Comparison of sustainability characteristics of conventional and CNC turning processes: A case study
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the comparison of sustainability characteristics of conventional and computer numerical control (CNC) turning process. The sustainability performance measures of both the processes were also being evaluated.
Design/methodology/approach
The study discusses the achievement of sustainability characteristics at the manufacturing process level of widely used industrial process, mechanical machining. Sustainable development includes improvements in material, product design and manufacturing process orientations. The present study narrates the sustainability characteristics at the process level.
Findings
The results confirm that the overall sustainability characteristics of CNC machining are potentially high considering the economic and environmental aspects of the machining parameters. A detailed life cycle analysis for both conventional and CNC turning was performed to evaluate the environmental impact and benefits.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributed in the paper is limited to process dimension of sustainability. The economic and environmental aspects of machining were also being discussed.
Practical implications
The conduct of the study enabled the comparison of sustainability characteristics of conventional and CNC-turning processes. The approach could also be expanded for the comparison of sustainability characteristics of other manufacturing processes also.
Originality/value
The study is an attempt to explore the process sustainability by the comparison of environmental impact of making processes. Hence, the contributions are original.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, India, for funding toward the implementation of project titled “Development of a model for ensuring sustainable product design in automotive organizations” (Ref No.SR/S3/MERC-0102/2009). This research study forms a part of this chief research project.
Citation
Jayakrishna, K., Girubha, R.J. and Vinodh, S. (2016), "Comparison of sustainability characteristics of conventional and CNC turning processes: A case study", Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 422-445. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-12-2012-0054
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited