1 Namratha Rodricks(x3562263) Transforming from Linear to Circular: Proposing the Refurbish Business Model for the Automation Industry – Applying LCA Vaasa 2025 School of Technology and Innovation Master in Industrial Management 2 UNIVERSITY OF VAASA School of Technology and Innovation Author: Namratha Rodricks Title of the thesis: Transforming from Linear to Circular: Proposing the Refurbish Busi- ness Model for the Automation Industry – Applying LCA Degree: Masters in Economics and Business Administration Degree Program: Industrial Management Supervisor: Bening Mayanti Year: 2025 Pages: 50 ABSTRACT: The main aim of this dissertation was to analyse the environmental impact made by the produc- tion of the robotic cell with JTA connection as a case study and how refurbishment can be used as a tool to mitigate the climatic impact from the production operation. JTA Connection is a Finnish company involved in designing automation products for other companies, and robotic cell is one of their main products. Life cycle assessment was used as a key method to quantify the climate impact in terms of carbon emissions. The methodology was completed in two parts. The first phase was to measure the impact of the current manufacturing operations at the JTA connection by using the quantity of materials specified in the bill of materials provided by the company, and then creating an input table in OpenLCA to measure the impact of each material. Hence, in the first phase, printed wiring boards or electronics were the biggest contributor with 52555 kg CO2-Eq out of 69342 kg CO2-Eq is calculated from the entire process. The second phase involved using assumptions regarding refurbishment, since the JTA connection does not have an active refurbishment plan. The new quantities were calculated based on the assumptions, and again, the input table was created in OpenLCA to measure the impact. Thus, with the implemen- tation of refurbishment, the total carbon footprint dropped to 36065 kg CO2-Eq, a reduction by 47%. Moreover, electronics was also the major contributor in the refurbishment process with 31533 kg CO2-Eq. KEYWORDS: Refurbishment, Circular Economy, Product Life Cycle, Life Cycle Assessment 3 Contents 1 Introduction 5 1.1 Background of the study 5 1.2 Thesis focus and significance 7 1.3 Objective of the study 8 1.4 Structure of the thesis 9 2 Literature Review 11 2.1 Circular Economy 11 2.2 Linear Economy and Its environmental impact 13 2.3 Product Life Cycle in the automation sector 15 2.4 Circular strategies 18 2.5 Refurbishment and its significance in the Circular Economy 20 2.6 Factors affecting the implementation of refurbishment 23 2.7 Life Cycle Assessment 24 3 Research Methodology 27 3.1 Significance of LCA 28 3.1.1 Goal and scope definition 28 3.1.2 Life Cycle Inventory 30 3.1.3 Assumptions for refurbishment and justification 31 3.1.4 Life Cycle Impact Assessment 32 3.1.5 Interpretation 32 3.2 OpenLCA application 33 4 Results 37 4.1 Environmental impacts of original manufacturing and refurbishment 37 4.2 Refurbished product 39 4.3 Managerial implications and future research 43 5 Conclusion 46 References 48 4 Figures Figure 3.1 illustration of robotic cell and tending cell 28 Figure 3.2 depicts the flow diagram with system boundaries 30 Figure 3.3 depicts the Bill of Materials 31 Figure 3.4 shows the creation of a new process and flow 35 Figure 3.5 illustrates the inputs of materials from the BOM in OpenLCA 35 Figure 3.6 illustrates the input and output table for the refurbishment process. 37 Figure 4.1 illustrates the major contributors in a simplified way 40 Figure 4.2 shows the contribution from different materials in the case of refurbished 42 production Figure 4.3 depicts the graph comparing the original vs refurbished 43 in different categories Tables Table 3.1 shows the materials used and their respective quantities 31 Table 3.2 depicts the refurbished mass 36 Table 4.1 shows the different environmental impacts in the case of original 38 manufacturing Table 4.2 shows the contribution tree for current manufacturing at JTA Connection 39 Table 4.3 illustrates the impact in different categories 40 Table 4.4 demonstrates the contribution tree for refurbished products 41 Table 4.5 shows the original vs the refurbished process in different categories 43 Abbreviations CE- circular economy LCA- life cycle assessment 5 1. Introduction 1.1 Background of the study Over the decades, industries have followed the traditional linear “take-make-dispose” system while manufacturing products. Though this model has resulted in financial growth, it has also affected the environment by consuming optimum resources, increas- ing energy usage, and generating waste (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2021). Metal and other machinery, however, involve the extraction and utilization of resources and energy usage, as they entirely rely on raw materials while manufacturing. The circular economy (CE) has drawn more attention worldwide due to its effective con- cept of lowering excessive natural resource use while producing financial gains. The CE is being recognized as the most feasible solution to the problem of sustainability. The strategies of CE, including reuse, repair, remanufacture, refurbishing, and recycling, en- courage the extraction of maximum value from current products and reduce environ- mental impacts (Roland Berger, 2020). The European Environment Agency (2020) reports clearly show that the manufacturing of metal machinery contributes to a significant part of industrial CO₂ emissions in Europe, showcasing the need to introduce sustainable and eco-friendly manufacturing patterns. As automation systems manufacturing is assumed to expand in worldwide industries, considering the trends like Industry 4.0, leading to an increase in environmental crisis, until new techniques are introduced to ensure an extended product life. The circular economy acts as an effective replacement for the traditional linear model in dealing with such challenges. The central focus of the circular economy is to manufacture the product to ensure recovery or enhancement of the product when needed, thus re- ducing the chances of manufacturing a new product by utilizing raw materials and gen- erating waste (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013). In Industrial terms, circularity means moving ahead of basic waste management practices to create value and upgrading the 6 business model. Circularity promotes cost efficiency and competitiveness, especially for industries that depend on valuable machinery. Refurbishment is considered to be highly feasible and capable for the environment about all other strategies in the circular economy. Refurbishment comprises removing defec- tive components from the used products and making them more operational by increas- ing their durability, thus restoring their original working standard or even exceeding the working standards of the brand-new products (Ijomah et al., 2007). Moreover, refurbish- ment is very cost-effective and environmentally friendly since it does not rely on heavy utilization of resources when compared with remanufacturing, which involves complete dismantling and then assembling. Thus, refurbishment is an effective solution to make the production of highly automatic machinery, such as robotic cells, more circular, as they are easier to reuse. Although there has been a significant emphasis worldwide regarding circular economy and sustainability, the metal machinery domain has still been overruled by a linear sys- tem, characterized by optimum resource utilization and a lack of following the compo- nents of refurbish and circular models, such as reuse or repair. There is still a need to implement the actual practices of refurbishment. The possible reasons behind not adapting circular practices could be excessive refurbishment prices, sophisticated prod- uct recreation patterns, limited return logistics network, and low industry standards (Ri- zos et al., 2016; Lieder & Rashid, 2016). Due to these drawbacks, there is a significant gap and opportunity to develop circular models to aim towards a sustainable industrial modernization. Moreover, the heavy machinery sectors are often ignored when it comes to circular principles due to budget issues, market drops, and a lack of known working models for the industry that integrate circularity (Lieder & Rashid, 2016). 