Abstract
The sheet metalworking industries possess minimal knowledge in the area of sustainability despite having served as sub-contractors to various industrial sectors. This also highlights that suitable indicators for measuring the sustainability performance of sheet metalworking operations are poorly addressed. As sustainability assessment is regarded as a vital part of sustainable development, this paper has been aimed at establishing a general framework for sustainability assessment of sheet metalworking processes. The main attention was paid to two important processes—the cutting operations with a CNC turret punch press machine and sheet metal bending operations with CNC press brake machine. Stepwise guidelines to implement the proposed framework in sheet metalworking industries are consequently presented. Besides, this study contributes to developing an applicable sustainability indicator set for assessing such manufacturing processes. It makes a valuable contribution to advancing the narrow body of knowledge on the under-researched scope.
Highlights
A paradigm shift from the conventional and cost-intensive end-of-pipe pollution control to a more economical solution justifies the development of sustainability assessment frameworks for manufacturing processes [1,2]
The adoption of strategic frameworks for ‘sustainability assessment’, which is regarded as a vital part of sustainable development [3], can contribute to industrial decision-makers and policy-makers to decide what improvement actions are needed to be taken into consideration to make their manufacturing processes more sustainable [4]
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Summary
A paradigm shift from the conventional and cost-intensive end-of-pipe pollution control to a more economical solution justifies the development of sustainability assessment frameworks for manufacturing processes [1,2]. In discussions concerning sustainable manufacturing processes, for example, supporting industries such as sheet metalworking companies, it can be seen that the likelihood of making any changes to the product design is very remote. The importance of this research is, to provide a methodological framework for assessing the sustainability performance of a manufacturing process without attempting to change the product design. The rest of this paper has been structured as follows: In Section 2, some of the available sustainability assessment frameworks are reviewed, all the gaps are discussed, and their requirements for measuring the sustainability of sheet metalworking manufacturing operations are explained. A framework for assessing the sustainability of a manufacturing process is presented, and its applicability for sheet metalworking processes, especially in cutting and bending operations, is detailed.
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