Sustainable solutions for supply chain challenges: innovation and impact

Abstract

The move towards attaining sustainable supply chains has emerged as an important aim of many modern industries, particularly in mechanical engineering and industrial management. This thesis was conducted to examine sustainable approaches to supply chain management, with a primary fo cus on innovation and its effect on performance and environmental impact.

The purpose of the study was to assess current supply chain practices and to explore how the circular economy could offer a pathway for organisations transitioning from traditional linear models towards sustainable systems.

A qualitative research methodology was applied. No surveys or interviews were undertaken. The research was conducted through a systematic account of academic literature, industry reports and documented case studies. The results demonstrated the possibilities of circular economy models where products and materials are reused, recycled and remanufactured.

In addition, this thesis also demonstrated that some of these models for circular economy enabled an organisation to streamline the overall system operations of the supply chain processes while lowering environmental impacts. However, the higher costs of recycling, limited availability of resources, complex global logistics and inconsistency of policy were cited as challenges towards the transition.

The findings also suggested that coordinated policy support and continuous innovation is needed for the transition into circular and sustainable supply chain.