Sustainable manufacturing: trends and research challenges

Sustainability is and will be a crucial issue for the present and future generations. The current assumption that resources are infinite and that the regenerative capacity of the environment is able to compensate for all action is no longer acceptable. Hence, sustainability issues will influence all organisational aspects of the life, from the economical, political, social and environmental points of view. The reason is simple: until, all human activities have been based on the paradigm of unlimited resources and unlimited world’s capacity regeneration; from now on, the awareness of the termination of this assumption means that all related models must be changed. This is a very impressive objective embracing all fields of culture, economy, and much more. A continuing effort, together with a reasonable time span, will be required to pursue goal. Fortunately, nature and the environment are capable of self-regulation and will give man a chance to from the damage he is causing to the earth mother, provided that the will to do so is firmly established. , as the main pillar of the civilised lifestyle, will be strongly affected by the sustainability issues and will play an important role in establishing a sustainable way ahead. Today, nearly all manufacturing models are on the old paradigm. Technology, on which the manufacturing is largely based, is asked, together with and economy, to give the tools and options for building new solutions towards a sustainable concept. Generally speaking, new technology, new business models and new lifestyle models will the cornerstones of the new sustainable world and this will be particularly true for what concerns the sector. Impressive constraints and requirements will affect the industrial sector on the way ahead sustainability. Research and development will play a crucial role to this concern, having the to offer appropriate options to the society for answering the above-mentioned needs. The main on researches challenges expected for sustainable manufacturing are outlined by the authors that have involved in the IMS international project ‘IMS2020: Supporting Global Research for IMS2020 Vision’, by the European Commission to prepare a roadmap for future (2020) manufacturing research.