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Quarry sites are complex systems that involve several heavy machines, equipment, people, and management systems working together in an unstructured off-road environment. Gaining accurate insights about these sites requires integrating models at various levels to enable a holistic view systems and processes involved and facilitate effective planning, coordination, and decision-making. In this paper, a multi-level modelling framework is proposed to provide an overall structure for the modelling of quarry sites. The motivation for this framework is drawn from insights gained through a large manufacturing company in the heavy-duty vehicle industry, providing a practical perspective on the modeling approach. The framework integrates models of different operations on site enabling effective simulation and optimization and leading to better understanding of the workflow on site and pointing out any possible bottlenecks. The feasibility of the proposed framework was validated through workshops that included a panel of experts in different areas of the field of off-road machinery production company.

The electrification of vehicles has become a critical means to achieve climate-neutral transportation. As more electric vehicles (EV) are adopted, an increasing number of lithiumion batteries will be utilized, inevitably experiencing capacity degradation over time. Retaining the value of these retired batteries through remanufacturing, reusing, and repurposing to create a second life holds significant environmental and economic benefits. However, many companies within the battery ecosystem struggle to capitalize on this opportunity due to a lack of business insight and suitable business models tailored to their operational contexts.

The ReCreate (Second Life Management of Electric Vehicle Batteries) research project was initiated to address these industrial needs through close collaboration with selected companies in the battery ecosystem. The project aims to define appropriate circular business models, methods, and processes to guide battery ecosystem actors in developing and implementing electric vehicle battery second life solutions, thereby advancing circularity around batteries and climate-neutral objectives. 

This handbook represents the culmination of three years of research within the ReCreate project. Its purpose is to present a simplified and practical overview of project outcomes across a series of key chapters. Comprising six chapters, the handbook will begin by discussing barriers and enablers, followed by circular business models and battery ecosystem management. It will then delve into design principles and performance monitoring guidelines, concluding with an integrated framework for second life and circular solutions for EV batteries. 

Each chapter briefly presents the main findings of the theme and concludes with discussion questions. The discussion questions include suggestions for relevant templates for workshops, and all templates are conveniently provided in the appendix for practical application. These templates serve as boundary objects, offering a starting point for internal and external cross-functional and cross-organizational dialogues within the electric vehicle battery ecosystem. They facilitate discussions and collaborations among various stakeholders, fostering alignment and synergy in developing circular business models for the second life of EV batteries.  

By facilitating reflection on current business strategies, needs, and pain points, the handbook aims to aid in the definition of future second life business strategies. We anticipate that this handbook will serve as a valuable resource for actors within the EV battery ecosystem, supporting their journey towards climate-neutral transportation. 

Manufacturing companies characterized by high-mix and low-volume production exhibit distinct features that exert a significant influence on the product introduction process. The quality of information exchange between product design and production interfaces becomes paramount in low-volume manufacturing. Consequently, there exists a pressing need to explore various methods for adapting and customizing management strategies to align with the unique characteristics of low-volume manufacturing and its associated product introduction processes. While this knowledge is critical in low-volume manufacturing, most existing studies focus on the management aspects of high-volume manufacturing. Therefore, this study investigates the customization of management strategies for product introduction in low-volume manufacturing to enhance the quality of information content. Drawing upon a longitudinal analysis of new product introductions within a low-volume manufacturing company, this study identified four management strategies, namely securing a production test and verification plan, revising the role of product introduction management, formal design and production coordination plan, and lessons learned management plan. The paper explains how the examined company adapted and implemented product introduction management strategies to facilitate the enhancement of information content quality across three key stages: pre-implementation, post-implementation, and subsequent modification and refinement of strategies following the initial round of implementation. By shedding light on these strategies, this study offers a comprehensive understanding of management approaches for product introduction in low-volume manufacturing. The study makes a valuable contribution to the discourse on information quality management and design-production interface in low-volume manufacturing and low-volume product introduction literature.

Purpose – Despite increasing focus among scholars and practitioners on the design of product-services systems (PSS), there exists no compilation of current knowledge on the role played by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in designing such systems. Thus, this paper sets out to identify and organise the existing research and suggest questions for future research.

Design/methodology/approach—A systematic literature review was performed to identify and provide in-depth details on key themes in the literature addressing the design of PSS in SMEs.

Findings – This paper identifies five themes in the literature on the design of PSS in SMEs: motives, challenges, SME characteristics, methods and digitalisation. The themes are interrelated, and SME characteristics seem to beat the core as they are related to all the other themes. Gaps in the current knowledge are identified, and questions for future research are suggested.

Originality/value – The suggestions for future research provide a starting point for expanding the research on PSS design and devising practical support for SMEs.

Achieving battery circularity is crucial for meeting the targets of net-zero emission vehicles by 2030 and enabling climate-neutral transportation by 2050. To facilitate this transition, firms operating in the electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem must reassess their value creation, capture, and delivery methods. Although EV battery second life presents a promising solution for circularity, many vehicle manufacturers and stakeholders in the battery ecosystem struggle to adapt their organizations internally and externally due to a lack of insights into suitable circular business models. The purpose of this study is to identify viable archetypes of circular business models for EV battery second life and examine their implications on company collaborations within the EV battery ecosystem. Three main archetypes of circular business models are identified (i.e., extending, sharing, and looping business models) and further divided into eight sub-archetypes. These models are elucidated in terms of key business model dimensions, including value proposition, value co-creation, value delivery, and value capture. The paper provides visual representations of the necessary interactions and collaborations among companies in the EV battery ecosystem to effectively implement the proposed business model archetypes. This research contributes to the theory of circular business models in general, with specific relevance to EV battery circularity.

