Technology Updating Decisions for Improving the Environmental Performance of an Operating Supply Chain: A Multiobjective Optimization Model for the Cement Industry

The obsolescence and related energy inefficiency of many industrial processes are currently an obstacle in the transition toward a more sustainable manufacturing sector. The objective of this work is to exploit the advantages of technology updating for improving the economic and environmental performance of the cement industry. To this end, we have developed a mathematical approach to optimize technological updating decisions of existing cement supply chains. Our approach is based on a multiobjective mixed-integer linear programming formulation that determines whether technological updating projects should be undertaken at a given manufacturing stage, such that both environmental and financial goals are best met. A test instance based on a cement supply chain is solved to illustrate how significant benefits can be attained by applying our systematic approach.