# A methodology to design Circular Manufacturing Systems in an Industry 5.0 perspectives

Maxence Denu, Pierre David, Aurélie Landry, Fabien Mangione

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Maxence Denu, Pierre David, Aurélie Landry, Fabien Mangione. A methodology to design Circular Manufacturing Systems in an Industry 5.0 perspectives. 3ème congrès annuel de la SAGIP, SAGIP, May 2025, Mulhouse, France. hal-05137451

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Société d'Automatique,
de Génie Industriel & de Productique

# A methodology to design Circular Manufacturing Systems in an Industry 5.0 perspectives

Maxence DENU¹, Pierre DAVID¹, Aurélie LANDRY², Fabien MANGIONE¹

¹Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP*, G-SCOP, 38000 Grenoble, France

* Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes
prenom.nom@grenoble-inp.fr

²Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP*, LIG, 38000 Grenoble, France
prenom.nom@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

**Keywords:** *Manufacturing system design; circular economy; digital technologies; Industry 5.0; multidisciplinarity.*

## 1 Introduction

The proposed work is intended to contribute to the emergence of alternative production models, such as the Circular Economy (CE), which promotes the efficient use of materials during the different stages of a product's life cycle. In that context, Circular Manufacturing Systems (CMS) can be defined as industrial systems aimed at extending or giving a new life to products that have already been used, through systems that carry out repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing or repurposing [1].

Despite their many advantages, these systems are particularly complex to design and operate. Starting with second-hand materials of widely varying quality levels and diverse references, these CMS have to put these products back into service to a defined quality level. Each product thus has a personalized path through the workshop, with processes varying according to its condition and characteristics, making standardization of operations difficult and automation hardly attainable. These processes rely on highly experienced operators, who apply their years of experience to the execution of the product's return-to-service process. These operations are not without consequences for the operators. Indeed, the variability and complexity of the process entail a high cognitive load. The nature of certain circularity-specific and non-standardizable processes (disassembly and cleaning in particular) places physical demands on the operator. Therefore, it can lead to short-term injury risks and long-term musculoskeletal or psychosocial disorders. In systems that mainly rely on experienced operators, their health should be a top priority to ensure system operation.

At the same time, emerging digital technologies (EDTs) are often assumed to be beneficial for these CMS, but their implementation can be complex. Current research coupling CE and EDTs frequently focuses on additive printing, big data, artificial intelligence and IoT technologies [2]. Papers proposing
operational solutions to help operators are less frequent, and not always implemented in the light of environmental and social issues [1].

Another point frequently lacking in research is the systemic and sustainable analysis required to assess EDTs in terms of their overall impact. The prism of sustainability (and the addition of social and environmental considerations) in the implementation of EDTs has recently been explored under the term Industry 5.0. This research is part of this trend and seeks to study EDTs that can contribute to the development of CMS - more virtuous for the environment - while protecting the health of operators working in these systems. It is also important to overcome the frequent engineering hypotheses made about humans, which may be at odds with the human and social sciences. It is, therefore, essential to work in multi-disciplinary teams to ensure that the methodologies and research developed are consistent with the state of the art of research in different disciplines [1].

Faced with the current difficulties in designing or improving CMS through EDTs, this communication introduces a methodology to help manufacturers select EDTs for circular operations. With a multidisciplinary research team in industrial engineering, ergonomics and occupational psychology, the objective is to extend the first methodology of diagnosis of circular processes by [3] to the design of an entire system.

## 2 Designing Circular Manufacturing Systems

This communication aims to introduce a methodology to design CMS, with the help of EDTs and from the perspective of Industry 5.0. The main steps of the methodology are presented in a very simplified way:

1. Define the requirements of the circular system, including sustainable objectives.

Traditional methods can be used at this stage, such as those described by [4]. The actors and needs can be included in the analysis through the Voice of Customer or SIPOC diagram tools, to define the Measures of Effectiveness or Key performance indicators for the design or evaluation of the system.

