On the Concept of Decentralization in Biointelligent Manufacturing

Biointelligent manufacturing represents one of the most promising innovation paths towards a sustainable restructuring of industrial production. In doing so, it assumes significantly changing framework conditions for the production of a wide variety of goods. A recurring element is the decentralization of value chain design, i.e. an increasing shift of the focus of value creation to the customer. While the concept of decentralization has been discussed in the context of systems and organization theory, green supply chain and life cycle management for quite some time, recent studies suggest that especially biointelligent manufacturing systems might represent a promising technological opportunity to truly realize this goal. However, up to now the concept appears somewhat vague, as neither the validity of the assumption of increasing decentralization nor the extent to which a reduction of supply chain length results in an improvement of environmental impact is resolved. This paper is intended to provide a foundation for the advancement of the research area by analyzing the state of knowledge and uncovering logical misconceptions. Although the findings indicate a clear technical decentralization potential of biointelligent manufacturing by various examples, a comprehensive dissemination as small-scale production units in industrial practice remains unlikely due to prevailing organizational and socio-political barriers.