7 1.2 Thesis focus and significance The global shift towards circular operation from primitive methods has highlighted re- furbishment as a pragmatic strategy offering more strategic results beneficial for com- panies to work in a more sustainable process while countering increased competition. As mentioned earlier, refurbishment relies on renewing the worn-out parts to their full operational capacity, equivalent to a new product (Haas et al., 2015; Su et al., 2013; Lieder & Rashid, 2016). Furthermore, when compared to recycling and remanufacturing, refurbishment is a more sustainable and logical method, as it decreases the need for procuring extra raw material, thus lowering the pressure on resources while also main- taining the product's original state. Furthermore, refurbishment plays a vital role in relation to metal machinery and indus- trial equipment, as these products are composed of precious and expensive metals. Moreover, these products are often removed from the operations due to technological advancements rather than physical degradation, which is not environmentally friendly since they comprise rare earth elements, which are difficult to extract (Haas et al., 2015; Su et al., 2013; Lieder & Rashid, 2016). Thus, refurbishment provides a sustainable solu- tion by prolonging their life cycle rather than just discarding thereby preventing environ- mental degradation. The prime focus of this research is to examine the possibilities of how refurbishment can be used as an imperative tool to assist industries in shifting from linear production to a circular model, and also design a framework for integrating refurbishment into their business models. Furthermore, other researchers have explored the circular economy extensively, leaving a gap in understanding how refurbishment can be implemented in metal and heavy machinery. Furthermore, there is a lack of quantitative evaluation re- garding environmental impacts in demonstrating refurbishment practice. The majority of the research on the Circular economy with regard to the metal manufacturing domain has been aiming towards minimizing waste, recycling, and resource productivity, focus- ing on energy efficiency and better scrap retrieval (Haas et al., 2015; Su et al., 2013; 8 Lieder & Rashid, 2016). Even though this helps minimize resource utilization, it also ulti- mately results in the product’s end-of-life instead of an increase in the product’s lifespan. On the other hand, refurbishment, repair, and reuse strategies that could help increase the lifespan of the products are still unexamined and lack methodical application in the industry (Bocken et al., 2016; Pagoropoulos et al., 2017). This thesis focuses on contributing to such ideas regarding a refurbishment-based busi- ness model and how to design and examine it using LCA. Using the LCA method, a gen- eral comparison between the refurbished and newly built products in terms of environ- mental impacts would be made, providing quantitative analysis. Though this thesis sup- ports a general aim to metal machinery, it is also supported by a case of an industrial automation company. The case study gives practical information on how refurbishment strategies could be adapted in product lifecycle management and business development. 1.3 Objective of the study Exploring a refurbished business model is a vital objective of this thesis. Apart from this, analyzing the presence of linear operations of the JTA Connection and identifying key stages of their working model from production to disposal of waste is also a crucial as- pect of this thesis. Hence, studying the environmental benefits of refurbished production versus the new machinery is also a vital objective of this research. Adding further, imple- menting the circular economy is a big challenge for companies, especially when it comes to the heavy machinery sector, which still relies on primitive production techniques. Moreover, there is no fixed framework that the industries can implement to achieve their sustainability goals. Therefore, determining the key hurdles and determinants that can enable the industries to integrate refurbishment into their working process is also an imperative goal of this study. The primary research questions of this thesis are • How does the environmental impact change from the Life cycle of new produc- tion to refurbished machinery? 9 • How can JTA Connection identify the waste components in the product life cycle and design a more circular refurbished model based on the LCA results? • What are the core operational and strategic factors that are vital for JTA Connec- tion in implementing a refurbished model? 1.4 Structure of the thesis The structure of the thesis includes five chapters, providing a detailed study of the re- search topics and the application. Chapter 1 – Introduction: It provides a general understanding of the thesis topic and the reason for its significance and consideration. It gives an overview of the transition from linear to a circular business model, considering refurbishment as the central circular strategy for the machinery sector. This chapter also includes the preliminary background of the research, the objectives and research questions, and the overall importance of the thesis. Chapter 2 – Literature Review: provides a detailed overview of principles of circular economy, operating models, and integration obstacles. Apart from this, it also discusses refurbishment as a tool to achieve sustainability, examining various research papers and explaining the relevance of LCA as a significant method to analyze the environmental impact. Chapter 3 – Research Methodology: outlines the major steps undertaken to carry out the research. In fact, it also provides insights into how data was collected through inter- views and secondary data. Moreover, it also explains the implementation of LCA on the data and measures the environmental impact. Chapter 4 – Data Analysis and Results: interprets the results obtained from applying LCA and develops a framework for integrating the refurbished business model. Furthermore, it also provides insights into imperative factors and obstacles in using refurbishment. 10 Chapter 5 – Discussion and Conclusion: shares the important recommendations and rel- evant findings of the thesis, and provides a base for further research, industrial insights. It also explains the limitations of the study. 11 2. Literature Review 2.1 Circular Economy The main idea of the circular economy is to follow a closed-loop mechanism, in contrast to the primitive linear techniques, which are not sustainable and pose a greater threat to resources, especially non-renewable resources. In fact, the linear model works on the take-make-dispose framework, which focuses on just using the resources to manufac- ture a product and then disposing of the contents when the product reaches the end of its life cycle (Islam, 2025). Moreover, the linear model is dependent on heavy extraction of rare earth elements, which further adds to environmental degradation, along with the immense waste generation by disposing of products. Thus, the circular economy emerged as a main solution to increased waste generation by prolonging the product life cycle, leading to less pressure on the environment (Islam, 2025). The development of the circular economy started in the late 20th century, when environ- mentalists and industrialists demanded various strategies or processes to counter the risks posed by heavy extraction and reduce the carbon footprint of industries to make them more nature-compatible, as well as meet the demands of the growing consumer base. Early research and attempts primarily paid attention to integrating recycling, but with the idea of the circular economy gaining momentum, the broader concepts of prod- uct and process redesigning, transitioning the primitive business models to a more closed-loop model, were also included (Islam, 2025). Hence, the circular economy has developed into an industrial system that synchronizes the industrial processes, keeping sustainability and consumer demands at high importance. According to Ingladi (2024), the working of the circular economy is governed by various principles and concepts, which are integral when implementing the circular economy in operational processes. Firstly, it emphasizes the need for careful utilization of exhausti- ble resources and increasing their preservation. As a matter of fact, this principle moti- vates the industries to reduce the fresh extraction of elements and decrease their reli- ance on non-renewable resources. The second main domain of the circular economy 12 involves optimizing resource yields by increasing the product life cycle through four main determinants of reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishment, and recycling (Ingaldi,2024). In fact, these four components are vital to reduce pressure on the material and the envi- ronment, as the need for producing new products is substantially reduced by implement- ing these methods. Lastly, the circular economy also lays stress on making the product designs more eco-friendly, easy to dismantle or refurbish, using materials that are more readily available and have a smaller carbon footprint. Cappelletti (2023), explains that the integration of the circular economy is beneficial across environmental, social, and economic domains. It is responsible for lowering the greenhouse gas emissions, conserving energy and water, and reducing waste generation. Economically, it reduces the costs for companies since it lowers their dependency on procuring raw materials by using recycling (Cappelletti, 2023). Socially, it aids in creating more jobs in the domain of sustainability, especially in implementing recycling and re- furbishment. There are six key determinants that are integral to the idea of the circular economy, and sometimes these are also called the R strategies. Reduce strategy involves lowering de- pendency on new raw material procurement and lowering the energy input during man- ufacturing. Reuse, which focuses on extending the product life cycle. Repair that requires fixing the defective parts of the product. Refurbish, which focuses on restoring full func- tionality of the product, equivalent to a new product. Remanufacture, emphasizing the redevelopment of the product (Elnourani, 2024). Lastly, recycling uses the materials from the end of the product's life cycle and reuses them in a new product's life cycle. Elnourani (2024), signifies that these six strategies are very crucial in industries that manufacture