Sustainability and Smart Manufacturing

This book discusses three key aspects of business operations: sustainability, human factors, and smart manufacturing, which make up modern business. The authors share their experiences in the transformation of enterprises to Industry 4.0/5.0 and the sustainability of steel production, as well as the reorganization of human factors using the example of the steel sector. The steel industry is covered both from a global perspective (key producers in the global steel market), as well as from a local and sectoral perspective (the companies that make up the sector of metal and metal product producers, using Poland as an example).

This insightful book discusses how the steel industry can develop intelligent solutions to enhance sustainable performance and the challenges they must overcome, including policy and regulation. Case studies evaluate how steel companies are investing in new technologies that meet environmental requirements but also human resource development to enhance digital skills and competencies of the workforce.

The book will find an audience across disciplines but be of particular value to scholars of industrial, operations, and technology management.

Bożena Gajdzik is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial Informatics at the Silesian University of Technology, Poland. For over 20 years, she has been dealing with the economics of business entities, including company management and steel mills. Her output includes 650 publications in national and international publishers, including 30 books about company management and business environment and 6 monographs about the steel industry: restructuring process in the sector towards market economy in Poland and now about the transformation of the steel industry to Industry 4.0. She is on the Stanford's Top 2% Scientists list for all carrier and for 2023.

Radosław Wolniak is a full professor in the Department of Economics and Informatics at the Silesian University of Technology, Poland. For over 20 years, he has been dealing with the issues of quality management, including Industry 4.0. His achievements include over 650 publications in national and international publishers, as well as many undertakings and projects implemented in cooperation with the business environment. He is an author of about 25 books about company Sustainability and Smart Manufacturing management and business environment, among them 2 books were printed in Routledge. He is on the Stanford's Top 2% Scientists list for 2023.

Wieslaw Grebski is Professor Emeritus at The Pennsylvania State University. He was an Engineering Faculty and Coordinator of the Engineering Program at Penn State Hazleton. His research interests evolved from computer-aided manufacturing to sustainable forms of energy. Professor Grebski was always promoting close cooperation between university and industry. Under his leadership, a new engineering program focusing on renewable energy was developed. He has coauthored two hundred publications and nine books. Professor Grebski promoted different unconventional methods for teaching and learning. He was the recipient of the Milton S. Eisenhower Award. (This is one of the highest recognitions at Pennsylvania State University.) He has also received 11 other awards for teaching and advising. He has also taught the dual enrollment class, Introduction to Engineering Design, as a form of promoting the engineering profession and recruiting students for the engineering program. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, American Society of University Professors, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and American Association of Engineering Educators.

Jan Szymszal is an Academic teacher at the University of Occupational Safety Management, Poland, and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Technical Sciences. He is a specialist in the field of statistics and its practical use in management, medicine, psychology, and pedagogy. He is also an expert on the use of optimization methods and operational research in logistics and materials engineering, the use of computer methods in science –especially mathematics and forecasting – and the practical use of econometric methods.

Michalene Eva Grebski has a multidisciplinary background combining masters’ degrees in Psychology and Business Administration as well as a Doctorate in Management. From 2016 through 2020, she was a faculty member at Northampton Community College (Pennsylvania, USA). Presently she is a faculty member at Colorado Mesa University (Colorado, USA). Michalene Eva Grebski has co-authored ten books and sixty-one scholarly articles. She is a member of the following academic societies: American Counseling Association, American Psychological Association, American Association of University Professors, The International Honor Society in Psychology/PSI CHI. Her research interest is connected with innovativeness and creativity in education and entrepreneurial networks. She has conducted research related to the development of innovative skills and attributes as well as a multidisciplinary holistic approach for enhancing innovative behavior. Dr. Michalene Grebski is a member of many professional societies.