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LUCREZIA VOLPI
COLLABORATORE DI RICERCA Dipartimento di Scienze e Metodi dell'Ingegneria
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Pubblicazioni
2023
- Industry 4.0 real-world testing of dynamic organizational life cycle assessment (O-LCA) of a ceramic tile manufacturer
[Articolo su rivista]
Cucchi, M.; Volpi, L.; Ferrari, A. M.; Garcia-Muina, F. E.; Settembre-Blundo, D.
abstract
In manufacturing, Industry 4.0 operating models enable greener technologies. Thanks to digital technologies, environmental sustainability and organizational competitiveness are mutually reinforcing. The challenge for manufacturing organizations is to understand and quantify the magnitude of this synergistic action, and the holistic perspective of life cycle assessment tools may be a solution to the problem. Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (O-LCA) unlike Product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is still an under-researched methodology with few applications in manufacturing contexts. This paper aims to fill this gap by implementing and validating O-LCA in the case of an Italian ceramic tile manufacturer. Following the O-LCA guidelines and exploiting Industry 4.0 technologies to perform the inventory analysis, the environmental assessment was conducted in three different plants, comparing the sum of the partial impact results with the overall results scaled to the whole organization. The experimental results demonstrated the validity of the organizational approach as an appropriate methodological option to obtain relevant information on environmental performance that, being based on empirical evidence, better support decision-making processes. Furthermore, the study provides empirical evidence of how Industry 4.0 is an enabler not only for the adoption of greener technologies, but especially for facilitating the organizational environmental impact assessment that is the necessary condition in order to set up and maintain greener manufacturing contexts.
2021
- Dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) integrating life cycle inventory (LCI) and Enterprise resource planning (ERP) in an industry 4.0 environment
[Articolo su rivista]
Ferrari, A. M.; Volpi, L.; Settembre-Blundo, D.; Garcia-Muina, F. E.
abstract
With the advent of Industry 4.0, new technologies have been made available to companies in order to monitor, integrate and trace processes through integrated digital systems; thanks to a combination of sensors and control systems, manufacturing information are collected and processed so that a detailed database helpful for the monitoring and continuous improvement of the production plant can be built. The potentiality of this comprehensive data collection may be exploited also from an environmental point of view, with the aim to enhance the sustainability of processes; in fact, a large part of this data provides the basis for the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), the most energy and time-consuming phase of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which in this way could become quicker and dynamic. Based on a case study related to an Italian ceramic tile manufacturer, the aim of this paper is to describe the architecture and the application of the Dynamic LCA system that integrates the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system with a customized LCA tool through a Business Intelligence (BI) software. The model was tested on different levels of validation in order to verify first the proper functioning of the IT architecture and then the environmental impact results provided, both in a static and dynamic way. The validation processes were successful, and the Dynamic LCA system has proved to be a valuable tool for the evaluation and monitoring of environmental impacts related to the production process.
2019
- Building a Sustainability Benchmarking Framework of Ceramic Tiles Based on Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA)
[Articolo su rivista]
Ferrari, Anna Maria; Volpi, Lucrezia; Pini, Martina; Siligardi, Cristina; Enrique García-Muiña, Fernando; Settembre-Blundo, Davide
abstract
The purpose of this paper is to determine indices of environmental, economic and social
sustainability related to the Italian production of ceramic tiles in porcelain stoneware in order to contribute
to the construction of a reference benchmarking useful to decision makers, designers and end users
of ceramic tiles. To achieve this goal, this paper is based on the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment
(LCSA) framework that incorporates the three dimensions of sustainability with cradle-to-grave Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) tools.
The study has shown that in the production of porcelain stoneware one of the major environmental
problems, in addition to production in the strict sense, is the distribution systemof the product to end
users and, to a lesser extent but always significant, the process of supplying raw materials. Finally, it was
highlighted that the joint use of the three impact assessment tools (LCA, LCC, S-LCA) requires further
methodological work to avoid the risk of double counting of sustainability performance. This research
has adopted a detailed methodological approach, both in the collection and in the processing of data,
keeping the main phases of the production process separate. In this way, it has been possible to highlight
that the major environmental criticalities are just beyond the “gate” of the ceramic factories, along the
logistics chain. The study also proposes for the Italian ceramic sector not only indicators of environmental
sustainability but also economic and social.