automation systems, where the products are durable and are composed of valuable raw materials. To exemplify, the automobile industry has integrated the determinants of re- furbishment and remanufacturing in the operations process, which not only reduces costs but is also more sustainable in terms of waste generation and beneficial in the long run. Moreover, the industries involved in manufacturing industrial machines for other 13 corporations are focused on more modular designs, which are easy to repair and replace, thereby significantly reducing waste. Hence, these examples clearly signify how the cir- cular strategies can be incorporated not only in a product’s dimensions but also within the business model (Elnourani, 2024). To conclude, the circular economy symbolizes a modern approach in tackling the envi- ronmental challenges posed by the primitive linear methods. Its foundation of preserv- ing the original content of the product with lower resource consumption, a systematic process to prolong the product life cycle, plays a vital role in providing a framework for companies to practice sustainable manufacturing (Elnourani, 2024). Adding further, for automation industries, the six factors are very imperative to reduce their environmental burden since these industries are resource and energy-intensive. This thesis explores the idea of refurbishment as a core factor and how it can be used by the automated industry for more circular output, thus analysing their business model while also quantifying the environmental impacts of using refurbishment through life cycle assessment (Reis,2023). 2.2 Linear Economy and its environmental impact For centuries, industries have followed a take-make-dispose model of industrial produc- tion and consumption. It simply means that companies procure the raw materials nec- essary for production, assemble the product, and, as it approaches the end of its life, dispose of its contents while continuing to produce new products (Haas et al., 2015; Su et al., 2013; Lieder & Rashid, 2016). The linear model has been a dominant framework for many industries, especially during the industrial peak of the last century. While the linear model had been a stimulus promoting industrial growth, it has been proven un- sustainable since it involves heavy extraction of non-renewable minerals. Thus, linear operations are regarded as environment-degrading primarily in the heavy machinery sector since they are highly resource-dependent (Haas et al., 2015; Su et al., 2013; Lieder & Rashid, 2016). 14 The primary reason for the linear economy to be considered unsustainable is its heavy dependence on resources, often leading to their depletion and misuse. Furthermore, the heavy machinery sector requires rare earth elements like copper, iron, and aluminium, which require large-scale extraction since they are abundant in nature, leading to heavy carbon emissions, energy consumption, a rise in particulate matter, and increased pollu- tion (Haas et al., 2015; Su et al., 2013; Lieder & Rashid, 2016). To quote an example, to manufacture one ton of steel requires at least 20-30 GJ of energy and emits 1.8 to 2 tons of carbon into the air, leading to increased greenhouse gases in the environment, wors- ening the quality of air and nature (European Environment Agency, 2020). In the gist of the above content, the linear economy not only leads to resource depletion but also results in increasing temperatures of the earth due to a higher percentage of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, leading to loss of biodiversity both on land and water. Adding further, another reason for the linear economy to be considered hazardous for the environment is its immense waste generation. In fact, when the products are at the last stage of their cycle, they are thrown into landfills and incinerated, which is further harmful to the natural surroundings. As a matter of fact, core minerals used in the metal machinery are often recyclable, but instead they are disposed of untreated, resulting in land and water contamination (Kanazawa,2022). Thus, significant proportions of valua- ble resources are wasted, forming a cycle of extraction and disposal. In addition to this, the linear model is based on high energy input, and it only takes into account the energy used to manufacture the product, but ignores the energy consumption during the product's entire life cycle. Hence, a large amount is consumed to produce new products to replace the older ones, while through refurbishment, the use of energy is considerably reduced (Kanazawa,2022). Kanazawa (2022), explains that greenhouse gas emissions are another problem posed by the linear economy. To quote an example, according to the International Energy Agency steel and aluminum sector contributes to nearly 10% of the global carbon foot- print. Apart from the carbon emissions, these industries also emit sulphur dioxide and 15 nitrogen oxides, which are further harmful to the natural surroundings and hinder the quality of life. Apart from this, another drawback of a linear economy is that the product is designed to fulfill the immediate use rather than longevity (Kanazawa,2022). Thus, due to the primitive designs, products go obsolete faster, and then new products are required to replace the outgoing machinery. Moreover, the linear economy does not promote in- novation and still uses backward technology, outdated designs, which are not only envi- ronmentally unfriendly but also lack adaptation and become obsolete. To exemplify, in the heavy machinery sector, CNC machines, robotic cells are often discarded due to a minute failure or technical fault (Kanazawa,2022). In the gist of the above drawbacks, although the linear economy has been the backbone of the industrial revolution, it must be considered outdated in the present business en- vironment, where focus has shifted from take-make-dispose ideology to a more sustain- able production. Moreover, it has overdependency on resources, high energy consump- tion, and immense waste generation, making it harmful for the future (Kanazawa,2022). These drawbacks are further multiplied in the heavy machinery sector, where the extrac- tion of precious metals is an integral component from procurement to finished product. Hence, adopting circular strategies has become imperative to overcome the challenges posed by the linear model (Kanazawa,2022). 2.3 Product Life Cycle in the automation sector Analysing the product life cycle is critical to explore various strategies that can be used to integrate circular methods in the automation equipment sector. The product life cycle can be defined as the various stages that a product experiences from manufacturing to the end-of-life due to technological advancements or obsolescence (Wurst, 2023). More- over, the product life cycle is not only imperative to calculate the economic aspect of the product, but it also supports in analysing the environmental impact of the product by measuring the resource usage and energy consumption throughout its cycle (Wurst, 2023). 16 The design and development phase is the first integral step in the product life cycle. Dur- ing this stage, significant decisions concerning the structural components of the product, the material required, the design with emphasis on modular structure, and its core func- tionality are made. When it comes to the automation sector, the main resources used are aluminum and steel, together with electronic and electromechanical components. These are the most common raw materials required due to their tensile strength, ther- mal and electrical conductivity, and durability (Reis,2023). This phase is highly vital as the design of the product is crucial to determine whether the product can be refurbished, repaired, or remanufactured. For instance, products with more flexible and modular de- signs are simple to reverse engineer and less difficult to repair or refurbish the product. Thus, highly complex structures are difficult to interpret and therefore, are extremely difficult to implement the circular determinants to increase the life cycle (Reis,2023). The following stage is the production phase, where all the raw materials procured are used to assemble the finished product. This stage is highly energy-oriented, and a vast amount of energy in thermal and electrical energy is used to manufacture the final prod- uct. Apart from this, it involves raw material extraction, which further results in high emissions (Reis,2023). This step also generates a lot of waste in the form of scrap and defective materials, which are discarded since they cannot be used as per the quality standards. Lean production, optimum inventory usage, and controlling energy can be used to overcome these problems. The next stage involves the use phase, which is related to the time period for which the product is used for the function it was primarily produced for. The time for this stage can often be variable, depending on the product's durability, technological upgrades, prod- uct maintenance, and its condition of usage. Moreover, with respect to automation sys- tems, the use phase of the products typically ranges between 10 to 20 years. Further- more, it is often variable depending on the inspection schedule, maintenance, and proper lubrication to reduce friction between parts, and checking for rust treatment 17 (Reis,2023). However, in a linear economy, this life span is often shortened due to tech- nological advancements and upgrades; machine