Text and photo by David Graff, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

 

Often, it's practical issues that cause companies to hesitate when considering circular production. That’s the view of Associate Professor Thomas Ditlev Brunø, project manager of ‘The Circular Factory’ at AAU Materials & Production.

“For example, if it’s difficult to identify exactly what kind of used product is returned for secondary use, such as remanufacturing, or if there’s no system to sort out defective components when the product is disassembled - then there’s a risk of poor processes, declining product quality, and loss of resources and revenue. Naturally, companies hesitate,” he explains.

To demonstrate how such obstacles can be overcome, Aalborg University is now opening the first testbed in the new national demonstration center for circular production, established in collaboration with the Danish Industry Foundation.

“It’s about making it tangible and bridging theory and practice by bringing companies together in innovation programs where they test and see how the circular process can actually look,” elaborates Thomas Ditlev Brunø.

An Integrated Demonstration Center

A testbed is a collection of technologies and processes where specific principles can be examined and tested. The new testbed consists of an Industry 4.0 line, a traceability system, and a smart disassembly station, which together provide a framework for testing how products can be efficiently returned, disassembled, quality-assured, and reused in production.

“But this is just the beginning. Each testbed is only one element in the overall demonstration center, where each new testbed builds on the previous ones. It’s not separate systems, but a unified system that gradually expands,” explains Thomas Ditlev Brunø, and continues:

“And the testbeds are based on known technologies, so we’re not talking science fiction. That also means it’s not necessarily overwhelming to implement these technologies and processes to make production more circular.”

The next planned testbed will demonstrate how specific challenges with plastic materials can be handled in a circular way in production processes - for example, how to ensure quality when plastic materials are recycled.

Further down the line, testbeds will focus on automation, component traceability, and likely also inventory management planning.

“If a company starts taking products back and disassembling them without knowing exactly which components they have, where, when, and how they should return to production, problems arise quickly. So inventory management may sound trivial, but it’s absolutely central,” says Thomas Ditlev Brunø.

Listening to Companies’ Needs

The project also includes the possibility of a final testbed, whose focus is yet to be determined:

“Maybe we’ll work broadly with system structures - or maybe the industry needs demonstrations of specific technologies. We’ll decide that later in the project, once we’ve gained more experience with the companies and understand what makes the most sense for them.”

Each testbed involves five companies in innovation programs tailored to their needs. While the companies’ production lines can’t be recreated exactly, the testbeds will still offer good opportunities to adapt to their products and processes, promises Thomas Ditlev Brunø.

“This is the first project at Aalborg University - and to my knowledge, in Denmark altogether - where we’re building a system on this scale that can demonstrate concrete circularity in production, even based on the participants’ own processes,” concludes Thomas Ditlev Brunø.

The new testbed is expected to open during October and November. Companies will begin using it in December.

Read the press release about the project launch:
https://www.mp.aau.dk/nationalt-demonstrationscenter-for-cirkulaer-produktion-abner-i-aalborg-n132699