The transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) has become increasingly important for manufacturing enterprises seeking to improve resource efficiency and reduce waste generation. Production systems are central to this transition, as they govern material transformation, resource and energy utilization, and the management of waste and emissions throughout the production phase. However, transitioning towards circular production systems is particularly challenging for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often face limitations in resources compared with large enterprises (LEs). A review of existing CE maturity models showed that, although several models offer useful guidance for manufacturing enterprises, most lack a clear focus on production systems, particularly their inputs and outputs, and do not sufficiently address the specific challenges and enablers faced by manufacturing SMEs. To address these gaps, this paper proposes an initial CE maturity model tailored to manufacturing SMEs and focused on production-system inputs and outputs. Developed through a structured process combining a targeted literature review with empirical insights from previous research, the model includes dimensions related to production systems: water, energy, materials, waste, products, and emissions; SME-specific challenges and enablers: collaboration, capital, and time; and cross-cutting dimensions: people’s skills, information, technology, tool, and machine. The model introduces five maturity levels ranging from Linearity to Full Circularity, providing manufacturing SMEs with a structured pathway to assess their as-is state and prioritize improvement actions. Future work will involve developing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), creating a step-by-step implementation guideline, and conducting empirical validation to refine the model’s usability and strengthen its practical relevance.

Augmented reality smart glasses (ARSG) have been available as a commercial product since 2015. Many potential usage areas have been identified, including industrial use. The needs from industry have evolved, with more emphasis being put on sustainability. While ARSG can help improve efficiency and sustainability, there are also similarly associated costs to their implementation and use. This paper aims to present a process for how to choose ARSG for specific use cases as assembly operator support while considering the sustainability of their implementation. A narrative review of the literature was made to identify the current understanding of the environmental impact of ARSG, as well as what has been considered in regards to ARSG being integrated into a manufacturing environment. The analysis of the literature resulted in a proposed decision process. The decision process serves as a baseline for how to guide the decision of whether ARSG could be a suitable solution and, if so, what aspects to consider in the choosing of the ARSG model. Future work includes collaboration with industry to further improve the decision process based on empirical input.

The textile industry includes SMEs, which play an important role worldwide in the economy and society. However, their activities can contribute to some environmental issues, like climate change, and resource scarcity, which are lately at the center of attention. Due to increasing pressure from governments and society regarding sustainability issues, textile SMEs need to become sustainable, and one solution to achieve sustainability is transitioning towards circularity in production. Nevertheless, textile SMEs encounter numerous challenges and enablers on their journey towards circularity, particularly in areas like production systems where knowledge remains insufficient. Thus, this paper aims to identify the challenges and enablers faced by textile SMEs in transitioning towards circular production systems. This study is based on a literature study, workshops, and interviews with Swedish textile SMEs. The results show that textile SMEs encounter seven challenges towards circular production systems, including a lack of knowledge and awareness, limited resources, limited access to technology, complexity of input and finished product, a lack of proper regulations and strategy, a lack of collaboration among stakeholders, and a lack of interest and support from stakeholders and customers. In contrast, education, collaboration, supportive regulations, and circular production system design can be considered as enablers for their transition.

The textile industry has a significant environmental impact while at the same time playing an important role in society. There is a need to improve the textile industry's sustainability. Textile SMEs encounter numerous challenges to reach sustainability. This paper aims at recognizing the challenges by collecting, analyzing, and discussing some theoretical and empirical data. At the end of this paper, six main groups of challenges are presented: lack of stakeholder knowledge about sustainability, lack of resources, lack of communication, and effective legislation. Also, recognizing the relevant needs and finding some conceptual solutions for textile SMEs to overcome the challenges and reach more sustainability are considered as future work of this study.

The aim of this paper is to focus on how work organization, founded on the resilience and sustainable production system, evolves from a strategic perspective. Disturbance and threats can occur at any time without any warning. Therefore, it is important that the work organization is sufficiently resistant to interference. This article is an integrative literature review. Currently, a gap has been identified and that is resilient is not part of the sustainable production system. This study examines how work organizations can support resilient and sustainable production. The result and the conclusion suggest that it is possible that the work organization can support this resilient and sustainable production system. However, two important changes are required, one is the organizational culture in which employees have the same shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, and the other is organization structure requires a job enlargement, employee contributions, and training to ensure a sustainable transition process towards having a resilient and sustainable production system.