components are disposed of prema- turely, regardless of the fact that the product is fully operational and can last some more time. The last stage is of life phase, which focuses on what is done when the product is near the end of its lifecycle. Usually, in the linear working system, worn-out products or ma- chines are disposed of in a landfill, often incinerated with limited recycling. While the metals and some electronics used are often recyclable, they are coupled with other fea- tures and components that are harder to reverse engineer, thus making them hard to disassemble during recycling (Reis,2023). For instance, machines that are manufactured in combination with plastics, coatings, or electronics are difficult to disintegrate. Thus, improper treatment of the product at the end stage is a big hurdle in recycling, resulting in loss of materials and energy (Reis,2023). The circular economy emphasizes on extending the use phase of the product through reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture, and repair (Reis,2023). Concerning the automated industry, refurbishment plays a key role in replacing the worn-out components, which can prolong the use phase and lower the dependency on raw materials to manufacture new products (Reis,2023). Moreover, various studies stress on importance of analysing the life cycle in automation and equipment manufacturing sectors. To exemplify, re- search has shown that CNC machines and robotic cells consume maximum energy during the use phase. Hence, implementing refurbishment in mid-life saves more energy in con- trast to other products, which require refurbishment at the end of the life stage. In the gist of the above content, the product life cycle provides a vital framework to an- alyse the different stages a product undergoes during its lifetime. Moreover, each stage provides insights into the product attributes and behavior, enabling the implementation of effective treatment in case of deviation from proper functioning. 18 2.4 Circular strategies The shift from the linear to the circular economy involves integrating strategies to pro- long the life cycle of the product. Extending the life of the product reduces pressure on virgin metal extraction, lowers energy consumption, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore reduces environmental degradation (Rizos et al., 2016). Moreover, imple- menting these strategies is vital, especially in the automation industries that are involved in producing robotic cells and CNC machines, because they have high material input and high energy requirements. As introduced in Section 2.1, the R strategies that include reuse, repair, reduce, reman- ufacture, refurbish, and recycle provide an imperative model to integrate the circular principles to extend the product life cycle. These determinants can be implemented in various stages to get the desired sustainability result. 1. Reduce- this strategy involves lowering dependency on new raw material pro- curement and lowering the energy input during manufacturing (Rizos et al., 2016). Moreover, it also focuses on making the product design less dependent on heavy metals by coupling lightweight metals in combination with other com- ponents, like plastics, without compromising the durability of the product. 2. Reuse- focuses on changing the function of the product or giving it a new life cycle in another domain without any modifications in the product. In relation to the automation machinery, reuse involves transferring the used machines to new production plans, leasing the machines to other enterprises (Rizos et al., 2016). Reuse is among the most environmentally friendly techniques, but it requires careful inspection regarding the condition of the product and its functionality. 3. Repair- emphasizes replacing the worn-out components of the product to restore its full functionality. For instance, replacing shafts, gear bearings, and electrical parts of the robotic cell can prolong its operational life cycle (Rizos et al., 2016). 19 Thus, constant inspections, maintenance of the defective parts, and regular lu- brication of heavy friction areas keep the product healthy and extend the use phase of the product. 4. Refurbish- represents a more complex series of actions undertaken in addition to repair, to restore the full functionality of the product. Refurbishment involves cleaning, adding technological upgrades to prevent them from going obsolete. Refurbishment allows the product to retain its original form without compromis- ing the quality of the product, and is more environmentally friendly (Rizos et al., 2016). Refurbishment is also among the best strategies to extend the life cycle of the product at much lower costs and reduce the overutilization of resources. 5. Remanufacture- can be defined as the process of reverse engineering the prod- ucts or dismantling the components, replacing old worn-out parts, and installing a new working system to serve the original purpose of the machinery (Rizos et al., 2016). Remanufacturing is particularly imperative in the automation equip- ment, where mechanical frames and housings enclosing the product are recov- erable and internal parts of the product, for instance, sensors and control units, are replaceable. 6. Recycle- is the process of acquiring raw materials from the end-of-life phase, which can be used for new production. While recycling significantly drops the dependency on new material extraction, it is considered less suitable than refur- bishment and repair, as a huge amount of energy is required to disintegrate the materials from the product, thus degrading the quality of materials received at the end of recycling. However, recycling is highly important in recovering alumi- num, copper, and nickel, which have high recycling ability (Rizos et al., 2016). These strategies are crucial for implementing the circular dynamics in the enterprise working sphere. To quote an example, industries that applied refurbishment on robotic 20 cells, presses, and CNC machines reported a material conversion rate of 30 to 35 %. How- ever, there are certain factors to be considered when it comes to their application. For example, modular design enables repair and refurbishment to be performed on the products without the need to fully dismantle the products, whereas this cannot be im- plemented when the components are highly interconnected and complexly embedded with each other. Moreover, cost factors are also significant, which cannot be overruled since the enterprise is working to survive in the stiff competition. In addition to costs, companies also lack the technological knowledge and capacity to implement these cir- cular practices. Hence, although R strategies are highly effective in extending the prod- uct life, lowering carbon emissions, they require high capital input and technological in- novations, which may not be feasible, especially for smaller companies. 2.5 Refurbishment and its significance in the Circular Economy According to Daniyan (2021), refurbishment is among the core strategies within the cir- cular economy, with the main purpose of extending the product life cycle. Refurbishment is often considered similar to repair; however, repair only focuses on replacing the faulty components of the product, whereas refurbishment consists of replacing the worn-out parts, restoring the full functional capacity of the product equivalent to that of a new product (Daniyan, 2021). Refurbishment is highly advantageous in the automation sector to conserve machines, materials, and energy. Refurbishment includes performing a wide range of activities, such as cleaning the prod- uct from residual dirt, replacing the parts causing more friction, oiling and greasing, tech- nological upgrades, or calibrating the entire machine (Daniyan, 2021). The scope of re- furbishment is very wide, as it can be applied to a specific part of the product or the entire machine. Moreover, the scope is also dependent on product specification, product design, and consumer demand (Daniyan, 2021). In relation to the automated sector, re- furbishment is typically applied to the parts that are easily replaced and have material value, like robots, electric motors, and gears, whereas it is challenging to apply refurbish- ment to machines such as CPUs and PLCs. 21 Refurbishment's main benefit is the value it can retain in a product within the circular economy guidelines, addressing the environmental and economic problems identified by the enterprise. In terms of refurbishment, it reduces the need for extraction, thereby lowering emissions (Daniyan, 2021). To highlight an example, applying refurbishment to a robotic cell instead of manufacturing a brand new one can significantly save a high amount of precious metals like iron, aluminum, and copper, further reducing emissions by 30 to 50% subject to the refurbishment scope and its effective application. Depending upon the scope and its application, refurbishment can be divided into four types. 1. Functional Refurbishment- the main purpose of this type is to restore the opera- tional capacity of the product without any significant changes in the visual struc- ture of the product. 2. Cosmetic Refurbishment- involves changing the outer appearance of the product. The product is cleaned thoroughly, rust is removed, if any, and the product is painted to give it a newer look. 3. Component-specific refurbishment- emphasis on one specific part of the product, such as robotic arms, assembly line, and while also preserving the original struc- ture of the product. 