Development of a method for manufacturing processes assessment considering sustainability parameters

Author(s)

Juliano Bezerra de Araujo

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD)
• Defense date: 2010-01-15

Examining board members

Joao Fernando Gomes de Oliveira; Carlos Frederico Bremer; Alexandra Augusta Pereira Klen; Roberto Antonio Martins; Aldo Roberto Ometto

• Advisor: Joao Fernando Gomes de Oliveira

Abstract

Companies can no longer consider economical development without the parallel preservation of the environment and mutual benefit of the society. It is important that the economic and social conditions are improved over time, without exceeding the planet carrying capacity. Industries can contribute to improve this scenario by using cleaner and more efficient technologies, since they are one of the main sources of impacts. However, for them to improve their processes sustainability, it is essential to use an assessment tool which is able to evaluate their performance properly. The main goal of this work is to provide a structured and simple method for assessing sustainability performance of manufacturing processes, allowing the construction of more accurate and frequent sustainability reports, that may support the managerial decision making process. Although sustainability performance assessment models have been presented in recent years, as the GRI, there are still a lack of criteria and rules for carrying out more accurate and integrated assessments. The proposed method was able to be applied in two different manufacturing processes assessments, proving its effectiveness and robustness. It was used to analyze and compare the sustainability performance of two machining processes, grinding and hard turning. These processes compete with each other on some applications, making it difficult to decide which of the two processes is ideal for the production of certain parts. Through the study, it is demonstrated the grinding process superiority in terms of economic gains, at the cost of a higher environmental burden (AU)