Concept for the Transformation of Production Systems towards Circular Economy using Discrete Event Simulation

The transition from a linear economic system to a circular economy confronts manufacturing companies with the challenge of adapting their existing structures to the requirements of a circular economy. It cannot be assumed that companies are willing to rebuild their entire manufacturing system. Rather, possibilities must be discovered to transform existing manufacturing systems in a targeted manner. To do this, it is necessary to identify the aspects that play a central role in the transformation, and to assign specific transformation concepts to these aspects. For this research, requirements for the ability of a production system to execute circular economy strategies are first derived from the existing literature and prioritized using the analytic hierarchy process. A concept is developed that meets the requirements with possible transformation measures. Finally, an exemplary production system is transformed according to the concept using discrete event simulation, thus gathering insights about the effectiveness of the transformation concept and ensuring that the efficiency of the production system is maintained.