Abstract:While eco-balances and material flow networks have become common parts of Environmental Management Information Systems (EMIS) to analyse the material flows within a company, discrete event simulation has not yet been used widely in this domain. This paper argues for combining discrete event simulation with material flow analysis in order to analyse both the environmental and economic impact of business decisions.After a brief overview of core characteristics and benefits of discrete event simulation and material flow analysis based on so-called Material Flow Networks, a plug-in-based architecture for generating a customised material flow simulator is presented. The benefits of this framework's component-based structure are then discussed in the context of its practical application to the lithography stage in the manufacture of semiconductors. A summary of the framework's most significant aspects and areas of application conclude the paper.

Industrial Symbiosis (IS) is an emerging business tool with a systemic and collaborative approach to optimize and close cycles of materials and energy by identifying synergies and fostering cross-sectoral cooperation among economic actors. The major facilitator of revealing IS opportunities for organizations is both analyzing the status quo with quantitative methods and connecting the supply and demand of the entities involved through an adequate Information Communication Technology (ICT) solution. This study analyzed the extant body of literature and the corresponding ICT tools of IS in order to design a preliminary concept of an Information Technology (IT) supported IS tool that supports the identification and assessment of IS potentials, providing more transparency among market players and proposing potential cooperation partners according to selectable criteria (e.g. geographical radius, material properties, material quality, purchase quantity, delivery period), bringing synergy partners together.

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