Terminology to support manufacturing process characterization and assessment for sustainable production

Abstract

Common terminology is essential for accurate communication among researchers, scientists, engineers, and other decision makers. To assist manufacturing process characterization, a common understanding of terminology is imperative for efficient and effective communication in industry; it can also facilitate automation and interoperability of software tools. Manufacturing process characterization enables the assessment and improvement of unit manufacturing processes, products, and systems from a sustainability perspective. To develop and implement sustainability-related standards and best practices in industry, naming conventions and definitions of common terms are needed. Presently, many terms used are ill-defined, vague, or overlap in meaning. Although there are ongoing standards efforts related to terminology identification and definition, an identified common set is yet to be developed.The objective of this work was to facilitate ongoing standards development efforts by harmonizing the varied array of terms used to describe production processes. As a result of a review of the literature, a concise set of 47 terms focusing on process characterization and able to describe sustainable production was generated; terms unique to individual production processes were omitted. The terms were organized into six categories to define the overarching concepts: Scope, Boundary, Material, Measurement, Model, and Flow. Definitions of the terms were then derived from the literature in sustainable manufacturing and chemical and process industries, process characterization and planning, organization standards, and life cycle assessment and management.The reported terms and definitions are not unique to sustainable production, and could foster widespread use of the concepts to improve the economic, environmental, and social performance of industry. In the future, the terminology described could be standardized through international standards organizations. Further, a rigorous review of research on manufacturing process characterization and process modeling in support of sustainable production is yet to be accomplished. Such a review would aid in organizing prior work by process type, perhaps by using a standard process taxonomy. Thus, a generalized, industry-relevant method for manufacturing process characterization could emerge to support sustainability assessment, and could be implemented through software applications accessible to a variety of users.