The circular economy (circular economy) represents an economic and industrial system in which resources are recoverable and renewable. In addition to our familiar post-use recycling and environmental protection concepts, the concept of “ecosphere” is emphasized. From the process of product, the wide range of industrial chain, to the innovation of business model, the goal of effective use of resources, and the pursuit of a product without end of life, can be continuously remanufactured, recycled, dismantled by different forms. Go into the big loop of the next stage.
 
This concept has gradually evolved in recent years, and through the international organizations, the government's advocacy and implementation, broke through the surface of the discussion. Just because the circular economy is a huge and difficult model, it is more necessary for many industries, governments, research institutions, and society to participate in this cycle.
 
The large-scale production of traditional industrialized society, large-scale consumption, and a large number of abandoned economic models have created many environmental problems and social conflicts, and also caused heavy environmental burdens. “Mass-to-mass manufacturing” is almost in the opposite state of the concept of a circular economy, the former being a consumable economic model of human society since the Industrial Revolution, and the latter trying to reach the ultimate goal of zero waste.
With the over-exploitation of the natural environment, the emergence of marine debris problems, plastic pollution, industrial waste growth, the circular economy emphasizes a nonlinear economic model that provides an attractive solution. In the past, recycling focused on the handling of items after the end of their useful life. Today, an item must conform to the spirit of circular economy. It must be selected from the original material selection, factory production, product design, functional considerations, process and other processes. The next cycle is thinking. This is also the new value that this new wave has given to the manufacturing industry, and also a new opportunity for machinery producers. Metalworking machine tools are the mother of industry, and the industry involved also represents the potential of machine tools to give manufacturing innovation in production.
 
The best cycle of precision production and manufacturing
 
The significance of precision production not only improves product value and yield, but also successfully reduces waste, and also leads the manufacturing industry to enter the circular economy in a large scale. Reform plans for manufacturing around the world - Japan's Society 5.0 (Society 5.0), Germany's Industry 4.0 (Industry 4.0), the US's Industrial Internet Consortium (ICC) (Industrial Internet Consortium), and China Manufacturing 2025 are all brewing smart manufacturing. Energy, experimental machinery and vital connections.
 
Taiwan is affected by the special era background. More than 90% of the machinery manufacturers are small and medium-sized enterprises. The machinery they manufacture has great competitive advantages. It is the 7th largest machine tool production area and the 4th largest export area in the world. Among them, the export value of machine tools, bearings, gears and ball screws accounted for 20% of the machinery exports in 2017, reflecting the large participation of metal processing equipment in Taiwan in the world. SMEs have the advantage of being sensitive and customized, but they have disadvantages in developing a smart system that requires a lot of resources.
 
Take the machine tool industry as an example to accelerate the implementation and spread of industrial intelligence. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to use the SMB import machine network for counseling, and first use SMB to invest limited resources to quickly build a machine network, and grasp the benefits of the machine state, production information, production schedule and scheduling. Through the interval analysis, optimize the utilization of production capacity, the second step, transparent production progress, and coordinate the production cycle inside and outside the plant. SMB can also be used as a reference for small and medium-sized enterprises outside China in Taiwan, with a small amount of resources to bet and step by step to achieve intelligence.
 
In the future, smart manufacturing is the gear that drives the circular economy of the industrial sector. From these forms of manufacturing, it will show its value in this vast economic and ecological cycle. First, the factory manufactures products in a lower energy-consuming and environmentally-friendly manner under the monitoring of information visualization, machine networking and machine capacity, which is in line with the demand for energy conservation in the economic front. Second, machinery and machine tools are the mothers of industry. The application of every necessities of life comes from it. The precise manufacturing and high added value of intelligent manufacturing is equivalent to prolonging the service life of articles and reducing unnecessary excessive consumption. In line with the central idea of circular economy. Third, the ability of manufacturing “remanufacturing” turns waste into gold. A large number of key components and metalworking workpieces are no longer discarded with the end of the life of the steam locomotive, but are reprocessed. This will be a major leap forward for the metal processing industry to move towards a circular economy.
 
Manufacturing and machine tools are transforming, evolving, and innovating with the progress of human civilization. For the sustainable development of the earth and society, perhaps we are embarking on a road that emphasizes the circular economy. The metal processing industry we are engaged in is also the core of this cycle. The success of the circular economy requires the interlocking of various industrial chains. Each link is a business opportunity and an opportunity for innovation.