The textile industry includes SMEs, which play an important role worldwide in the economy and society. However, their activities can contribute to some environmental issues, like climate change, and resource scarcity, which are lately at the center of attention. Due to increasing pressure from governments and society regarding sustainability issues, textile SMEs need to become sustainable, and one solution to achieve sustainability is transitioning towards circularity in production. Nevertheless, textile SMEs encounter numerous challenges and enablers on their journey towards circularity, particularly in areas like production systems where knowledge remains insufficient. Thus, this paper aims to identify the challenges and enablers faced by textile SMEs in transitioning towards circular production systems. This study is based on a literature study, workshops, and interviews with Swedish textile SMEs. The results show that textile SMEs encounter seven challenges towards circular production systems, including a lack of knowledge and awareness, limited resources, limited access to technology, complexity of input and finished product, a lack of proper regulations and strategy, a lack of collaboration among stakeholders, and a lack of interest and support from stakeholders and customers. In contrast, education, collaboration, supportive regulations, and circular production system design can be considered as enablers for their transition.

Implementing remanufacturing as a strategy to achieve circularity in manufacturing companies offers significant benefits in terms of both environmental sustainability and financial performance. However, the development of sustainable remanufacturing systems is accompanied by various complexities and challenges. Companies engaged in remanufacturing must consider solutions that address the three dimensions of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. Moreover, they need to tackle the unique characteristics associated with remanufacturing systems. This paper aims to investigate aspects covered in existing studies related to the development of sustainable remanufacturing systems. The methodology involves a literature review focusing on three aspects: (1) the triple bottom line of sustainability; (2) capabilities required for establishment of a sustainable remanufacturing system; (3) enablers that can support the development of a sustainable remanufacturing system. By classifying the published literature and conducting a thorough analysis, this paper provides valuable insights for practitioners and researchers, facilitating the creation and accumulation of knowledge in the field of sustainable remanufacturing systems. Furthermore, the paper aims to underscore the significance of this area of research and identify potential avenues for future investigation.

Metal cutting industry, a key sector in manufacturing, is grappling with the transition to a "net-zero industry" to mitigate climate change and reach sustainable practices. Rare and exclusive materials make recycling and reusing cutting tools more pressing and necessitate efficient circular material flows. The purpose of this research is to explore how collaboration can facilitate circularity in the cutting tool industry. It examines the involvement of stakeholders and their roles in achieving a circular lifecycle for cutting tools. To investigate the interaction between metal cutting tools suppliers and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), this study used a mixed-methods approach that includes data from literature, interviews, and document study. Empirical data is gathered to investigate the factors driving circularity and to identify important participants in the lifecycle of cutting tools. The study revealed challenges to the current situation including underutilization of tools due to the absence of a standardization process and subjective operator judgment, as well as lack of traceability of the tools both internally at SMEs and between the stakeholders. Moreover, by mapping the current actors, the study found cutting tool traceability, undirected decision-making throughout tool lifecycles, and limited awareness of circularity dimensions are key challenges. To handle these challenges. 9Rs circular economy framework used to investigate the possible role of collaboration emerges as a vital enabler for circularity, with SMEs playing a significant role. Moreover, the involvement of machine operators, often overlooked actors, is found to be crucial in influencing circular outcomes. Digital solutions and collaborative strategies that involve CNC machine suppliers and intermittent refurbishing business are pivotal in overcoming the challenges identified, namely, traceability and human subjectivity in tool condition assessment. The study demonstrates that technology providers, intermediary refurbishing businesses, SMEs and other stakeholders operating in the metal cutting tools sector must be involved throughout their lifetime to avoid suboptimal results, exchange information, and inspire industrial actors to support the circular economy.

The use of automation is reshaping tasks in diverse industries, leading to increased productivity and efficiency. The manufacturing sector, in particular, has enjoyed significant advantages from automation, including enhanced quality control, waste reduction, and improved worker safety. However, while the advantages of automation in manufacturing are clear, the implementation of automation in complex manufacturing processes is not without its challenges. One such challenge is ensuring adaptability to new products. In addition, the initial investment for automation in manufacturing processes often presents a significant financial difficulty, particularly in the areas of engineering, design, and programming. The aim of this paper is to provide flexible solutions that can be adopted on any manufacturing line within a short timeframe. This type of flexible solution is referred to as Automation Packaged Solution (APS). APSs involve the deployment of robotic systems and vision technologies to automate specific tasks. The key advantage of these flexible solutions is their ability to adapt to the introduction of new products into the production line without the need for extensive reengineering and reprogramming. The approach involves designing detailed computer simulations based on the initial solutions and bringing the solution to life through an offline commissioning method. In this research, a case study was conducted at a manufacturing plant in Sweden, where two APSs were introduced to their assembly line: Precise screwing and accurate application of product labeling. These APSs play a crucial role in facilitating rapid upgrades and adjustments to automation systems, especially considering the diverse range of product models. This adaptability reduces the time and resources required for reconfiguration and contributes to enhanced operational efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and more sustainable manufacturing solutions. Moreover, it opens up the possibility of transferring these APSs to another production line if the need arises. 

