and provides corporate practice with implications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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30 pages, 2867 KiB  
Article
Activity-Based Standard Costing Product-Mix Decision in the Future Digital Era: Green Recycling Steel-Scrap Material for Steel Industry
by Wen-Hsien Tsai, Shu-Hui Lan and Cheng-Tsu Huang
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 899; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11030899 - 10 Feb 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6242
Abstract
According to the advanced technologies of digitalization and automation, the interconnection with each individual object is created from data acquisitions into data feedback in the integrated platform of the Manufacturing Execution System (MES). MES automatically and immediately links various functional systems. The time [...] Read more.
According to the advanced technologies of digitalization and automation, the interconnection with each individual object is created from data acquisitions into data feedback in the integrated platform of the Manufacturing Execution System (MES). MES automatically and immediately links various functional systems. The time of electronic production management is coming soon, and Activity-Based Standard Costing (ABSC) will be used in the new era. On the other hand, there are environmental protection issues; thus, the high-tech method of the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) uses the complicated recycling material of steel-scrap, which hypothetically enhances product-mix decisions, as based on the ABSC theory, with a mathematical programming approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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20 pages, 995 KiB  
Article
Green Activity-Based Costing Production Planning and Scenario Analysis for the Aluminum-Alloy Wheel Industry under Industry 4.0
by Wen-Hsien Tsai, Po-Yuan Chu and Hsiu-Li Lee
Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 756; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su11030756 - 01 Feb 2019
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 6099
Abstract
The industrial revolution has grown to the fourth generation, or so-called Industry 4.0. The literature on Industry 4.0 is quite extensive and involves many different dimensions; however, production costs under Industry 4.0 have seldom been discussed. On the other hand, environmental problems are [...] Read more.
The industrial revolution has grown to the fourth generation, or so-called Industry 4.0. The literature on Industry 4.0 is quite extensive and involves many different dimensions; however, production costs under Industry 4.0 have seldom been discussed. On the other hand, environmental problems are increasingly serious nowadays. Activity-Based Costing is a mature accounting method that can easily trace direct and indirect product costs, based on activities, as well as trace the carbon tax to products, which may lead to different product combinations, in order to reduce environment problems. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to propose a green activity-based costing production planning model under Industry 4.0. In order to make the paper more realistic, we suggest three models with five possible scenarios: normal and material cost fluctuation, material cost discount, and carbon tax with the related cost function. The Aluminum-Alloy Wheel industry was chosen as the illustrative industry to present the results. The model provides managers with a way to deal with the cost problem under Industry 4.0 and to be able to handle the environmental issues in making production decisions. This paper also provides suggestions for governments that have not considered carbon taxation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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12 pages, 600 KiB  
Article
The Influences of CSR’s Multi-Dimensional Characteristics on Firm Value Determination by a Fusion Approach
by Kuang-Hua Hu, Sin-Jin Lin, Jau-Yang Liu, Fu-Hsiang Chen and Shih-Han Chen
Sustainability 2018, 10(11), 3872; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10113872 - 25 Oct 2018
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2758
Abstract
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation has been widely acknowledged as playing a key part in enhancing firm value as well as achieving sustainable development. However, up to now the extant works in the literature have yielded non-conclusive results regarding the relationships between CSR [...] Read more.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation has been widely acknowledged as playing a key part in enhancing firm value as well as achieving sustainable development. However, up to now the extant works in the literature have yielded non-conclusive results regarding the relationships between CSR and firm value. One of the possible reasons is that the studies ignore the multi-dimensional characteristics of CSR—that is, they merely utilize a singular synthesized indicator as a proxy to represent the corporate’s CSR performance as being unreliable and problematic. Thus, this study breaks down CSR into numerous dimensions and further examines each dimension’s impact on firm value. By doing so, managers can allocate their firm’s valuable resources to suitable areas so as to increase its reputation and value. In addition, this research sets up an artificial intelligence (AI)-based fusion model, grounded by fusion learning theory that aims at complementing the error made by a singular model, to examine the relationship between CSR’s multidimensional characteristics and firm value. Through different combinations of adopted strategies, users can realize the most representative features from an over-abundant database. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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21 pages, 810 KiB  
Article
An Integrative Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Successions in Family Businesses: The Case of Taiwan
by Jau Yang Liu
Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3656; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10103656 - 12 Oct 2018
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3336
Abstract
Family businesses have long been one of the mainstream business models in developing countries. The smooth succession of control in family businesses is the key to their sustainable development. However, compared with other companies, succession in family business has demonstrated unique complexity, which [...] Read more.
