The movement of manufacturing organisations towards a circular economy sets the scene for extensive industrial change. This change is not simply a continuation of current business; instead, it brings up multiple questions concerning ways of thinking, modes of operation, and the very foundation of a business. Manufacturing organisations are experiencing uncertainty regarding how to address this transformation due to its multi-faceted nature. Maturity models are seen by some as a tool for assessing and guiding manufacturing organisations when it comes to complex and multi-faceted agendas, such as that of the circular economy (CE). Maturity models provide scaffolding in the form of presentation of a desired evolution path from which manufacturing organisations can define reasonable and desirable plans for engagement with the circular economy. This study adopts the cumulative capability perspective in developing a CE maturity reference model that explicates the circular transformation by noting six discrete maturity levels across six organisational dimensions: value creation, governance, people and skills, supply chain and partnership, operations and technology, and product and material. The progression of circular maturity is explained by the principles of expertise and the systems perspective. The explication of CE transformation across dimensions and levels provides a boundary object for organisations, i.e., a scaffolding for moving from its current zone of development to its proximal zone of development.

Despite it being imperative to a sustainable development, a circular economy remains scarcely adopted by companies. Barriers towards this are extensively explored yet with little focus on their mutual dependencies. Neglecting dependencies is argued to cause suboptimization and lead to unsuccessful circular projects. To counter this and strengthen companies in assessing dependencies among context-dependent barriers towards a circular transition, this study proposes a practice-oriented approach based on an interpretive structural modelling methodology. This is validated through a case study with a Danish mechatronics manufacturer with which fourteen semi-structured interviews, a survey, and a workshop were conducted. Findings reveal an interwoven network of barriers with numerous chain mechanisms across managerial, market-related, financial, technical, and regulative aspects, which underpins the need to approach the circular transition systemically. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the ability of the methodology to facilitate discussions and assist industrial practitioners, both on a strategic and operational level, in systematically untangling the complex interrelations to identify root causes for inertia and prioritize mitigation measures.

Purpose: This research proposes and demonstrates a framework that can be used to systematically address the idiosyncratic design of Internet of Things (IoT)-based solutions, and to match the explorative aspects of introducing a new technology to the exploitative needs, to improve the performance of production operations.Design/methodology/approach: Due to the applied nature of this research, a design science research (DSR) framework was adopted in order to ensure both the rigor and applicability of the outcomes.Findings: A process excellence perspective, operationalized through a business process management approach, is applied to scope the solution space according to its exploitative potential. The mapping of the information flow that needs to be established defines the technological infrastructure of the solution.Research limitations/implications: The theoretical generalizability of the proposed framework is limited by a testing sample of a single case. The research implications are related to a call for the contextualization of IoT applications. Further research will involve the application of this approach to a diverse range of industrial settings. While the domain is far from saturated, a framework that can facilitate such investigations has been provided.Practical implications: The proposed framework provides practitioners with an approach to designing IoT solutions that can consistently address their needs for operational performance improvements.Originality/value: This research proposes a framework that links the enabling of transparency via the integration of IoT in production operations to contextual characteristics and business potential. Furthermore, it highlights the developmental drivers of IoT solutions, which emerged during the empirical demonstration of this framework.