Improving manufacturing systems with regard to the concept of ultra-efficiency

Sustainable manufacturing is essential for a future green economy. Due to its nonspecific phrasing its prospects are, however, heavily weakened. Thus the concept of ultra-efficiency was developed recently as a vision of future manufacturing systems. Based on a unique system model, five key spheres of action and two enabling technologies, prospective production environments are expected to eliminate waste and emissions thoroughly. Yet, present manufacturing companies mostly experience a lack of position reckoning to begin with. In this paper we hence present a tailored approach for sustainable position reckoning and operational improvement at different organizational layers using Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Sustainability Balanced Scorecard, Material Flow Cost Accounting and Life Cycle Assessment. The concept was successfully tested in four manufacturing companies in Germany proving extensive transparency gain and organizational improvement.