4. Comprehensive Refurbishment- encompasses functional, cosmetic, and compo- nent refurbishment. Thus, all the core structures are restored to serve their orig- inal purpose instead of being disposed of, and replacing the product with a new product. 22 Refurbishment provides a wide range of benefits covering environmental, economic, op- erational, and social aspects. However, these benefits are not spontaneous; rather, they rely on aspects like the performance level of the returned product, the availability of specialized labour, and the capability to guarantee the functionality and security stand- ards of the refurbished product. Refurbishment lowers the dependency on raw material extraction, decreasing energy input and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, thus con- tributing towards achieving sustainability (Daniyan, 2021). In terms of economics, it low- ers the costs of companies by reducing the demand for new production, lowering pro- curement of fresh material, and hence, reducing working capital for the company. Fur- thermore, refurbishment improves the operational capacity by increasing the reliability of the product. Moreover, refurbishment provides ample job opportunities in research, inspection, and repair. Although refurbishment is easy to apply and provides a number of benefits in theory, its practical implementation is very tedious, requires detailed planning, and a framework (Hagedorn, 2022). Moreover, it requires a number of technological upgrades, which are very expensive and difficult to integrate within the assembly. Apart from this, the quality of the refurbished product may not be equivalent to a new product or may not fulfill the mandatory quality requirements set by the government policies (Hagedorn, 2022). In addition to this, consumer preferences may be rigid and sceptical regarding the usage and reliability of refurbished products. Thus, refurbishment is a critical tool in the circularity model with respect to the automa- tion sector. Improving the functioning of the product helps to conserve energy, preserve materials, and lower the carbon footprint. Understanding refurbishment, its scope, types, and limitations is highly imperative to create a systematic model to integrate within the operational cycle (Hagedorn, 2022). 23 2.6 Factors affecting the implementation of refurbishment While developing a model with refurbishment as an imperative element offers a signifi- cant contribution to environmental and economic benefits. However, its integration faces a lot of technical, economic, organizational, and technological challenges, which are vital to understand for the successful implementation of refurbishment. 1. Technical and design factors – Product design is among the key factors to deter- mine whether the refurbishment of a product is feasible or not. Automated prod- ucts feature varied designs and components integrated into complex systems. Products with a modular and easier-to-disassemble design can be refurbished without any significant hurdles. On the other hand, the feasibility of circular chain reactions can be reduced by utilizing composite materials, incorporated designs, and patented components (Hagedorn, 2022). Furthermore, technological devices such as modern sensors, condition tracking, and digital twins can help optimize refurbishment practices, develop condition-based maintenance, and determine components before the end of life. If companies lack such tools, it would be chal- lenging to implement circular strategies effectively. 2. Organization Factors – To adapt circular practices, it is crucial to build organiza- tional loyalty and strategic consistency. Companies must commit to introducing new methodologies, encouraging employee training, and raising committed teams to handle refurbishment practices. There has been a huge cultural clash in adapting CE practices due to the priorities of the current industrial structure, which clearly focuses on new product marketing rather than promoting sustaina- bility or refurbishment practices (Babbitt, 2021). To overcome such challenges, leadership assistance, enterprise knowledge management, and multi-disciplinary collaboration play a vital role. 3. Economic Factors – Cost-effectiveness acts as an integral part in executing circular strategies. Refurbishment and remanufacturing usually need early investment in 24 certain equipment and reverse logistics management, even though they help de- crease the expenses incurred for energy and materials (Babbitt, 2021). Further- more, companies cannot rely on such refurbished machinery, as customers would refuse to invest in it, or the company would face certain challenges in estimating the salvage value of used machinery. 4. Market and Customer insight – Consumer taste and preference are critical factors in determining whether refurbished products could be sold in the market. In rela- tion to automation products, consumers are investing heavily and would want the product to survive at least 20 years until new technology is developed. Consumers might believe that a refurbished product has lower quality and reliability when compared to new products. Warranties and after-sales repairs are good tech- niques to gain trust from consumers regarding refurbished products (Babbitt, 2021). 5. Adopting new technology and innovation- Companies' technological capabilities are another relevant factor in adopting refurbishment. Industries that use inno- vative and state-of-the-art technology, like sensors to detect motions of the ma- chine, 3D printing, and automation technology to detect the faulty parts, need for repair contribute significantly to implementing refurbishment (Babbitt, 2021). Thus, refurbishment might not be feasible for companies with less budget for in- novation. 2.7 Life Cycle Assessment Life cycle assessment is a comprehensive environmental method primarily used to ex- amine the ecological impacts of different phases in a product's life cycle. It is a systematic tool that allows for input, output, and compiling the impact of a product system. It is a critical tool that enables decision-making with regard to product systems, materials used, refurbishment, and examines key circular strategies. It supports environmental decision- making by identifying the lower environmental impact in the life cycle, promoting more 25 eco-friendly design, and comparing more production strategies. Thus, the primary pur- pose of LCA is to give a holistic approach in terms of environmental performance and categorize the life cycle stages according to impact. ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 are the standards that act as guidelines for conducting LCA studies, controlling their framework, requirements, and set principles within which the LCA should work. ISO 14040:2006 explains the general principles and framework for LCA. ISO 14044:2006 sets the requirements and provides instructions on data collection, im- pact assessment, and reporting. According to ISO 14040, LCA consists of four main phases, which are- 1. Goal and Scope definition- this phase sets the main goals of the LCA and defines the boundaries within which the LCA should work. It provides key information like the target consumer group or industry, main assumptions, and functional unit. It also provides information regarding the geograph- ical location intended to be examined in LCA. 2. Life Cycle Inventory- this phase is the data collection where the impera- tive data is collected regarding raw materials used, energy used, emis- sions, water contamination, and waste disposal. 3. Life Cycle Impact Assessment- this phase converts the inventory data to an impact assessment. These can be categorized into acidification, global warming, eutrophication, ozone depletion, human toxicity, and resource depletion. 4. Interpretation- this phase is the final part, which involves analysing the results, identifying the key impact areas, and assessing the data quality. 26 According to Jeswiet and kara (2008), various studies have shown that the manufactur- ing phase leads to a substantial amount of environmental impact, particularly in heavy equipment and high-precision machinery. Industrial equipment provides a high opera- tional lifetime, but is heavily reliant on material and energy, especially during manufac- turing. LCA enables the environmental analysis associated with the production of heavy industrial machinery. Moreover, LCA can be applied to examine the current production tools, compare new versus refurbished production, and assess the quality of remanufac- tured products. Even though studies interpret refurbishment as a great support in reducing carbon emis- sions from 30-70% in comparison with newly built products that are determined by the usage of replaced parts and the level of intervention (Ijomah et al., 2007; Cooper & All- wood, 2012), refurbishment is not beneficial universally. Certain environmental trade- offs include more energy exhaustion due to refurbishment practices, unreliability on fur- ther functioning life, and more transportation impacts in reverse logistics. Although LCA is a significant tool to evaluate the product system but it also has some limitations. Firstly, data collected for evaluation may be redundant and have some deviations that might not be recorded properly. Apart from data, it is difficult to set an appropriate functional unit or boundaries for the system to work effectively. In addition to these, LCA ignores rebound effects and indirect environmental impacts, for example, caused by higher con- sumption due to lower product costs. 