2. Define the product and the sequences of the process related to the chosen circular strategy.

The product sequence can be formalized with a SysML activity diagram. A collection of standardized verbs adapted to the circular process has been developed for this step, to facilitate the identification of operations and to facilitate the study of the different tasks in a process as defined below.

3. Creation of a task impact assessment tool

Based on the requirements described above an evaluation grid was created at the task level. Examples of indicators are given in Table 1. This leads to evaluations on a standardized scale to calculate the indicators.

<table><caption>Table 1 – Example of indicators of the task impact assessment tool</caption><thead><tr><td>Operational and economics</td><td>Social</td><td>Environmental</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Impact on the quality of the operation, value recovery in the product, task execution time and dispersion of execution time, cost per part</td><td>Posture, handling, physical effort, repetitive gestures, mental load, the meaning of work, autonomy, safety within the workspace</td><td>Impact on natural resources, ecosystems, human health, climate</td></tr></tbody></table>

4. Evaluation of the impacts of EDTs.

The benefits (or disadvantages) of EDTs are evaluated by academics concerning the indicators used for the analysis of the tasks, on a standardized scale.
## 5. Choice of technologies

A calculation is then used to evaluate the contribution of the EDTs in the context of the tasks by comparing the ratings of the two previous steps. From this analysis, the EDTs presented as useful at the process level emerge, as well as their impact at the task level, making it possible to support the choice to be made by the manufacturer.

## 6. Validation of technological choices

A digital simulation taking into account operational aspects specific to CMS and the human factor is then used to test the choices made in the previous steps, and their impact on the economic, environmental and social dimensions [5,6]

# 3 Conclusions and perspectives

The complexity of CMS makes it an extremely interesting subject of study, and all the more a priority as environmental issues progress. As their performance is particularly linked to operators, a multidisciplinary approach including the humanities and social sciences also seems essential. This methodology therefore aims to select technologies that address both operational issues (quality, production time, etc.) and social issues (workstation ergonomics, well-being at work, etc.).

Seen under the prism of circularity, CMS therefore seem to be a promising alternative in a context where the reduction of environmental impact and the better consideration of humans in industry is becoming a necessity. Often praised for their merits in such contexts, EDTs could be interesting solutions to a certain extent. Choosing them and placing them in the right place in the production workshop remains a challenge, especially in a systemic and sustainable approach.

The methodology presented in this communication is therefore aimed at addressing the two challenges mentioned above. Tested as part of a fictitious manufacturing system in a school factory, the next step aims to test this methodology on a real industrial case.

# References

[1] Denu, Maxence, Pierre David, Aurélie Landry, et Fabien Mangione. « Exploring Opportunities and Barriers of Digital Technologies in Circular Manufacturing Systems: An Overview and a Research Roadmap ». Sustainable Production and Consumption 43 (décembre 2023): 400 421.

[2] Dantas T, de-Souza E, Destro I, Hammes G, Rodriguez C, Soares S. How the combination of Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 can contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Production And Consumption 2021;26:213-27.

[3] Ojeda E, Denu M, David P. A method to analyze disassembly processes to meet sustainable goals. 14th International Workshop on Service-Oriented, Holonic and Multi-Agent Manufacturing Systems for Industry of the Future (SOHOMA2024) Augsburg, Germany: 2024.

[4] Benkamoun N, ElMaraghy W, Huyet A-L, Kouiss K. Architecture Framework for Manufacturing System Design. Procedia CIRP 2014;17:88-93.

[5] Denu, Maxence, Pierre David, Fabien Mangione, et Aurélie Landry. « Towards Human-Centric Digital Simulation: Guidelines to Simulate Operators Skills Acquisition and Health in Circular Manufacturing Systems ». 18th IFAC Symposium on Information Control Problems in Manufacturing (INCOM 2024). IFAC-PapersOnLine 58, no 19 (août 2024): 445 50.

[6] Denu M, Landry A, David P, Mangione F. How to study human skills development in a complex industrial environment: feedback on the use of digital and physical simulation in a multidisciplinary project. Proceedings of the 22nd Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2024), Jeju, Republic of Korea: 2024.