2005 International Workshop on Sustainable Manufacturing, The

JOM, Feb 2006 by Chen, Ming

The International Workshop on Sustainable Manufacturing was held October 12-15, 2005 at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai, China. The third in a series, the workshop was sponsored by the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society and supported by the Natural Science Foundation Committee of China (NSFC), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The workshop was organized by the Division of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering/Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the Chinese National Key Laboratory for Remanufacturing (NKLR). and SJTU. Xu Binshi, a professor from NKLR, chaired the academic committee and Wang Chengtao of SJTU chaired the organization committee. Among the participants were representatives from government, universities, and business.

About 32 international delegates took part in the workshop, including a U.S. contingent headed by Nabil Nasr, director of the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Other participants came from Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil. and Korea. More than 150 Chinese delegates attended.

Five keynote speeches and 20 invited speeches were presented, and more than 100 papers were accepted to be published in the Journal of Central South University of Technology, Journal of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Journal of Donghua University.

In one keynote speech, Delcie Durham of the NSF described sustainable manufacturing as a viable product, system, or service that may include green technologies and processes, green design, reverse logistics, and green systems.

Invited presentations were given by Cai Wenqin of China's Ministry of Science and Technology and Liu Wenqiang of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. They introduced achievements of China's economy and the next development objective of Chinese government: an annual average per capita gross domestic product of $3.000 by 2020. At the same time, they indicated that China's resources cannot support its economy to reach this goal and China's environment will be destroyed if it continues on its current course. Thus. China must develop a cycle economy-an economic mode based upon increasing the utilization rate of natural resources, reducing the discharge of pollutants, and implementing the reduce-recycle-reuse principle. Sustainable manufacturing is seen as an important way to realize the implementation of a cycle economy.

The invited speeches on October 12 focused on the academic exchange of sustainable manufacturing. Binshi, from NKLR, introduced the state-of-the-art of Chinese remanufacturing engineering and indicated that micro- and nano- surface engineering technologies promote the development of remanufacturing. Nasr, of the Rochester Institute of Technology, introduced the concept of remanufacturing and described the state-of-the-art of remanufacturing in the United States. Nasr offered examples to show the potential of remanufacturing, and described some technical challenges. Seliger, of DFG. presented the framework for sustainability in manufacturing and a business model of a cycle economy. He provided examples of sustainable manufacturing in Europe and stressed the importance of global collaboration.

Hyung-ju Kim analyzed the state-of-the-art of sustainable manufacturing in Korea and described its future perspective from different aspects such as sustainable product design, policy, and management, etc.

From the United States, Jay Lee, formerly a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, introduced the changing business model (issues, drivers, and unmet needs) and infotronics technologies for product life-cycle management lessons learned from the Intelligent Maintenance Systems (IMS) Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Now a professor at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Lee also described the international collaborations between IMS and other research organizations. Bert Bras, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, introduced his research work in an NSF study on environmentally benign manufacturing. Needed to develop sustainable manufacturing. Bras said, are tools, new technologies, a business case, education, and collaboration. Jian Cao, a professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, presented innovative processes for sustainable manufacturing and analyzed the application, manufacturing, equipment, and impact on the environment of microparts. Jackie Isaacs, an assistant professor at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, introduced nanotechnology and nano-research supported by NSF. Isaacs also illustrated the state-of-the-art of nanotechnology.

Other sessions on October 12 included a presentation by Liu Zhifeng that introduced the green design of mechatronic products and its development in China. Duan Guanghong introduced the state-of-the-art of key technologies in the whole life cycle of electromechanical products. João F.G. Oliveira introduced the Brazilian manufacturing research network-IFM. Wang Chengtao discussed life-cycle assessment and the key issue of reduce, recycle, reuse, and remanufacture (4R): the residual value of products. Chengtao also briefly described the pilot demonstration project of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) treatment in Shanghai.