27 3. Research Methodology The key methodology used in this thesis is life cycle assessment to quantify the environ- mental impacts of the production of a robotic cell for JTA connection. OpenLCA is the software used for applying LCA, and key inputs are received from the bill of materials provided by the JTA connection. Apart from this, this thesis follows a case study approach to conceptualize the analysis of the data, with a primary focus on the production phase of the robotic cell and assessing the potential environmental benefits achieved through refurbishment. Moreover, the implementation of LCA in the production phase is divided into two categories. The first step is to examine the current manufacturing at the JTA connection by using the information available in the BOM and then calculating the envi- ronmental impact. The second step is analysing the refurbished production; however, the critical part of the thesis is creating a hypothetical refurbished process using BOM and the existing research work to support the assumptions, since the JTA connection does not have any refurbished plan in the production phase. Figure 3.1 illustration of robotic cell and tending cell 28 3.1 LCA application As mentioned earlier, Life cycle assessment is the main tool used for evaluation in this thesis. It allows a comprehensive and systematic examination of the environmental im- pacts, quantifying the data received in terms of material and energy used in producing one robotic cell. According to the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, LCA has four main stages, which are goal and scope definition, studying the inventory, examining impacts, and finally analysing results. Apart from this, this thesis does not follow a rigid structure but instead only focuses on calculating the impacts during the manufacturing phase; thus, the use phase and end-of-life cycle phase are ignored due to a lack of information related to disposal and operational phase. Hence, the narrowed focus allows for research clarity and improves the reliability of the results achieved. 3.1.1. Goal and scope definition The main goal of LCA is to examine, interpret, and compare the climate impacts in rela- tion to: • The current manufacturing of the JTA connection is based on the materials de- scribed in the BOM • Hypothetical refurbished manufacturing phase in which some materials are par- tially or fully refurbished based on assumptions. Apart from this, the functional unit defined for LCA is one robotic cell ready to deploy for industrial use that weighs around 6698,16Kg. This functional unit provides flexibility and assists in easy comparison between the two production processes without the com- plexity of operational life cycle and performance standards. Furthermore, the system boundaries include the cradle-to-gate of the new robotic cell and the refurbishment stage as described below: • Raw material production, which represents the climate effects of raw material acquiring, for example, plastics, aluminum. Thus, this includes highly energy-in- tensive processes used for raw material extraction, such as iron ore mining. 29 • Structural Manufacturing, which involves turning the raw materials into frames, plates, and panels. This represents all the activities done that are required to pro- cess the raw materials into the structural components for the robotic cell. Thus, it includes welding, cutting, drilling, etc • Assembly energy signifies the electrical energy to blend all the separate parts into one homogenous structure of a robotic cell. This system applies an electricity unit that is kWh of energy per kg of material to calculate the total electricity con- sumed in assembly operations. The various activities performed in this system are fitting, alignment, fastening, and integration of subsystems. • Refurbishment process to extend the life cycle of the product and analyze the environmental impacts generated from the refurbishment of the old cell. This includes the electricity plus the new material required for manufacturing. Refur- bishment includes cleaning, repainting, and replacing the worn-out parts. Summary of the flow diagram of the process Is shown in figure 3.2 below. Figure3.2 depicts the flow diagram with system boundaries in orange boxes Raw Material Extraction Transport Manufacturing Transport Operation Transport Refurbishment Transport End of Life Raw material extraction Operation 30 3.1.2 Life Cycle Inventory JTA Connection provided the bill of materials, which served as the primary data source. The bill of materials contained detailed information regarding the various components used, their quantity in kilograms, type of material. Apart from this, electricity consump- tion was assumed as energy use per material (kWh/kg of material used), which was 0.192 kWh. The energy factor was then applied uniformly to all the material types with their respective quantities to get the total electricity, which was then input in OpenLCA as electricity medium voltage, and the provider was selected as Finland. Moreover, the Ecoinvent cut-off database was used to create the material flows and processes. Figure 3.3 depicts the Bill of Materials The BOM consisted of 471 individual components that were summarised into different material categories. The summary of materials used and their respective quantities is shown in Table 3.1. Table 3.1 shows the materials used and their respective quantities Materials Quantity (kgs) Alkyd paint 1.56 AlMg3 98.42 Aluminium production, primary, ingot 22.99 Chromium steel 18/8 1163.06 Nylon 6 104.44 Polycarbonate 3.76 Polyethylene, high-density, granulate 406.28 Polyurethane, flexible foam 0.8 Polyvinylfluoride 7.19 Printed wiring board, surface mounted, unspecified, Pb free 175.47 31 Steel, low alloyed 132.33 Textile, nonwoven polyester 1 Unalloyed steel 4579.22 Zinc 1.61 3.1.3 Assumptions for refurbishment and justification Since there is no active refurbishment process at the JTA Connection, a separate hypo- thetical refurbishment process was created to check the feasibility of refurbishment in the production of a robotic cell. In order to design a fictional refurbishment production, assumptions were made regarding some materials mentioned in the original BOM shared by the company. I. The first major assumption was made regarding the usage of metal frames, plates, etc, which are entirely composed of steel or steel-like material, were refurbished according to an 80 to 20 ratio, meaning that 80% of the steel was refurbished and only 20% was ordered new. The justification behind this was that components comprising steel retain most of their integrity throughout their life cycle, but 20% was assumed to be damaged from rust and corrosion. According to Cooper and Allwood(2012), large metal structures retain 80% to 90% of their mass due to durability. II. The second key assumption was that fasteners, nuts, and covers will be refur- bished fully since they are in small quantities and get easily rusty. According to Ijomah (2007), refurbishing these types of components is are risk to the safety of the machine III. The third major assumption was that the electronic components used in the robotic cell will be refurbished on 60 to 40 ratio, meaning 60% of the material will be refurbished, and 40% will be new material required. Due to rapid tech- nological upgrades, it is crucial to change the electric components, but some wires, lights etc, might be functioning properly (Sundin and Bras, 2005). IV. Lastly, any material whose quantity was less than 5kg was replaced fully, since the amount was so small that it seemed irrelevant to refurbish those materials. 32 V. The metal and the electronic waste were assumed to be stripped apart for recycling. The recycling process and the benefit of avoiding virgin material pro- duction were not included in the study; therefore, the impacts of end-of-life for metal and electronic waste were from transport, separation, and pro- cessing waste, which was ready for recycling. Meanwhile, other waste, such as plastic, was incinerated. 3.1.4 Life Cycle Impact Assessment In this phase, the data explained in the inventory is converted to potential environmental indicators. This thesis uses CML V.8 2016 as the main impact assessment method to measure the environment in different categories. CML is widely used in industry and academic studies, specially manufacturing-focused studies, as it allows for specific envi- ronment hotspot analysis, like emissions, energy use, and material production. CML co- vers the following categories, which are critical to provide a detailed impact associated with the production and refurbishment of a robotic cell. • Acidification • Global Warming Potential • Eutrophication • Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential • Ozone Depletion • Abiotic Resource Depletion • Human Toxicity • Freshwater Ecotoxicity Among all the categories, the global warming potential is the most imperative, as it is closely related to measuring carbon emissions, which is a vital part of this thesis, as low- ering the carbon footprint is of high importance, especially for manufacturing industries. 