The aim of this paper is to explore the possibilities of how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), by integrating research and education, can increase the industrial competences of students. By exploring the perceptions of various stakeholders and analyzing ongoing trends, this paper seeks to shed light on the potential ways in which HEIs can contribute to future industrial competitiveness. Identifying existing skill gaps among future engineers will enable the HEIs to know the demand for skills and align graduate capabilities with industry requirements. The final reflections will explore how HEIs can collaborate with regional and national industries, through integrating activities between engineering research and education, contributing to industrial readiness as well as to the DeepINVENTHEI initiatives in Europe.

Circular value chains, driven by sustainability goals and resource efficiency, are now central in industrial strategies. Simultaneously, digital technologies transform business models and accelerate the shift towards circular economies. This paper explores circular material flow for the electrification of the vehicle fleet, focusing on the Lithium-ion battery value chain. In the paper, a conceptual model integrating digitalization is developed and evaluated to enhance efficiency and product innovation. The paper reviews the lithium-ion battery value chain literature and investigates digitalization potentials for circular business models. A conceptual model is presented in this study to represent the intricate relationship between each stage of the value chain and the concept of circularity while considering the carbon footprint and complexities associated with the implementation of digitalization.

To achieve relevant research results, collaborative research is deemed essential in several engineering and management disciplines. When the addressed research questions are associated with larger societal challenges the need for collaboration between various actors and disciplines becomes even more urgent. In this paper, the development of a transdisciplinary research initiative aiming at supporting long-term ability for the manufacturing industry to succeed with the green transition, is described. The transdisciplinary research programme ´GRACE - Green acceleration through integrated and platform-enabled product realisation´ is an eight-year project (4+4 years), involving eleven manufacturing industries and four industrial networks. The research programme GRACE is the result of a close collaboration between industrial partners and academic researcher for almost one year. We have through workshops and various meetings jointly formulated a research agenda, based on eight research issues: (1) requirement specification and management, (2) platform principles and lifecycle strategies on different system levels, (3,4) product design and production solutions supporting circular strategies, (5,6) product and production information management, (7) shared understanding and visions, and (8) knowledge integration, operationalisation and implementation. Based on these research issues, and the priorities among the industrial partners, three initial research projects have been developed. The development of the research programme applied a co-production process, including a distinct pre-project phase. The creation of the transdisciplinary programme GRACE required trust among the involved partners, an open atmosphere, structure, joint understanding among the participants, time to read and think, and some stubbornness.

Resource-efficient production including life-cycle approaches was stated as early as 2002 as the only way forward for the industry. Now, twenty years later, this is a reality in many ways. This represents a challenge to manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) due to a disruptive industrial environment as well as changing market needs that require more capability to manage predictable as well as unpredictable changes. This paper explores some aspects manufacturing SMEs must manage, such as developing new capabilities to stay competitive in a disruptive industrial environment with uncertainties in supply chains, technologies, energy costs, changes in customer demands, and circularity. This paper presents a conceptual guideline for assessing the capabilities to develop as a manufacturing SME in a circular industrial environment. One way to manage this transition towards circularity in an industrial environment can be to develop transdisciplinary collaborations between different stakeholders and competencies. 

The textile industry has a significant environmental impact while at the same time playing an important role in society. There is a need to improve the textile industry's sustainability. Textile SMEs encounter numerous challenges to reach sustainability. This paper aims at recognizing the challenges by collecting, analyzing, and discussing some theoretical and empirical data. At the end of this paper, six main groups of challenges are presented: lack of stakeholder knowledge about sustainability, lack of resources, lack of communication, and effective legislation. Also, recognizing the relevant needs and finding some conceptual solutions for textile SMEs to overcome the challenges and reach more sustainability are considered as future work of this study.

Assembly is crucial in the automotive industry, and regulations aimed to increase circularity impact the production systems. From this perspective different strategies are emerging related to sustainability and to the End-of-life Vehicles directive, perspectives often captured by “R-words” like Reuse, Recycle, Rethink etc. This paper is based on a literature search inspired by different R-words related to circularity and assembly in the automotive industry in combination with industrial workshops on the same theme. The results explore what challenges to manage during the ongoing green transition in the context of assembly in automotive. Recover, Repair, Reuse and Recycle are the most common terms found in the literature. Furthermore, Remanufacturing stands out as of particular interest to the automotive industry. However, based on the industrial workshops, Rethink as a collective word is an important perspective as well. The conclusions indicate that digitalization can be an enabler but also that there is a need for developing a common understanding about definitions and utilization of engineering tools supporting circularity.