Axel Faix

A life cycle assessment study of the biomass-to-oil (BTO®) process based on the fast ablative pyrolysis of wood chips from forest residues has been performed. The planned system consists of eight pyrolyzers with a throughput of 6 tpd each. The bio-oil will be burnt in eight modified diesel engines with a capacity of 315 kWhel each. The results were compared with a reference system (fossil diesel-fueled CHP). The comparison is made for the production of 1 kWh of electrical energy (kWhel) and shows significant differences for global warming potential (GWP100: ?87.7%), eutrophication potential (EP: +23.2%), acidification potential (AP: ?44.6%), photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP: ?63.6%), and ozone depletion potential (ODP: ?92.4%). The results of the BTO-CHP-system show lower environmental impact values in all environmental impact categories except for the EP-value, which exceeds the reference due to the application of bio-oil additives derived from agricultural production. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2010

This paper explains a novel cross-functional evaluation concept for product portfolio complexity management. In a holistic approach it combines and connects four main evaluation dimensions which are integrated into a complexity index model. The validation of the concept will be explained along an industry project within a manufacturing company.

The paper is based on an industry project in the pharmaceutical industry and describes a holistic approach to integrate competence management, capacity planning and strategic forecasting in the field of service operations in a global service network. Goal of the paper is to introduce a methodology combining operations and strategic management.

In recent years, market price risks of industrial consumption factors have become a major issue of manufacturing companies. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on existing market price risk mitigation strategies to support manufacturing practitioners in making their company more resilient to this risk type and to provide a theoretical basis for future research. Based on a literature review, an explorative industry study, and 8 semi-structured interviews, we identified 34 market price risk mitigation strategies. Following Tang (2006), we clustered these strategies and built up a toolbox for the mitigation of consumption factors' market price risks.

Report - Volatile markets, the increasing demand for natural resources, natural disasters, political and financial instability - manufacturing companies are threatened by a wide range of supply chain and supply risks. Due to the worldwide developments and the increasing global interconnectedness of supply chains, it is likely that particularly price risks of industrial consumption factors will intensify. The enormous increase of commodity prices and price volatility during the last 10 years reflect this trend. Considering that the demand for resources will double during the next 40 years, it is obvious that manufacturing companies must act. A systematic and holistic risk management approach that ensures the long-term access to strategic resources and stable prices will be inevitable for most manufacturing companies to hold their ground in global competition. The following study confirms the relevance of this topic and provides an overview on affected resources and countermeasures taken by manufacturing companies.