3.1.5 Interpretation This study required a systematic analysis of the impact results in the case of original manufacturing and refurbished manufacturing, finding out impact hotspots and impact 33 contribution from each type of material and process. Firstly, the results for original man- ufacturing were analyzed to identify the key materials, such as steel, electronics, etc have the highest proportion of impact. In case of a refurbishment scenario, special attention was paid to how much impact was lowered by refurbishing the materials used based on the assumptions with high attention to reduced mass and lower energy consumption during refurbishment. This allowed for the quantification of the environmental benefits of refurbishment in terms of carbon emissions. 3.2 OpenLCA application As discussed earlier, OpenLCA is a software used to do life cycle assessment and quantify the climatic impact of the original production process and the refurbished manufactur- ing process. It is an easy-to-use software developed by GreenDelta and is one of the most important software used to do life cycle analysis in both academia and Industry. It pro- vides the framework required to perform LCA in accordance with the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 provisions. It allows users to create individual processes and provides existing da- tabases to design more accurate processes and flows through inputs/outputs. The first major step was to import the database, which was more relevant to the thesis goal, which was ecoinvent 3.11 Cutoff Unit-Processes. This database contained all the relevant flows and processes required to study both manufacturing cycles. The next step was to create a new process, which was named as production of one robotic cell, and the flow was named as robotic cell with flow property set as a number, as shown in Figure 3.4. 34 Figure 3.4 shows the creation of a new process and flow. Figure 3.5 illustrates the inputs of materials from the BOM in OpenLCA Figure 3.5 depicts the inputs and quantities of material in the case of examining the im- pact of the manufacturing process prevalent at the JTA Connection. The transport for acquiring is also input, where the provider is not a market in OpenLCA, and the electricity 35 is calculated by multiplying the total quantity by 0.192 kWh. The output in case one is one robotic cell. After the inputs and outputs are ready, the final step is to select the impact assessment method to calculate the effect on the climate. This thesis uses CML V.8 2016 to measure the environmental impact on the case of both processes. The second phase of methodology involves calculating the new quantities of materials used based on the assumption explained earlier to create a hypothetical refurbishment process at the JTA connection. Table 3.2 depicts the refurbished mass Material Name Original mass (kg) Reused mass (kg) New mass of refur- bished (kg) Electricity refur- bished (kWh) Steel Unalloyed 4579.22 3629.95 949.26 584.50 Alkyd paint 1.56 0 1.56 AlMg3 98.42 78.73 19.68 Aluminium 22.99 18.39 4.59 Chromium steel 18/8 1130.71 904.56 226.14 Nylon 6 94.88 18.97 75.9 Polycarbonate 3.76 0 3.76 Polyethylene 406.28 325.02 81.25 Polyurethane 0.8 0 0.8 Polyvinyl fluoride 1.44 0 1.44 Electronics 175.47 70.18 105.29 Steel low-alloyed 132.33 105.86 26.46 Textile 1 0 1 Zinc 1.61 0 1.61 36 Table 3.2 illustrates the steps for calculating the quantities of each material after refur- bishment. The main assumption used in the calculation is 80% refurbishment and 20% new mass in most of the materials. However, in the case of materials that are less than 5kg, they are completely disposed of, and new quantities of those materials are ordered. Moreover, the electronics are recycled in a 60:40 ratio with 60% refurbished mass and 40% new mass. The refurbished quantities and new mass of each material can be seen in Table3.2. After calculating the new refurbished quantities, the next critical step is to repeat the steps similar to process one. However, the only difference is that we also input the waste produced during the refurbishment process in the output section of OpenLCA, which can be seen in Figure 3.6. The iron and aluminium waste is removed as scrap, and the rest of the waste is recorded in the output section. Figure 3.6 illustrates the input and output table for the refurbishment process. 37 4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Environmental impacts of original manufacturing and refurbishment After implementing the research methodology for both processes, the refurbished pro- cess clearly had a lower carbon emission in comparison to the original manufacturing currently in operation at the JTA connection. Table 4.1 illustrates the impact of original manufacturing in different categories Table 4.1 shows the different environmental impacts in the case of original manufacturing Impact Category Impact Assess- ment Unit Acidification 432.74 kg SO2-Eq Climate Change 69342.47 kg CO2-Eq Ecotoxicity: freshwater 375359.95 kg 1.4-DCB- Eq Ecotoxicity: marine 6.0E8 kg 1.4-DCB- Eq Ecotoxicity: terrestrial 4581.02 kg 1.4-DCB- Eq Energy resources: non-renewable 783514.22 MJ Eutrophication 428.5 kg PO4-Eq Human toxicity 463057.48 kg 1.4-DCB- Eq Material resources: metals/minerals 23.45 kg-Sb-Eq Ozone depletion 0.0035 kg CFC-11-Eq Photochemical oxidant formation 26.11 kg ethylene- Eq The original production process had a climate change effect or carbon emissions equal to 69342.47 kg CO2-Eq. Apart from climate change, we can also examine the impact assessment results in other categories, for example, acidification, which was 432.74 kg SO2-Eq, Ecotoxicity: freshwater was 375359.95kg 1,4-DCB-Eq, and so on. Given the im- portance of climate change, some results will focus on its impacts. Table 4.2 shows the contribution tree for process one, explaining the contribution of each material to climate change. The tree clearly shows that the maximum contribution comes from printed wir- ing boards, which are essentially different electronic components used in the production 38 of a robotic cell. The electronics amount for 52555.44 kg CO2-Eq. The other significant contribution comes from the production of steel, which is approximately 13000 kg CO2- Eq, combining all types of steel, like chromium steel, unalloyed steel, and low-alloyed steel. The other materials amounted to 3385.55kg CO2-Eq. This can be easily understood from Figure 4.1. Table 4.2 shows the contribution tree for current manufacturing at JTA Connection Contribu- tion (%) Process Total Re- sult (kg CO2-Eq) 7.58E1 market for printed wiring board, surface mounted, unspeci- fied, Pb free | printed wiring board, surface mounted, un- specified, Pb free | Cutoff, U - GLO 52555.44 1.14E1 steel production, converter, unalloyed | steel, unalloyed | Cutoff, U - RER 7917.61 7.50 steel production, electric, chromium steel 18/8 | steel, chro- mium steel 18/8 | Cutoff, U - RER 5198.35 1.32 polyethylene production, high density, granulate | polyeth- ylene, high density, granulate | Cutoff, U - RER 914.87 1.25 market for nylon 6 | nylon 6 | Cutoff, U – RER 868.45 1.07 aluminium alloy production, AlMg3 | aluminium alloy, AlMg3 | Cutoff, U - RER 740.7 0.56 market for transport, freight, lorry, unspecified | transport, freight, lorry, diesel, unspecified | Cutoff, U - RER 390.1 0.41 steel production, converter, low-alloyed | steel, low-alloyed | Cutoff, U - RER 284.59 0.36 electricity voltage transformation from high to medium volt- age | electricity, medium voltage | Cutoff, U - FI 249.04 0.24 aluminium production, primary, ingot | aluminium, primary, ingot | Cutoff, U - IAI Area, EU27 & EFTA 165.35 3.08E-2 market for polyvinylfluoride | polyvinylfluoride | Cutoff, U - GLO 21.32 2.70E-2 market for polycarbonate | polycarbonate | Cutoff, U – RER 18.75 1.01E-2 market for alkyd paint, white, without solvent, in 60% solu- tion state | alkyd paint, white, without solvent, in 60% solu- tion state | Cutoff, U - RER 7.03 8.89E-3 market for textile, nonwoven polyester | textile, nonwoven polyester | Cutoff, U - GLO 6.16 39 5.38E-3 market for polyurethane, flexible foam | polyurethane, flexi- ble foam | Cutoff, U - RER 3.72 1.30E-3 market for zinc concentrate | zinc concentrate | Cutoff, U - GLO 0.89 Figure 4.1 illustrates the major contributors in a simplified way 4.2 Refurbished product The impacts caused by refurbishment, which includes the waste management of prod- ucts being replaced, are shown in Table 4.3. Table 4.3 illustrates the impact in different categories Impact Category Impact Assessment Unit Acidification 238.32 kg SO2-Eq Climate Change 36065.62 kg CO2-Eq Ecotoxicity: freshwater 198270.62 kg 1.4-DCB- Eq 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 Steel electronics other Carbon Emission Kg CO2-Eq 40 Ecotoxicity: marine 3.3E8 kg 1.4-DCB- Eq Ecotoxicity: terrestrial 1197.37 kg 1.4-DCB- Eq Energy resources: non-renewable 402409.23 MJ Eutrophication 239.46 kg PO4-Eq Human toxicity 218612.16 kg 1.4-DCB- Eq Material resources: metals/minerals 14.03 kg-Sb-Eq Ozone depletion 0.002 kg CFC-11-Eq Photochemical oxidant formation 13.25 kg ethylene- Eq With respect to the refurbished process in Table 4.4, again, the major contributor came from electronics or printed wiring boards that amounted to 31533.26 kg CO2-Eq, which is approximately 38% less with respect to the current electronics material required by the JTA Connection. Furthermore, steel production is again the second major contribu- tor in the refurbishment process, responsible for 2700 kg CO2-Eq, which is roughly 80% less than in relation to the current process. The other material amounted to 1794,44 kg CO2-Eq, which is almost 