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- PostFrom waste to wardrobe A comparative life cycle assessment on prolonging garment lifetime through repair and online second-hand(2023) Collin Aronsson, Klara; Jagefeldt, Johanna; Chalmers tekniska högskola / Institutionen för teknikens ekonomi och organisation; Chalmers University of Technology / Department of Technology Management and Economics; Ljunggren, Maria; Jerome, AdelineThe clothing industry, encompassing all its activities from production to end-of-life, is a major contributor to environmental damage. The global production and consumption of clothes have roughly doubled in the past 15 years and fast fashion, with short garment lifecycles, intensifies the resource demand and the ensuing emissions. As a response, a shift from the traditional linear model of take-make-dispose to circularity can be seen through clothing companies working with circular business models (CBMs) or implementing circular strategies. Understanding the environmental impact of these circular initiatives is crucial for reducing the overall environmental footprint of clothing. The aim of the thesis was to assess the environmental impact of prolonging a pair of pant’s lifetime through two CBMs based on circular strategies or business models represented on the Swedish market and comparing it to the linear model. This was done by a mapping of Swedish clothing companies to select two either circular strategies or CBMS to serve as the foundation for the proposed models. Two general CBMs, one based on repair and one on an online second-hand (OSH) platform, were created, derived from information from interviews and literature. The environmental impact of the models was evaluated by conducting a life cycle assessment, and a sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the robustness of the results. The study found that companies are embracing circularity, either through CBMs or by implementing circular strategies such as physical and online second-hand, repair, exchange, and rental services. It was also shown that by extending a pair of pants’ lifetime through CBMs based on repair or OSH, the environmental impact per garment lifetime is reduced compared to the linear model. It was found that repair resulted in the lowest impact due to the significant increase in the number of enabled uses and the relatively small impact from the repairing process, despite a large impact from additional consumer car transports. OSH was also found to be preferable to the linear model. The additional processes required by OSH, i.e. truck transports and sorting and managing of the pants had a relatively low environmental impact and the CBM enabled more uses of the pants than the linear model achieved. However, OSH enabled fewer uses compared to repair, which made it fall between the linear model and repair in terms of overall impact. Lastly, it was also found that the potential of both repair and OSH is mainly dependent on consumers’ transportation modes and distances, and the actual number of achieved uses. The study shows the importance for consumers to fully utilize purchased garments and to consider repairing them instead of buying new ones when they are worn out. When consid- ering selling or donating their clothes, the study also shows the importance of only doing so if the garments are undamaged and of good quality to avoid additional transportation and waste creation that could ensue if the receiving company should deem the clothes unfit for resale. This, as general consumer behavior, would result in an overall reduction in the demand for the production of new clothing. Furthermore, the study shows that the con- sumers’ choice of transportation mode and ability to combine errands is of big importance to the overall efficiency and impact of the CBM.
- PostSustainability management of jet engine repair business: How component repairs benefit the aerospace industry(2023) Cederberg, Line; Hæstad Bjørnstad, Victoria; Chalmers tekniska högskola / Institutionen för teknikens ekonomi och organisation; Chalmers University of Technology / Department of Technology Management and Economics; Nyström Claesson, Anna; Nyström Claesson, AnnaClimate transition in industry has received a lot of attention and research the last years and the aerospace industry is no exception. The industry has a reputation to be a contributor to global emissions and holistic changes are needed to achieve long-term economic and environmental sustainability. The regularly maintenance and repair of jet engines have created a considerable aftermarket. However, little empirical research on the sustainability impact of engine repair has been done. The study aims to investigate economic and environmental sustainability of a parts repair business in the aerospace industry. Literature, interviews and internal documents laid the foundation for mapping and calculating environmental and financial impact of the activities. Subsequently, the results was put in relation to literature on the topic of life cycle management, technological cycles, sustainable business model and stakeholders to assess the strategic portfolio. Main findings are that repair has considerable positive environmental impact, yet being cost efficient, which creates economic opportunities for the case company. However, the environmental impact differs between repair methods, where additive manufacturing proved to be the most environmental sustainable. Further, the study claims that distributing the benefits between stakeholders is essential for a viable business model innovation.
