REDiRECT | Project Purpose

REDiRECT | Project Purpose

REDiRECT has the general objective of combining the principles of circular economy with the digital technologies of Industry 4.0 to develop a new manufacturing model for the ceramic and mining industry called Circular Enterprise 4.0. This industrial model will have to fulfill a triple purpose:

1. be sustainable, both environmentally and socio-economically;

2. be technologically feasible in an operational environment;

3. promote the competitiveness of companies by increasing profitability and profits.

The transition to Circular Enterprise 4.0 will be monitored at every step by using the tools of environmental, economic, social, and technological impact assessment based on the perspective of the life cycle (Life Cycle Thinking) and considering the ceramic chain as a whole: from the extraction of raw materials to the distribution and use of the finished product.

Thanks to the digitization of processes, the difficulties in implementing the life cycle approach (cradle-to-grave) due to the unavailability of primary data shared by the supply chain actors will also be solved. This lack obliges impact assessments (environmental, social, economic, and technological) to be conducted using secondary data extracted from general databases and not specific to the sector analyzed.

With Circular Enterprise 4.0, the life-cycle approach will be effective because companies will be able to safely exchange not only material resources but also information and knowledge.

With Circular Enterprise 4.0 and by using industrial symbiosis as a tool for cooperation and collaboration between the operators of the supply chain, the life cycle approach will be effective because companies will be able to exchange not only material resources but also information and knowledge in a context of mutual trust.