This book highlights innovative solutions together with
various techniques and methods that can help support the manufacturing sector
to excel in economic, social, and environmental terms in networked business
environments. The book also furthers understanding of sustainable manufacturing
from the perspective of value creation in manufacturing networks, by
capitalizing on the outcomes of the European ‘Sustainable Value Creation in
Manufacturing Networks’ project. New dynamics and uncertainties in modern
markets call for innovative solutions in the global manufacturing sector. While
the manufacturing sector is traditionally driven by technology, it also
requires other managerial and organizational solutions in terms of network
governance, business models, sustainable solution development for products and
services, performance management portals, etc., which can provide major
competitive advantages for companies. At the same time, the manufacturing
industry is subject to a change process, where business networks play a major
role in value-creating processes. By far the biggest challenge in this context
is making value creation a sustainable process where economic, social, and
environmental demands are met. Managing product and service-related business
operations in manufacturing networks thus brings different challenges that
cannot purely be resolved using traditional methods, and techniques.

This book is an outcome of a European project funded by the
European Commission, and performed by a dedicated R&D consortium comprised
of some leading Research institutions and Industrial partners.