2019
- Identifying the equilibrium point between sustainability goals and circular economy practices in an Industry 4.0 manufacturing context using eco-design
[Articolo su rivista]
Garcia-Muina, F. E.; Gonzalez-Sanchez, R.; Ferrari, A. M.; Volpi, L.; Pini, M.; Siligardi, C.; Settembre-Blundo, D.
abstract
For manufacturing companies, the transition to circular business models (CBMs) can be hampered both by the lack of relevant data and by operational tools. Eco-design, associated with Industry 4.0 IoT (Internet of Things) technologies, can be an effective methodological approach in developing products that are consistent with the principles of the circular economy. The reason is that, in the design phase, decisions are made that can significantly influence the degree of sustainability of products during their lifecycle. Therefore, in the manufacturing environment, eco-design represents an innovative approach to include sustainability among the traditional industrial variables such as functionality, aesthetics, quality, and profit. This study aimed to test eco-design as a tool to define the equilibrium point between sustainability and circular economy in the manufacturing environment of ceramic tile production, and to demonstrate how new business opportunities can be created through evolution from a linear to a circular business model, thanks to IoT and Industry 4.0 technologies used as enabling factors. The main result of this paper was the empirical validation in a manufacturing environment of sustainability paradigms through eco-design tools and digital technologies, proposing the circular business model as an operational tool to promote the competitiveness of enterprises.
2019
- Sustainability as source of competitive advantages in
mature sectors The case of Ceramic District of Sassuolo (Italy)
[Articolo su rivista]
Settembre Blundo, Davide; Enrique García-Muiña, Fernando; Pini, Martina; Volpi, Lucrezia; Siligardi, Cristina; Ferrari, Anna Maria
abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how sustainability can become a source of competitive
advantage for mature manufacturing sectors where technologies are standardized, and innovation is mainly
generated across the value chain and not by individual companies.
Design/methodology/approach – From the methodological point of view, this research estimates the
sustainability status of ceramic production in the Sassuolo district (Italy), using the Life Cycle Sustainability
Assessment (LCSA) model, and changing the observation point for the analysis, from the enterprise (micro
level) to the entire sector (meso level).
Findings – This paper provides an analysis of the environmental, economic and social impacts of the four
main types of ceramic tiles manufactured in Italy, both in aggregate terms for the entire sector and per square
meter of product.
Practical implications – The methodological approach used in this research is easy to replicate both for
companies when designing their sustainability strategies and for public decision makers when assessing the
sustainability performance of a sector or supply chain.
Social implications – For the first time, a socio-economic impact assessment is proposed for the ceramic
sector, conducted in parallel with the environmental impact assessment through stakeholder mapping and prioritization.
2018
- Life cycle assessment of a ceramic tiles manufacturing: strategies for circular economy
[Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Volpi, Lucrezia; Settembre Blundo, Davide; García Muiña Fernando, Enrique; Ferrari, Anna Maria
abstract
In 2015, the Italian ceramic tile industry ranked in fourth place among the world's leading tile manufacturers, with 394,8 million sqm beyond 1735 million sqm of the global production. Although the manufacturing process is rather standardised in its macro-phases, the current attention to the environmental protection and human health requires the need for continuous research and innovation, in order to provide added value in terms of both product quality and process quality.
In this framework, the present study, carried out under the European project LIFE16 ENV/IT/000307 - Force of the Future, aims to reduce the environmental impact of the production cycle by implementing the circular economy approach through the reuse of fired scraps and the increased use of local raw materials that affects the relative supply chain.
The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis was carried out with a “cradle to the grave” approach, in order to evaluate the environmental impacts related to the total annual production of a leading company in the ceramic sector. The functional unit was represented by the annual production of the ceramic tiles. The LCA study was performed using the SimaPro 8.3 software and the IMPACT2002+ assessment method. Primary data were collected directly from the company while the background processes were modelled using Ecoinvent v3 database and literature.
The environmental impact of the supply of 1 kg of ceramic mixture was evaluated, considering the traditional ceramic production of the 2015 and the improved scenario related to the 2016.
LCA results indicate that the modified scenario, in which there is the 50% of local raw materials, the 30% of raw materials carried by train, and the 3% of fired scraps reused, produces a reduction of the environmental impact in all the impact categories.
In addition, for the purpose of investigate all the dimensions of the sustainability, also the economic aspects and social issues will be evaluated, respectively through the LCC and the S-LCA analysis, by identifying and mapping the stakeholders.
2018
- Lifecycle-oriented design of ceramic tiles in Sustainable Supply Chains (SSCs)
[Articolo su rivista]
Settembre Blundo, Davide; Enrique García Muiña, Fernando; Pini, Martina; Volpi, Lucrezia; Siligardi, Cristina; Ferrari, Anna Maria
abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the production cycle of glazed porcelain stoneware, from
the extraction of raw materials to the packaging of the finished product, with the aim of verifying the effects
of integrating an environmental impact assessment into the decision-making process for managing the life
cycle, tomake it economically and ecologically sustainable, in a holistic approach along the supply-chain.
Design/methodology/approach – The research is performed using the life cycle assessment and life
cycle costing methodologies, to identify environmental impacts and costs, that occur during extraction of raw
materials, transportation, ceramic tiles production, material handling, distribution and end-of-life stages
within a cradle to grave perspective.
Findings – Through the use of a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact assessment and
related externalities, three possible strategic options to improve the environmental performance and costs of
ceramic tile production were formulated, leveraging sustainability as a competitive advantage.