Manufacturing industries have started to adopt a circular economy framework as an alternative to a traditional linear economy in which resources are made, used, and then disposed of.
Circular Economy:
Is a regenerative and restorative model where products, components, and materials are re-used multiple times with a circular value chain, aiming to keep their highest utility and value at all times.
Business Models Developed Around Circular Economy:
Circular supply chains, recovery, and recycling are two other business models developed around the circular economy.
Circular supply chains encourage the use of recyclable materials and renewable energy. An example of that is biomass renewable energy from plants, waste and timber of what is called “biomass feedstocks”.
Recovery and recycling are based on the recovery and utilization of end-of-life products and raw materials. An example of this is the recovery of recycled aluminum to manufacture lightweight electric vehicles in the automotive industry.
These expert business models of the circular economy raised the demand for the proficiency of supply chains and digital logistics where efficient management of materials and better control of orders are interpreted to save money, time, and effort, adding significant cost benefits.
Digital Supply Chain Connect the Dots Towards a More Sustainable Circular Economy
- Provide accurate information on the specifications and flow of materials for better resource management.
- Allow sharing of up-to-date information between involved internal (colleagues) and external(customers-work partners) parties collaboratively.
- Reduce manual work through system-automated task drivers to save time, effort, and money thus creating a proficient work environment.
- Track and report on various processes allowing transparency and efficiency.
- Provide broad as well as narrow analytics for the supply chain performance for better decision-making across different stages of the industry.