50% less than process one. Figure 4.2 shows a simplified analy- sis of the contribution tree. Table 4.4 demonstrates the contribution tree for refurbished products Contribu- tion (%) Process Total Re- sult (kg CO2-Eq) 8.74E1 market for printed wiring board, surface mounted, unspeci- fied, Pb free | printed wiring board, surface mounted, un- specified, Pb free | Cutoff, U - GLO 31533.26 4.55 steel production, converter, unalloyed | steel, unalloyed | Cutoff, U - RER 1641.31 2.88 steel production, electric, chromium steel 18/8 | steel, chro- mium steel 18/8 | Cutoff, U – RER 1039.67 1.93 market for nylon 6 | nylon 6 | Cutoff, U – RER 694.76 0.66 market for waste polyethylene | waste polyethylene | Cut- off, U – FI 239.66 0.51 polyethylene production, high density, granulate | polyeth- ylene, high density, granulate | Cutoff, U – RER 182.97 41 0.50 market for waste plastic, mixture | waste plastic, mixture | Cutoff, U – FI 180.56 0.41 aluminium alloy production, AlMg3 | aluminium alloy, AlMg3 | Cutoff, U – RER 148.14 0.32 electricity voltage transformation from high to medium volt- age | electricity, medium voltage | Cutoff, U – FI 114.02 0.25 market for transport, freight, lorry, unspecified | transport, freight, lorry, diesel, unspecified | Cutoff, U – RER 90.03 0.16 steel production, converter, low-alloyed | steel, low-alloyed | Cutoff, U – RER 56.91 0.12 market for iron scrap, sorted, pressed | iron scrap, sorted, pressed | Cutoff, U – RER 43.55 9.17E-2 aluminium production, primary, ingot | aluminium, primary, ingot | Cutoff, U - IAI Area, EU27 & EFTA 33.07 5.91E-2 market for polyvinylfluoride | polyvinylfluoride | Cutoff, U – GLO 21.32 5.20E-2 market for polycarbonate | polycarbonate | Cutoff, U – RER 18.75 1.95E-2 market for alkyd paint, white, without solvent, in 60% solu- tion state | alkyd paint, white, without solvent, in 60% solu- tion state | Cutoff, U – RER 7.03 1.71E-2 market for textile, nonwoven polyester | textile, nonwoven polyester | Cutoff, U – GLO 6.16 1.03E-2 market for polyurethane, flexible foam | polyurethane, flexi- ble foam | Cutoff, U – RER 3.72 9.23E-3 market for waste polyvinylfluoride | waste polyvinylfluoride | Cutoff, U – RoW 3.33 9.04E-3 market for used printed wiring boards | used printed wiring boards | Cutoff, U – GLO 3.26 5.70E-3 market for waste polyurethane | waste polyurethane | Cut- off, U – FI 2.05 2.49E-3 market for zinc concentrate | zinc concentrate | Cutoff, U – GLO 0.89 2.11E-3 market for waste textile, soiled | waste textile, soiled | Cut- off, U – RoW 0.75 8.83E-4 market for zinc in car shredder residue | zinc in car shredder residue | Cutoff, U – RoW 0.31 1.08E-4 market for aluminium scrap, post-consumer | aluminium scrap, post-consumer | Cutoff, U - GLO 0.03 42 Figure 4.2 shows the contribution from different materials in the case of refurbished production To see the effect of refurbishment on the environmental impacts, comparison was made across all different impact categories as shown by Table 4.5. The impacts from refur- bished are consistently lower than original products. Table 4.5 shows the original vs the refurbished process in different categories Category Original Refurbished Unit Acidification 432.74 238.32 kg SO2-Eq Climate change 69342.47 36065.62 kg CO2-Eq Ecotoxicity: freshwater 375359.95 198270.62 kg 1.4-DCB-Eq Ecotoxicity: marine 6.0E8 3.3E8 kg 1.4-DCB-Eq Ecotoxicity: terrestrial 4581.02 1197.37 kg 1.4-DCB-Eq Energy resources 783514.22 402409.23 MJ Eutrophication 428.5 239.46 kg PO4-Eq Human toxicity 463057.48 218612.16 kg 1.4-DCB-Eq Material resources 23.45 14.03 kg-Sb-Eq Ozone depletion 0.0035 0.002 kg CFC-11-Eq 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 Steel Electronics Other Kg CO2-Eq Steel Electronics Other 43 Photochemical 26.11 13.25 kg ethylene- Eq Figure 4.3 depicts the graph comparing the original vs refurbished in different categories Figures 4.3 demonstrate the comparison between the current process at the JTA con- nection and the refurbished manufacturing. The analysis clearly shows the benefits of the refurbishment process over new manufacturing, since less quantity of each material is used, which causes lower strain on the environment in terms of all the categories used in LCA. Moreover, it was also noted that although the mass of electronics was less than some of the materials but they still accounted for the highest impact among all the ma- terials. In fact, production of electronics is an energy-intensive process since they require a lot of small, sophisticated parts like chips, semiconductors, sensors, etc. Secondly, they are composed of precious and rare earth elements like silicon, copper, and silver; pro- curing them is itself a very demanding process and hazardous for the environment. Thirdly, procuring electronics requires going through a long global supply chain, which requires transportation, further adding to the impact on the environment. Lastly, refur- bishing electronics is not entirely feasible since they degrade quickly, become obsolete 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Original Refurbished 44 due to technological development, and refurbishing them would compromise consumer safety. 4.3 Managerial Implications and Future Research The results provide valuable practical recommendations and a strategy of operation for the case company. The results signify that refurbishment is vital to reduce the environ- mental burden in relation to materials used, and also highlight electronics as the major contributor among both scenarios. These results assist in designing a targeted approach in planning the implementation of circular strategies for the production of robotic cells. By analyzing the results, the company can focus on using modular electronics that can be easily replaced, buy environmentally friendly electronics, and try to recover as much material from used electronics before disposing. Moreover, companies can focus on de- signing the product in compliance of circular principles, for example, using modular frames. Moreover, in order to promote refurbishment, the company can alter its busi- ness model by introducing new schemes regarding the purchase of refurbished products. Lastly, storage was one of the key challenges pointed out by JTA connection and the management can consider using dedicated refurbishment areas and demand forecasting to predict the demand in order to prevent stockpiling. However, there are certain limitations to this study that should be considered while in- terpreting the results, and future research can work on overcoming these barriers. Firstly, this study only focuses on industries involved in designing automation processes for other industries using the JTA connection as a case study. So, it is difficult to extrapolate the results into other heavy machinery sectors since the primary data used was in rela- tion to the production of a robotic cell. Secondly, this study only examines the manufac- turing phase of the Life cycle assessment and completely ignores the use phase, which may lead to deviation from actual results. Furthermore, if the research is done based on assumptions derived from studying the previous research, then the actual practice of refurbishment might have some variations. 45 5 Conclusion The thesis's main goals were to examine the integration process of refurbishment in the current production operation of the robotic cell at JTA connection. As a matter of fact, due to rapid growth in the transition of the linear economy to the circular economy, this research quantifies the environmental impacts of implementing circular strategies to prolong the product life cycle. Moreover, by using a detailed literature context and a detailed methodology, this thesis shows the life cycle assessment through OpenLCA with regard to industries involved in designing automation processes, as is the case with the JTA connection. The literature review provides a deep insight into the principles that govern the working of the circular economy. It played a vital role in creating a foundation for this research by highlighting the problems faced in the primitive linear economy, as explained by the pre- vious researchers. It highlighted the over-extraction of raw materials and high carbon emissions associated with linear manufacturing processes. It also emphasized the use of remanufacturing, recycling, reuse, and refurbishment as key factors to overcome the over-utilization of resources and reduce the possible greenhouse gas emissions. The methodology primarily worked on the LCA model by using the OpenLCA software to analyse the impact of each material used in the production of one robotic cell. The first phase of the method was to analyse the current manufacturing process at JTA connec- tion, and the results showed heavy carbon emissions, particularly from the embedded electronics and the use of steel alloys. This, in fact, aligns with other industrial studies explaining that much of climate change is due to embodied production in the heavy equipment sector. The second hypothetical process shows that the working of refurbish- ment and JTA connection can be used to lower its carbon footprint based on the assump- tions derived from previous research. It also showed the benefits of refurbishment by lowering the CO2-Eq by 38% from the current production at the JTA connection. 46 Overall, this research provides an academic insight into refurbishment by explaining the key factors. 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