CHARTING THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE EVOLUTION OF CUSTOM PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Custom production is a subsector of the production industry that provides the opportunity to analyze and assess the implementation of circularity measures at every stage of the life cycle of a product, including the design phase. In most of the cases custom production is associated to engineer-to-order products concentrating the decision-making process almost entirely in-house with slight dependencies on third-party organizations, offering an open path for the circular economy principles adoption and implementation. The aim of this study is to analyze circularity measures, strategies and tools in the custom production management evolution dynamic based on a literature review. The results reveal a poor coverage in research for custom production management in the circular economy context and a focus on the production management in general around the concepts of sustainable production, Industry 4.0, Cleaner Production and sustainable job-shop production mainly from an environmental standpoint, overlooking the social and economic aspects of circularity.