- PostAssessing Environmental Performance of a Circular Business Modelusing Business Model Life Cycle Assessment A Case Study of a Sharing Service for Power Tools(2023) Holzhausen, Frida; Troedsson, Linn; Chalmers tekniska högskola / Institutionen för teknikens ekonomi och organisation; Chalmers University of Technology / Department of Technology Management and Economics; Baumann, Henrikke; Baumann, HenrikkeClimate change is becoming more and more inevitable and the pressure to act is higher than ever. While facing a growing world population and increasing con- sumption, production, and consumption patterns must become more sustainable. To counteract climate change, there is a need for business models that separate resource use and economic profit. One such type of model is the circular business model. By looping the resources in a non-finite system characterized by reuse and recycling, we can achieve decoupling. Circular business models can however be difficult to quantify and thus the actual climate impact compared to a linear counterpart becomes difficult to estimate in many cases. LCA is a tool that has been used in recent years to calculate the cli- mate impact of a product’s total life cycle. To apply this measurement method to an entire business model, BM-LCA was developed, which includes the use phase in the calculation and then relates the environmental impact to the profit. In this study, a BM-LCA is conducted on a case company that provides a subscription- sharing service for power tools. The BM-LCA is focused on one of the products, a percussion drill, and the locker depot holding all the tools. The method of the study consisted of information-gathering meetings with the case company as well as a literature study of relevant theory. It was found that the locker depot had a significant environmental impact and that a change in its material would have a significant effect on the emissions per profit. Additionally, the lifetime of the product was found to be significant as well as the user behavior which was found to be hard to estimate. Lastly, it was concluded that the BM-LCA did highlight valuable hot spots in the business model and that some changes could have a large impact on the final climate footprint of the product service offering. The study resulted in the following recommendations for the case company: Increase the lifetime of the product, reduce the weight and consider another material for the locker depot, increase the number of subscribers, consider partnerships with other actors in the ecosystem, lobby for a change in consume and considerhow the inconveniences related to sharing can be overcome.
- PostReferral waiting time analysis at paediatrics wards in Region Västra Götaland(2023) Yassin, Mohamed; Ogbazghi, Sirak; Chalmers tekniska högskola / Institutionen för teknikens ekonomi och organisation; Chalmers University of Technology / Department of Technology Management and Economics; Raharjo, Hendry; Raharjo, HendryVariation in waiting time connected to the referral process is an aspect that a healthcare provider battles within the endeavour of providing treatment services for incoming patients. VGR (Region Västra Götaland) is a healthcare provider currently facing this issue. One reason for this is a deficit in understanding the causes of variation in the referral process, which consequently has elicited an increased variation in patient waiting time. This study aims to explain why and where, in the referral process, causes of variation emerge and, moreover, how to manage the causes of variation. A literature review provided substance and deeper insights into how the referral process works and possible factors that generate causes of variation in the patient referral time. A Gemba walk was undertaken to obtain a holistic overview of the referral process at VGR. The method used for this thesis was a case study involving quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data presented an overview of what the distribution of the number of referrals looks like across different units in the county of Västra Götaland. Furthermore, the quantitative data showcased the length of waiting time for incoming patients. Answers and insights from the semi-structured interviews represented the qualitative data. From the empirical findings, a specific disease and two units in the VGR organisation were chosen for further analysis due to considerable differences between the two in terms of waiting meantime for patients in the referral process and the number of incoming referrals. The analysis entailed a discussion and reflection on the causes of variation for the two chosen units. The causes of variation were categorised as internal and external variation, implying that if the cause of variation occurs within the unit, respectively, outside the unit. These variations were then split into controllable or non-controllable variations to understand how to manage the variation. Recommendations and suggestions based on the results have been laid out, attributed to the categorisation of variation.
- PostUsing Agile Methods to Improve Theme Park Operations A case study at Gröna Lunds Tivoli(2023) Onmalm, Marcus; Stengård Tamm, Nicole; Chalmers tekniska högskola / Institutionen för teknikens ekonomi och organisation; Chalmers University of Technology / Department of Technology Management and Economics; Eriksson, Henrik; Eriksson, HenrikIn the theme park industry, part of the larger leisure industry, external driving forces such as technology development and fluctuating guest preferences create a fast-moving impact. This in combination with theme parks with an all-year-round operational schedule set up a situation where the managers continuously proceed with their long-term development work along with the everyday tasks related to the daily operations. To move forward and act on the external driving forces theme parks are suggested to have a high level of organizational agility (OA). The aim of the study was to identify which methods that are possible to use in theme parks to increase OA. By conducting a case study at the Swedish theme park Gröna Lund’s Tivoli (GLT), the theory about OA mostly set in other industries could be translated to the theme park industry’s characteristics. Based on the theory, a framework was created to assess GLT’s level of OA which was conducted based on primary data collected through interviews with park operations managers and analysis of corporate documents. Interviews were held with the managers working in GLT’s park operations. The assessed level of OA at GLT showed that their processes and activities imply that the theme park work in an agile way but some aspects have room for improvement. The results also revealed that all suggested methods to increase OA had the potential to be used in theme parks, although customized methods are proposed taking into account the industry’s characteristics. Due to the identified room for improvement in some aspects of OA, the methods were evaluated to increase these. Lastly, how to successfully implement these methods was also examined in terms of GLT’s performance in suggested success factors. Through comparing the result with secondary data from previous research key findings were found. The first key finding is that the framework is possible to use when assessing organizational agility in theme parks. Secondly, the findings also show that the suggested methods are possible to use if they are customized and the use of them has the potential to increase OA. Finally, successful implementation of them is done by setting up a strategy for which approach to use and including strategies for how to take advantage of the success factors. The suggested strategy for theme parks is using a wave and spike approach. Concluding, these findings offer valuable guidance for theme parks seeking to reach a higher level of OA in their park operations, thus, also improving operational efficiency and guest satisfaction.