December 11, 2021
At the end of 2021, the team continued with the publication of project results. The newly published paper dealt with social sustainability and was entitled ‘Industry 4.0-based dynamic Social Organizational Life Cycle Assessment to target the social circular economy in manufacturing’. Although environmental sustainability is the most widely discussed topic, social sustainability is an equally fundamental aspect. In this context, the paper tried to answer the following questions:

• RQ 1: How can Industry 4.0 digital technologies enable social impact assessment in a manufacturing environment?

• RQ 2: What metrics can help identify the contribution of social sustainability to CE from a life-cycle perspective?

The study reported how project results filled these gaps by integrating Social Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (SO-LCA) and Industry 4.0 technologies in a blended methodological approach designed to dynamically monitor the social performance.

You can read the paper in the Publications section of this website.

September 22, 2021
The new G3NIUS brand, the result of our LIFE Forture project, has been awarded the ‘Solar Impulse Efficient Solution’ label, proof of its high standards of profitability and sustainability.

In order to address environmental challenges and enable economic growth, Bertrand Piccard has launched, through the Solar Impulse Foundation, the challenge of selecting 1000 profitable solutions to protect the environment in order to convince government and business decision-makers to meet their environmental targets and adopt more ambitious energy policies, which are necessary to bring these solutions to market. The aim is to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free and sustainable economy.

Link to Solar Impulse Webpage: -->

September 16, 2021
In the AFTER-LIFE phase, the project team continued with publications trying to understand and explain the role played by smart manufacturing techniques in the adoption of circular economy practices, and how to transform part of Big Data into Smart Data, focusing on the re-engineering of the product and input sourcing system in an operational environment with a quantitative approach.

To achieve this goal, the study analyzes the LIFE Forture results in the ceramic tile manufacturing process. The ceramic tile sector is indeed based on resource-intensive industries with a complex input sourcing system, a high level of adoption of Industry 4.0 digital technologies, and characterized by the implementation of internationally recognized environmental best practices.

You can read the paper in the Publications section of this website.

September 4, 2021
The project team continued with dissemination activities and published a paper entitled “Technological Sustainability or Sustainable Technology? A Multidimensional Vision of Sustainability in Manufacturing”.

Products and processes, in addition to being environmentally and socio-economically sustainable, must also be technologically sustainable. In this regard, the paper constructed a theoretical basis for technological sustainability as a possible fourth dimension of sustainable development.

You can read the paper in the Publications section of this website.

June 15, 2021
With the conclusion of the LIFE Forture project, the team prepared a Layman’s report summarising the objectives and results achieved over the years.

You can read the document in the Publications section of this website.

May 21, 2021
The final event of the LIFE Forture project has been a success. These are the numbers of Monday’s event:

• 142 participants

• 10 speakers

• 4 years of project reporting

• 2 guest LIFE projects

• 1 new brand presented

We are very happy about the strong interest generated by the final event of the LIFE Forture project. In addition to the important results achieved, we are proud to have shared with you the faces of the people who have led to the success of this project.

You can find all the pdf’s of the speeches made during the event in the Publications section of this website.

May 19, 2021
Through this paper, the project team tried to answer these questions: How does risk management influence making decision process under uncertain conditions? How do risk management systems relate to sustainability management systems? The paper addresses in this way the issue of risk management, which is closely linked to sustainability management.

You can read the paper in the Publications section of this website.

April 26, 2021
In order to present the results of these three years, the project team has organised a webinar on 24 May 2021 from 3pm to 5pm. The conference will be based on a number of speeches lasting less than 10 minutes, using simple and user-friendly language.

You can find all the pdf’s of the speeches made during the event in the Publications section of this website.

March 19, 2021
The topic of economic sustainability is complex, but the project team tried to tackle it by applying Life Cycle Costing in a ceramic manufacturing context. With the paper “Adaptive Life Cycle Costing (LCC) Modeling and Applying to Italy Ceramic Tile Manufacturing Sector: Its Implication of Open Innovation”, the team proposes two theoretical models and an implementation of the models in an operational context.

You can read the paper in the Publications section of this website.

March 13, 2021
The project team, in the AFTER-LIFE phase, investigated how the adaptation of the supply chain makes it an effective tool in the management of a circular economy, as it allows aspects of sustainability and regeneration to be incorporated into production.

The results of the research show that the operating routines associated with the use of production and logistics technologies developed in a circular fashion favor the development of new products. Similarly, a bidirectional knowledge flow is necessary. The first flow is toward the company with practices that allow a better understanding of the customer and their needs in the framework of the circular economy. The second flow would be toward customers, who need to be informed and educated through various marketing and communication activities to adapt their behavior to the principles of circularity.

You can read the paper in the Publications section of this website.

February 19, 2021
The project team published a paper entitled “Dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) integrating life cycle inventory (LCI) and Enterprise resource planning (ERP) in an industry 4.0 environment”. The paper, published in the journal “Journal of Cleaner Production”, describes the main results of the LIFE Forture project regarding the dynamic assessment of environmental sustainability.

You can read the paper in the Publications section of this website.