Transitioning to IoT enabled circular production systems and value chains (IoTCirProd)

Purpose and goal:

The use of digital technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT), can enable the transition to circular business models by extending product lifespan with monitoring and tracking tools and enhancing the provision of technical support. Manufacturing companies are increasing their use of digital technologies in the development of their service offerings, but are still in the early stage of this transition.

The project focuses on the role of Operations Planning and Control and new and changing business relations in the supply chain for circular flows enabled by IoT. Expected results and effects:

Expected results from the project include: cases of current practice of IoT enabled circular production systems in manufacturing companies in Sweden, frameworks of opportunities and problems in relation to transitioning into circular production systems, IoT enabled offerings, OPC innovations and business relations for circular transition, and in-depth understanding of the ICT preparation for these IoT enabled services. Expected results also include a maturity model.

Approach and implementation:

The core of the project consists of empirical studies in relation to different phases in development towards circular production systems: ‘IoT as an enabler’ to understand the preparation phase, including type of data and quality of data that can be captured from the products, how data is used to build new types of ‘Product-Service Systems´ (PSS), and the ‘transition into circularity’ of manufacturing companies, referring to OPC innovations and changing business relationships for how products may be remanufactured, reused, and refurbished.