This study adopts an ecosystem perspective to provide a detailed understanding of key challenges and enablers for implementing circular business models for electric vehicle battery second life. Although academia and practitioners believe electric vehicle (EV) batteries’ second life is a potential solution, the commercial implementations are still far away. A crucial step toward such implementations is to identify the key challenges and enablers of circular business models. The criticality of this step is even more evident when approaching second life business models from an ecosystem perspective, where multiple stakeholders are involved in the creation, capture, and delivery of value. This research conducts an explorative study with 15 companies in the EV battery ecosystem and identifies nine categories of key challenges and seven categories of key enablers. Based on priority dimensions (short/long term) and the responsible entity (firm/ecosystem related), the study proposes a guiding framework to address challenges and enablers. The study contributes to the circular business model innovation and ecosystems literature related to the EV battery second life.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of paradoxes, underlying tensions and potential management strategies when integrating digital technologies into existing lean-based production systems (LPSs), with the aim of achieving synergies and fostering the development of production systems.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a collaborative management research (CMR) approach to identify patterns of organisational tensions and paradoxes and explore management strategies to overcome them. The data were collected through interviews and focus group interviews with experts on lean and/or digital technologies from the companies, from documents and from workshops with the in-case researchers.FindingsThe findings of this paper provide insights into the salient organisational paradoxes embraced in the integration of digital technologies in LPS by identifying different aspects of the performing, organising, learning and belonging paradoxes. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate the intricacies and relatedness between different paradoxes and their resolutions, and more specifically, how a resolution strategy adopted to manage one paradox might unintentionally generate new tensions. This, in turn, calls for either re-contextualising actions to counteract the drift or the adoption of new resolution strategies.Originality/valueThis paper adds perspective to operations management (OM) research through the use of paradox theory, and we (1) provide a fine-grained perspective on why integration sometimes "fails" and label the forces of internal drift as mechanisms of imbalances and (2) provide detailed insights into how different management and resolution strategies are adopted, especially by identifying re-contextualising actions as a key to rebalancing organisational paradoxes in favour of the integration of digital technologies in LPSs.

The integration of production automation drives innovation in manufacturing by enhancing efficiency, quality, and cost reduction. However, the capital requirements of conventional automation solutions hinder many manufacturing companies. Production Automation as a Service (PAaaS) emerges as a cost-effective alternative, offering improved flexibility and efficiency. Yet, adopting PAaaS faces challenges: a lack of expertise, awareness, and cultural resistance. This study explores PAaaS implementation in manufacturing, identifying its specific needs and challenges. Qualitative research across ten diverse manufacturing companies reveals two key drivers: technological advancement and evolving business models. It highlights four primary benefits—cost-effectiveness, flexibility, efficiency, and product quality. Simultaneously, it addresses five significant challenges—legacy system integration, cybersecurity, internet dependency, expertise gaps, and downtime risks. To aid early decision-making, the study proposes a framework covering drivers, benefits, challenges, and suitable strategies. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on smart production and automation development by focusing on business model innovation and the pay-as-a-service approach.

Remanufacturing is a life cycle renewal process by which previously used products such as vehicle components can be maintained and rebuilt. Although knowledge in remanufacturing processes is advanced from a scientific perspective, many traditional technology-driven manufacturing companies are facing challenges related to remanufacturing of various components in their specific industry. An underlying reason is that existing components have been sold for many years, and it is unclear what modifications should be made to the manufacturing process to accommodate both new and remanufactured products. Furthermore, it is unclear what organizational changes such as culture and training of operators are required. At the same time, the manufacturing industry is undergoing a digital transformation. It is therefore relevant to investigate how digitalization and sustainability practices can be combined, commonly referred to as Twin Transition. The purpose of this paper is to explore how a manufacturing company can approach a change towards remanufacturing of components using Twin Transition. This is accomplished by using a qualitative-based case study method at a large manufacturing company in the heavy-duty vehicle industry. The data collection method involved workshops following a SWOT analysis and rich picturing approach. The results from the rich picturing workshop identified four main themes to facilitate remanufacturing. The SWOT analysis identified 20 key aspects related to facilitate remanufacturing. Finally, the paper concludes by proposing five key enablers for achieving remanufacturing using Twin Transition.

This study explores the perceptions and implications of a large manufacturing company as it shifts toward a circular economy. It devises a guiding framework to facilitate this transition by delving into key focus areas, informed by a systematic literature review. From this review emerges a multi-level readiness framework tailored to facilitate the transition to a circular economy. This framework is validated through a case study conducted in the heavy-duty vehicle industry. The proposed readiness framework encapsulates four key focus areas: 1) the ecosystem of external partners, 2) the customer and the business model, 3) the company's culture and internal capabilities, and 4) design and product development. Moreover, the framework delineates five levels of readiness progression within each focus area. Strategies and indispensable activities essential for transitioning to a circular economy are outlined. The suggested hands-on readiness framework advocates holistic and cross-functional management approaches to navigate the transition toward a circular economy. The readiness status for the transition ranges from initial developmental stages to full circularity, with each level outlining actionable pathways incorporating specific actions and strategies.