Family businesses have long been one of the mainstream business models in developing countries. The smooth succession of control in family businesses is the key to their sustainable development. However, compared with other companies, succession in family business has demonstrated unique complexity, which also affects the development of the business. The paper is based on a review of the existing literature, starting from the theory of family business succession and combining with grounded theory. After that, we conducted field interviews of experts, coding the key factors affecting succession in family businesses in Taiwan. Finally, we explored the considerations and implications of the succession for inheritance planning. The results of this study show that consideration of succession in family businesses involves a multi-dimensional and complex decision-making process. Among the key considerations, it is found that corporate characteristics, family capital and niche inheritance are the most important without consideration of whether the continuation of the business after succession will be doomed to failure. In addition, the family relationship of affection and trust and commitment between both predecessor and successor are important factors that cannot be ignored, especially in a rapidly changing competitive market environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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19 pages, 1472 KiB  
Article
Forecasting Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Thailand’s Construction Sector by Enriching the LS-ARIMAXi-ECM Model
by Jindamas Sutthichaimethee and Kuskana Kubaha
Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3593; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10103593 - 09 Oct 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2910
Abstract
The Thailand Development Policy focuses on the simultaneous growth of the economy, society, and environment. Long-term goals have been set to improve economic and social well-being. At the same time, these aim to reduce the emission of CO2 in the future, especially [...] Read more.
The Thailand Development Policy focuses on the simultaneous growth of the economy, society, and environment. Long-term goals have been set to improve economic and social well-being. At the same time, these aim to reduce the emission of CO2 in the future, especially in the construction sector, which is deemed important in terms of national development and is a high generator of greenhouse gas. In order to achieve national sustainable development, policy formulation and planning is becoming necessary and requires a tool to undertake such a formulation. The tool is none other than the forecasting of CO2 emissions in long-term energy consumption to produce a complete and accurate formulation. This research aims to study and forecast energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in Thailand’s construction sector by applying a model incorporating the long- and short-term auto-regressive (AR), integrated (I), moving average (MA) with exogenous variables (Xi) and the error correction mechanism (LS-ARIMAXi-ECM) model. This model is established and attempts to fill the gaps left by the old models. In fact, the model is constructed based on factors that are causal and influential for changes in CO2 emissions. Both independent variables and dependent variables must be stationary at the same level. In addition, the LS-ARIMAXi-ECM model deploys a co-integration analysis and error correction mechanism (ECM) in its modeling. The study’s findings reveal that the LS-ARIMAXi ( 2 , 1 , 1 , X t − 1 ) -ECM model is a forecasting model with an appropriate time period (t − i), as justified by the Q-test statistic and is not a spurious model. Therefore, it is used to forecast CO2 emissions for the next 20 years (2019 to 2038). From the study, the results show that CO2 emissions in the construction sector will increase by 37.88% or 61.09 Mt CO2 Eq. in 2038. Also, the LS-ARIMAXi ( 2 , 1 , 1 , X t − 1 ) -ECM model has been evaluated regarding its performance, and it produces a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 1.01% and root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.93% as compared to the old models. Overall, the results indicate that determining future national sustainable development policies requires an appropriate forecasting model, which is built upon causal and contextual factors according to relevant sectors, to serve as an important tool for future sustainable planning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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19 pages, 5869 KiB  
Article
Computer-Based Analysis of the Stochastic Stability of Mechanical Structures Driven by White and Colored Noise
by Aydin Azizi
Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3419; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10103419 - 25 Sep 2018
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4104
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to design an effective Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller, which will control the active suspension system of a car, in order to eliminate the imposed vibration to the car from pavement. In this research, Gaussian white noise [...] Read more.
The goal of this paper is to design an effective Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller, which will control the active suspension system of a car, in order to eliminate the imposed vibration to the car from pavement. In this research, Gaussian white noise has been adopted to model the pavement condition, and MATLAB/Simulink software has been used to design a PID controller, as well as to model the effect of the white noise on active suspension system. The results show that the designed controller is effective in eliminating the effect of road conditions. This has a significant effect on reducing the fuel consumption and contributes to environment sustainability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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27 pages, 1227 KiB  
Article
An Internal Control System that Includes Corporate Social Responsibility for Social Sustainability in the New Era
by Jau-Yang Liu
Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3382; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10103382 - 21 Sep 2018
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 7132
Abstract
Although the importance of corporate social responsibility has received more attention over the years, the goal of social sustainability has still not been achieved. The main reason is that companies seeking to implement social sustainability, have failed to incorporate the concept of corporate [...] Read more.
