Enabling Circular Production: Digital Business Infrastructure Adaptations

Abstract

In the context of rising material costs and more stringent sustainability regulations, manufacturing companies are compelled to adopt circular value-creation models and decouple their resource consumption from the creation of high-quality products. This transition to a circular production is facilitated by R-strategies, such as Remanufacturing and Reassembly. However, the successful implementation of these strategies necessitates targeted set-up and adjustment of business infrastructures – e.g., process-related, digital, physical and logistical. In order to assist companies in the transition towards circular production, it is key to provide practical guidance for the restructuring of their infrastructures. This paper examines the digital business infrastructural changes necessary for circular production in manufacturing. A systematic literature review consolidates extant research on necessary and enabling digital business infrastructures, placing it in a shared context for restructuring. The identified findings are analyzed for their impact on a company's ability to implement circular production, mapping out key restructuring needs. To conclude, the paper emphasizes the significance of integrating digital business infrastructural restructuring into a comprehensive business transformation towards circular production.

Keywords: Circular Production, Digital Business Infrastructures, Business Transformation

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007009