Although the importance of corporate social responsibility has received more attention over the years, the goal of social sustainability has still not been achieved. The main reason is that companies seeking to implement social sustainability, have failed to incorporate the concept of corporate social responsibility into their corporate internal control objectives. Furthermore, studying the interactive relationship between corporate social responsibility and internal control and ensuring the consistency of corporate strategy and internal control objectives are done to help promote the sustainable development of enterprises. In order to promote social sustainability and improve management decision-making gaps, therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop a new hybrid multi-attribute decision model to assess the impact of corporate social responsibility for the implementation of internal control that includes corporate social responsibility. The empirical results show that a social responsibility-oriented internal control system may be a better strategy than maintaining the original internal control objectives. In addition, by adjusting the internal control system to jointly promote the sustainable development goals of the company and ensure the consistency of corporate strategy and internal control objectives, the company can be truly guided to implement the social responsibility management objectives. Finally, the social sustainable development goals can be truly realized, and the interests of all stakeholders in the enterprise can be truly satisfied. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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24 pages, 2729 KiB  
Article
A Framework of Production Planning and Control with Carbon Tax under Industry 4.0
by Wen-Hsien Tsai and Yin-Hwa Lu
Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3221; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10093221 - 08 Sep 2018
Cited by 44 | Viewed by 6767
Abstract
In recent years, the international community has placed great emphasis on environmental protection issues. The United Nations has also successively enacted relevant laws and regulations to restrain international greenhouse gas emissions and some countries implemented carbon tax levies to reduce air pollution. The [...] Read more.
In recent years, the international community has placed great emphasis on environmental protection issues. The United Nations has also successively enacted relevant laws and regulations to restrain international greenhouse gas emissions and some countries implemented carbon tax levies to reduce air pollution. The tire industry is a manufacturing industry with high pollution and high carbon emissions; therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose a framework of production planning and control with carbon tax under Industry 4.0 and use the tire industry as the illustrative example. In this framework, the mathematical programming model, with Activity-Based Costing (ABC) and Theory of Constraints (TOC) for production planning, is used to achieve the optimal solution under various production and sale constraints in order to find the optimal product-mix maximizing the profit. On the other hand, Industry 4.0 utilizes new technologies such as 3D printing, robot and automated guided vehicle (AGV) and links all the components in the manufacturing systems by using various sensor systems, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Internet of Things (IoT) to collect and monitor the activity data of all the components in real-time, to give intelligent responses to various problems that may arise in the factory by the real-time analysis results of cloud computing and big data and to attain the various benefits of Industry 4.0 implementation. The parameters of the mathematical programming model will be updated periodically from the new big data set. In this paper, an illustrative example is used is used to demonstrate the application of the model. From the optimal solution and sensitivity analyses on increasing the raw material’s prices and carbon taxes will affect the profits. This framework can provide a general approach to help companies execute production management in the way of more efficiency, less cost, lower carbon emission and higher quality across the value chain for the tire industry and other industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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28 pages, 6680 KiB  
Article
An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship between Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) and Manufacturing Sustainability in Industry 4.0 with Time Study Approach
by Poorya Ghafoorpoor Yazdi, Aydin Azizi and Majid Hashemipour
Sustainability 2018, 10(9), 3031; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10093031 - 27 Aug 2018
Cited by 60 | Viewed by 9015
Abstract
Nowadays, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are becoming increasingly competitive. In order to fulfill the rapidly changing market and diversified demands of customers, the SMEs need to achieve and maintain high productivity and quality, with fast response, sufficient flexibility, and short lead [...] Read more.
Nowadays, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are becoming increasingly competitive. In order to fulfill the rapidly changing market and diversified demands of customers, the SMEs need to achieve and maintain high productivity and quality, with fast response, sufficient flexibility, and short lead times. Therefore, Industry 4.0 offers various manufacturing paradigms that might be a solution in order to increase the productivity of SMEs such as intelligent and flexible manufacturing. Furthermore, in the last decade, the emphasis on adopting eco-friendly practices, implementing sustainability measures, and protecting the environment has continued to grow, to gain traction across SMEs. In fact, because of this need, many SMEs are now adopting sustainable manufacturing practices in response to this increased focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship. The main purpose of this paper is to design and study the implementation of a sustainable, intelligent material handling system for material distribution with utilizing an agent-based algorithm as control architecture. A time study-based methodology has been implemented to evaluate the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) to identify the matters that need to be resolved and optimized to increase the OEE percentage with consideration of the sustainability of the system. An exhaustive analytical trend applied to the generated time study data. Accordingly, further hardware, software, and layout design limitation and problems detected, and the proper solutions were anticipated. The observed time study results were presented, a fundamental set of analytical observation and information with associated histograms was reviewed. In addition, the study aims to recognize and analyze effective factors on the sustainability of improved processes, using a simple model. To do this, using experts’ viewpoints, affective factors on the sustainability of process improvement activities are determined. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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29 pages, 2594 KiB  
Article
Green Production Planning and Control Model with ABC under Industry 4.0 for the Paper Industry
by Wen-Hsien Tsai and Shang-Yu Lai
Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2932; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10082932 - 17 Aug 2018
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 9585
Abstract
In the last 20 years, with the liberalization of the economy, and the trend of industrial globalization, people have gradually paid more attention to environmental protection. With the tremendous advances in information technology, enterprises facing such a severe impact on the business operations, [...] Read more.
In the last 20 years, with the liberalization of the economy, and the trend of industrial globalization, people have gradually paid more attention to environmental protection. With the tremendous advances in information technology, enterprises facing such a severe impact on the business operations, business administrative models must be innovative and adaptable in order to survive and flourish. The paper industry is not only a highly polluting industry, but in the case of long-term overcapacity, the price of paper products is often suppressed, which lowers profitability. The purpose of this study, which is based on the production data of a paper company, is to pose a mathematical programming decision model which integrates green manufacturing technologies, activity-based costing (ABC), and the theory of constraint (TOC); this model should assist in preparing the best production plans, and achieve the optimal profitable product mix. In addition, this study also proposes that the most popular related technologies developed by Industry 4.0 be applied to production control in recent years in order to enhance production efficiency and quality. The findings of this study should contribute to the improvement of the competitiveness of the paper industry, and provide insights into the value of an integrated mathematical programming model applied for product-mix decision. At the same time, we have also applied the related technologies developed by Industry 4.0 to machine maintenance and quality control in manufacturing workshops. With its tremendous benefits, we can actively arouse the industry’s understanding of, and attention to, Industry 4.0, thereby increasing the interest in industrial 4.0-related technology investments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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26 pages, 1825 KiB  
Article
Carbon Emissions Cost Analysis with Activity-Based Costing
by Wen-Hsien Tsai and Shi-Yin Jhong
Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2872; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10082872 - 13 Aug 2018
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4341
Abstract
Due to growing awareness about environmental issues, consumers are becoming more likely to purchase environmentally friendly products that involve lower carbon emissions (CE). Environmental regulations are being enforced and lower-carbon products are being produced in order to maintain competitiveness when complying with such [...] Read more.
Due to growing awareness about environmental issues, consumers are becoming more likely to purchase environmentally friendly products that involve lower carbon emissions (CE). Environmental regulations are being enforced and lower-carbon products are being produced in order to maintain competitiveness when complying with such regulations. This paper aims to explore the effect of CE on profit through three kinds of models using the activity-based costing (ABC) approach. The results indicate that governmental policy makers can effectively decrease CE by Total Quantity Control (TQC) to resolve problems of environmental degradation. Governmental policy makers can control CE by limiting the quantities of CE, thereby forcing manufacturers to decrease CE during production. Furthermore, policy makers can set up regulations on CE quotas to control CE well instead of imposing carbon taxes. Therefore, manufacturers will try their best to find methods of improving production processes, equipment, and/or materials to decrease the CE quantity and achieve maximum profit under the restricted carbon emissions quotas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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14 pages, 2846 KiB  
Article
The Optimal Carbon Reduction and Return Strategies under Carbon Tax Policy
by Jia Wang and Xijia Huang
Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2471; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su10072471 - 14 Jul 2018
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3845
Abstract
Recently, consumers have been increasingly shopping due to the development of e-commerce; thus, many traditional firms producing green products are entering e-commerce platforms to sell products for their survival. In the contexts of online sales and carbon tax policy, firms need to determine [...] Read more.
Recently, consumers have been increasingly shopping due to the development of e-commerce; thus, many traditional firms producing green products are entering e-commerce platforms to sell products for their survival. In the contexts of online sales and carbon tax policy, firms need to determine an optimal carbon reduction level and online return strategies. To address firms’ decision-making challenges, we consider a firm producing and selling its green products via an e-commerce platform. For optimal online return strategies, we find that if the residual value of the returned product is relatively small, the firm should not offer an online return service; otherwise, the firm should offer this service. Moreover, the results show that carbon tax policy is detrimental to the firm and consumers, while increasing the average customer satisfaction rate of the product benefits the firm and consumers. Interestingly, we find that the platform should reduce its referral fee as the unit carbon tax increases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling and Analysis of Sustainability Related Issues in New Era)
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